michaelomiya
01-23-2006, 01:02 AM
(WARNING: massive verbiage ahead. I gotta cut down on the keystrokes and get off the soapbox!)
Well the end finally arrived to a fast and furious four days at 2006's NAMM convention. And I've gotta admit to attending an unprecedented four days straight :eek:. There was much to see and many friendships to rekindle. But my highlight, as it is every year, is visiting w/ the TAG team.
Now for those attending or planning to attend, show up on Sunday. The place is overwhelmingly quiet, compared to the pent-up excitement on Thursday and the on-rush of visitors on Saturday.
In fact, it was so calm this morning that Roy and I had a chance to sneak over to the Bogner booth and visit w/ Sean Colligan and the new Bogner Duende 112 combo...or as we referred to it, "that bubbly, 18W, 6V6 combo"...(maybe). 2 channel, tremelo, accutronics reverb, single EQ, this puppy sings at any level (pushed or not). Bold in its overdrive, with a punchy, tight low mid, and sans any piercing, ice-pick highs. And all of this at low volume...as in "Tom Anderson" low volume! ;) :D
Another highlight, as recommended by both Tom and Roy, was the "G7th" performance capo...(maybe!). Gone are the uncontrollable tension caused by non-adjustable capos, and/or the awkward tunings characterized by the adjustable ones. Built from a zinc composite with precision engineering, this puppy works flawlessly...well flawlessly enough to play "Here Comes the Sun" on my Cobra...and on the fly!:p (funny anectdote - Roy inquires as to the name. Answer: it made for a better URL address!?:confused: OK.)
...But I digress.
The big news coming out of Newbury Park are:
1. the migration of the "Atom-style" neck joints, to the T's, Classic's, DT's, Cobra's and DT Classics. .
As everyone knows, these puppys are tight. Tight, as in, no screws, no problem - that neck is NOT moving. And why should it? It's bordered by a joint on ALL three sides. SWEET. Once again Anderson engineering at it's best. And for those naysayers that will "accuse" Tom of alienating the "vintage crowd"...well, there's always FMIC and Henry's Gibson..."ample" substitutes :rolleyes:. I've always believed that Tom's innovations (drop tops, SS frets, BFTS, CNC routing (nod to Hartley here), acrelyte finishes, etc.) are what characterize an Anderson guitar. This neck joint is yet one more in a long lineage of product design moves that elevates Tom to "Nicola Tesla" status in an industry full of "Edisons". Oh, and before I forget, it wasn't long ago that the same "vintage crowd" was crying about SS frets and BFTS. Now it's a common amentity of many manufacturers (boooo-tique and mainstream), many of which include "classic" strats and teles.
2.Introduction of Primavera wood
Sonically close to Mahogany, but a "tad" softer in the mids (Roy, please confirm...maybe?), and sometimes called white mahogany because of its beauty and similarity in appearance except lighter in color (creamy white to yellowish rose, sometimes tinted with pale brown or pinkish stripes).
3. Crowdster w/ an M
Taken from Tom's post on the bwacks forum, "i did not want to compromie the crowdster's acoustic sound. we tried the medium electric strings like the t5 has and the sound was compromised. so we went back and reloaded with regular acoustic strings and worked on making a magnetic pickup that would play in balance with them. we were very happy with the end result. the crowdster stays just as it always was, and there is a very respectable electric guitar lurking there as well. this is not the guitar for the shreader who wants some acoutic sounds, (ahh..c'mon Tom!!:D ) this is for the acoustic player who wants some very big electric tones as well. the two signals can be sent out in stereo or blended to mono. obviously the stereo rig sounds best, you wouldn't plug your favorite acoustic into your marshall would you? (mmm...ya never know...I might!:p ...maybe!)
the guitar got played quite a bit the last 2 days, and it has been fun to hear what people have done with it.
whew! Sorry again. Oh, here's some pix. Not like last year, but some of my favorites!
(USC alum LOVE all things Cardinal, or Cajun Red!)
http://members.cox.net/eddyrox/namm062.jpg
(and Cajun Red burst!)
http://members.cox.net/eddyrox/namm061.jpg
Well the end finally arrived to a fast and furious four days at 2006's NAMM convention. And I've gotta admit to attending an unprecedented four days straight :eek:. There was much to see and many friendships to rekindle. But my highlight, as it is every year, is visiting w/ the TAG team.
Now for those attending or planning to attend, show up on Sunday. The place is overwhelmingly quiet, compared to the pent-up excitement on Thursday and the on-rush of visitors on Saturday.
In fact, it was so calm this morning that Roy and I had a chance to sneak over to the Bogner booth and visit w/ Sean Colligan and the new Bogner Duende 112 combo...or as we referred to it, "that bubbly, 18W, 6V6 combo"...(maybe). 2 channel, tremelo, accutronics reverb, single EQ, this puppy sings at any level (pushed or not). Bold in its overdrive, with a punchy, tight low mid, and sans any piercing, ice-pick highs. And all of this at low volume...as in "Tom Anderson" low volume! ;) :D
Another highlight, as recommended by both Tom and Roy, was the "G7th" performance capo...(maybe!). Gone are the uncontrollable tension caused by non-adjustable capos, and/or the awkward tunings characterized by the adjustable ones. Built from a zinc composite with precision engineering, this puppy works flawlessly...well flawlessly enough to play "Here Comes the Sun" on my Cobra...and on the fly!:p (funny anectdote - Roy inquires as to the name. Answer: it made for a better URL address!?:confused: OK.)
...But I digress.
The big news coming out of Newbury Park are:
1. the migration of the "Atom-style" neck joints, to the T's, Classic's, DT's, Cobra's and DT Classics. .
As everyone knows, these puppys are tight. Tight, as in, no screws, no problem - that neck is NOT moving. And why should it? It's bordered by a joint on ALL three sides. SWEET. Once again Anderson engineering at it's best. And for those naysayers that will "accuse" Tom of alienating the "vintage crowd"...well, there's always FMIC and Henry's Gibson..."ample" substitutes :rolleyes:. I've always believed that Tom's innovations (drop tops, SS frets, BFTS, CNC routing (nod to Hartley here), acrelyte finishes, etc.) are what characterize an Anderson guitar. This neck joint is yet one more in a long lineage of product design moves that elevates Tom to "Nicola Tesla" status in an industry full of "Edisons". Oh, and before I forget, it wasn't long ago that the same "vintage crowd" was crying about SS frets and BFTS. Now it's a common amentity of many manufacturers (boooo-tique and mainstream), many of which include "classic" strats and teles.
2.Introduction of Primavera wood
Sonically close to Mahogany, but a "tad" softer in the mids (Roy, please confirm...maybe?), and sometimes called white mahogany because of its beauty and similarity in appearance except lighter in color (creamy white to yellowish rose, sometimes tinted with pale brown or pinkish stripes).
3. Crowdster w/ an M
Taken from Tom's post on the bwacks forum, "i did not want to compromie the crowdster's acoustic sound. we tried the medium electric strings like the t5 has and the sound was compromised. so we went back and reloaded with regular acoustic strings and worked on making a magnetic pickup that would play in balance with them. we were very happy with the end result. the crowdster stays just as it always was, and there is a very respectable electric guitar lurking there as well. this is not the guitar for the shreader who wants some acoutic sounds, (ahh..c'mon Tom!!:D ) this is for the acoustic player who wants some very big electric tones as well. the two signals can be sent out in stereo or blended to mono. obviously the stereo rig sounds best, you wouldn't plug your favorite acoustic into your marshall would you? (mmm...ya never know...I might!:p ...maybe!)
the guitar got played quite a bit the last 2 days, and it has been fun to hear what people have done with it.
whew! Sorry again. Oh, here's some pix. Not like last year, but some of my favorites!
(USC alum LOVE all things Cardinal, or Cajun Red!)
http://members.cox.net/eddyrox/namm062.jpg
(and Cajun Red burst!)
http://members.cox.net/eddyrox/namm061.jpg