Every year, the music industry gathers together to celebrate the best in the Musical Instrument industry and were a lot of brands will announce cool new products they have been working on over the last year. This year's NAMM show took place in April, and there were a lot of great products that were announced. Here are a few of the notable pieces of gear that caught our eyes this year.
Electro-Harmonix & JHS Pedals Lizard Queen
What started as an imaginary pedal has become reality thanks to this collaboration between Electro-Harmonix and JHS Pedals. The backstory behind this pedal is pretty amazing, and the result is a brilliant octave/distortion pedal that is sure to please.
Apogee Jam X Guitar Interface
The Apogee Jam guitar interface was already a great compact guitar interface, but Apogee took it a step further by adding a three-mode compressor and updating the software bundles to make this an enticing option for recording guitar.
Walrus Audio Fundamental Pedal Series
The folks at Walrus Audio have definitely made a name for themselves over the years, with some killer pedals that not only sound incredible, but look the part. This year, they announced their Fundamental Pedal Series, which are super easy-to-use pedals with sliders to help you dial in your tone.
Universal Audio UAFX Pedals
UA have continued their tradition of bringing high quality analog audio sound to Galaxy '74 Tape Echo and Reverb, Max Preamp & Dual Compressor, and Del-Verb Ambience Companion. The UAFX line uses digital processing to create stunning emulations of analog hardware.
Hagstrom Swede and Super Swede Electric Guitars
Scandinavian guitar maker Hagstrom is revamping their Swede and Super Swede guitars, with the most notable change being the Lundgren Design humbuckers, which add "a special recipe that adds an extra does of 'Swedish Zing' to the instruments natural tone, making it sing and resonate like never before" according to Hagstrom.
Seymour Duncan HyperSwitch
If you are looking to really change up your guitar tone without changing the wiring each time, the Seymour Duncan HyperSwitch might be for you. This 5-way selector switch lets you create custom pickup wiring configurations through Bluetooth.
Solid State Logic B-DYN 500-Series Module
No one can dispute SSL's place of prominence in the recording world, and the B-Series 611B Dynamics module, based on SSL's classic 4000 a and B series consoles continues that tradition. Onboard compression, de-esser, auto-release and fixed ratio points make this unit a must have for everything from vocals to drums.
Audient iD24
The iD24 is a great all-around interface with 2 preamps (the same as the ones in their ASP8024-HE console), a JFET instrument input, class leading converters, and ADAT expansion. We're big fans of the Audient interfaces, and the iD24 is a great addition to their lineup.
Polyend Tracker Mini
The Polyend Tracker is already a cool piece of essential gear, and somehow Polyend has managed to take many of the same great features of the Tracker, and shrink them into the Tracker Mini. Even though its smaller, it actually has some better specs, including all-stereo sample playback.
Neumann KH 120 II
We're not sure how they did it, but Neumann announced an updated and improved version of their KH 120 studio monitors. The KH 120 II have new design elements and and features that improved upon their sound, with less distortion on the low end and better SPL's. These are sure to be incredible monitors!
These are just a few of the cool products announced at this year's NAMM show. It's always fun to see what new things manufacturers come out with to help us create music to share with the world. Keep making music!
If you are interested in getting any of these products, contact us to find out what the current availability is.
