Acoustic Guitar at NAMM -- Thursday, January 14

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Comment by Dan Gabel, Editor & Group Publisher on January 15, 2010 at 12:52am

Walden Guitars introduced the Madera line of guitars, constructed with FSC certified solid wood throughout. Body styles include grand auditorium (South American mahogany back and sides, Western red cedar top), dreadnought (South American mahogany back and sides, Sitka spruce top), and classical (mahogany back and sides and Western red cedar top). Walden joins a small but growing group of manufacturers who have FSC certified guitar lines.

Here, Acoustic Guitar Senior Editor checks out the Madera dreadnought.

Comment by Dan Gabel, Editor & Group Publisher on January 15, 2010 at 12:48am

L.R. Baggs debuted the Anthem amplification system, which pairs a noise canceling mic in a light-weight housing mounted to the bridge plate with controls mounted just inside the soundhole. The system sounds remarkably natural and clear.

Lloyd Baggs is happy with the Anthem!

Comment by Dan Gabel, Editor & Group Publisher on January 15, 2010 at 12:21am

Martin is introducing a brand new series of acoustic-electric guitars called the Performing Artist Series. Available in three body sizes (OM, Dreadnought, and the completely new Grand Performance cutaway model), the guitars are built with East Indian rosewood back and sides with a Sitka spruce top. All models include the new Fishman F1 Aura pickup system, controlled with two low-profile knobs recessed in the side of the guitar. Check them out at the newly launched website, www.performingartistseries.com.

Jorma Kaukonen was on hand to help introduce his Custom Artist Edition, an M-30 with East Indian rosewood and Italian spruce. Kaukonen was inspired by a David Bromberg Signature Edition M-42 that he bought after playing the prototype of that guitar during a gig he played with Bromberg. A large crowd gathered around as Kaukonen played a short set at the Martin booth, sounding great as always!

Comment by Teja Gerken, Senior Editor on January 15, 2010 at 12:07am

My visit to NAMM began with a Roland/Boss press conference on Wednesday evening. Among a variety of V-Drums, V-Pianos, vocal processors, etc. where a couple of highlights that will be of interest to performing acoustic guitarists. For starters, Boss has refined its popular stomp-box tuner with an updated display, now calling it the TU-3. But even more interesting is a new battery-powered acoustic amp. The AC-33 looks like a miniature version of Roland’s AC-60 and AC-90 amps, features 30 watts of power in stereo, and runs on eight AA batteries. In a unique twist, the amp offers a built-in 40-second looper that can be accessed with an optional foot pedal.

Finish pickup manufacturer B-Band has also introduced an acoustic amp. Designed by Finland’s high-end hi-fi speaker manufacturer Penaudio, the amp has 100 watts of power, two channels, spring reverb, three-band EQ with sweepable mids, and a wooden cabinet.

Folding guitar specialists Voyage Air has introduced electric guitar version of its Harvey Leach-designed travel guitar concept, and the company is also showing a lower-cost version of its acoustic models. The new VAOM-02 features an OM-size body, laminated mahogany back and sides, a spruce top, and a simplified carrying case. A list price of $449 makes this the most affordable Voyage Air to date.

Dean guitars is introducing a new preamp for several of its acoustic-electric models. Incorporating the Aphex Acoustic Exciter technology, the system enhanced both the high- and low end of the frequency spectrum, yielding a remarkably fat sound.

Blackbird Guitars has introduced a ukulele version of its carbon-fiber instruments. Styled after the company’s Super OM, the instrument has an offset soundhole, hollow neck, and virtually all carbon-fiber construction.

Comment by Scott Nygaard, Senior Editor on January 15, 2010 at 12:00am

It was another fun and busy day at NAMM, starting with breakfast with Walden’s Jon Lee--whose new FSC-certified Madera line, made of 100% sustainable woods, sounded and looked great--and ending with a performance by fingerstyle monster Andy McKee. Here are a few more highlights, in no particular order:

Takamine has a nice new fingerstyle-oriented guitar, the TF740FS, a 12-fret cutaway 000 in cedar and mahogany, with a 1 7/8-inch nut and CoolTube electronics.

Fingerstyle phenom Kaki King has long played Ovations, but Ovation finally came out with a Kaki King signature model, the 1581KK ($2,799) a handsome guitar with a textured top that creates intriguing possibilities for percussive sounds.

Ukes seem to be everywhere, but the coolest one I saw was a Collings archtop uke, which looks like a miniature archtop guitar. It was tough to wrest it from the crowds hanging out in the Collings booth. I’ll have to go back for a closer look tomorrow.

Planet Waves introduced a new stompbox tuner, the Tru-Strobe ($149), housed in a die-cast pedal with a large backlit LCD display, strobe-tuning accuracy, and true bypass circuitry.

My favorite dreadnought of the first day was a Bourgeois Vintage D with varnish finish, an Adirondack top, and Madagascar rosewood back and sides, although I also appreciated the Martin D-28 1955 CFM IV, a Madagascar rosewood dreadnought that commemorates the year of Chris Martin’s birth. As that is also my own birth year, and I have owned a 1956 D-28 for nearly half of my life, it had sentimental interest for me.

There was lots of great music tucked away here and there--Bob Brozman, Paul Asbell, Mike Dowling and others jamming at the National Reso-Phonic booth, and Jens Kruger, probably my favorite five-string banjo player, playing at the Deering Banjos booth.

I’ll be back for more tomorrow.
--Scott Nygaard