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Winter NAMM 2017

  • Fender Custom Shop's gorgeous Studioliner Stratocaster guitar
    Music
    Classic Kodak camera inspires diamond-studded Fender creation
    ​Around this time last year, we featured a jaw-dropping Prestige Collection Telecaster based on an 18th century pocket watch. Fender's Yuriy Shishkov has been raiding the company's jewelry box again, this time to produce the Strat-shaped Studioliner that riffs off of a 1930s Kodak camera.
  • The Pick Slinger lets players grip a plectrum and then flick it out of the way when in the mood for neck tapping or finger picking
    Music
    Pick holder flicks out of the way to let fingers get to work
    ​Some guitarists prefer to pluck strings with fingers, some use picks and others do both. The Pick Slinger is worn like a ring and brings a pick into play with a flip, moves it out of the way with a flick of the wrist, and quickly brings it back again when needed.
  • Even the fingerboard of the Somnium Guitar can be changed, without even having to remove the strings
    Music
    Reconfigurable guitar can be more than the sum of its parts
    Florida startup Somnium Guitars has developed a reconfigurable guitar where modules that change the look or tone of the instrument can be swapped out in less than a minute without needing to break out the toolbox, soldering iron or even change the strings.
  • The Starlight laser-guided pencil mics from Aston Microphones
    Music
    Laser-guided microphone lights the way for precision placement
    ​Repeating golden placement of studio microphones between recording sessions can be a bit of an imprecise pain. The UK's Aston Microphones believes it can help with the Starlight, a pencil microphone with an integrated laser pointer.
  • The Toraiz AS-1 analog synth from Pioneer DJ and Dave Smith Instruments
    Music
    Pioneer adds analog synth to DJ groove toolkit
    More and more, electronic instruments like synthesizers and drum machines have been nudging their way into a DJ's sonic arsenal. Pioneer DJ has collaborated with Dave Smith Instruments to create another tool for music producers, a monophonic synthesizer named the Toraiz AS-1.
  • The Spider V 240HC can be used as a stand-alone combo or an amp head when connected to a speaker cabinet
    Music
    Line 6 turns guitar amplification on its head
    Line 6 has installed a full-range speaker system into its new Spider V 240HC amp head, allowing players to use it as a stand-alone combo amp or connect it to a speaker cabinet to create a stereo half stack.
  • The Savoy three-quarter acoustic guitar is made from Ekoa, a sustainable linen fiber and bio-resin composite
    Music
    Blackbird's Ekoa onslaught continues with first small body acoustic
    Blackbird Guitars is expanding its Ekoa line of instruments. Ekoa is a high performance composite made mostly of linen, and debuted in the company's Clara ukulele, followed two years later by the El Capitan jumbo acoustic. Now a small body acoustic by the name of Savoy joins the family.
  • A match made in tone heaven: the jamstik+ smart learning guitar and the award winning GeoShred virtual guitar and effects app
    Music
    Short smart guitar given direct access to powerful shred app
    ​Zivix, the company behind a stubby 5-fret learning tool called the jamstik+, have snagged direct support for the mini six string in the latest version of Wizdom Music's the award winning music creation app, GeoShred.
  • The cabinets of the Old Ironsides tube amps are made from centuries-old wood from Navy stockpiles
    Music
    Shiver me timbers: Fender plunders historic frigate supplies for one-off amps
    ​Fender's Custom Shop can pretty much always be relied upon to come up with something a little special for the NAMM show. This time is no exception, with the company tapping into some naval history for a couple of amps encased in oak left over from building the USS Constitution.
  • The iRig Acoustic Stage from IK Multimedia
    Music
    Pick-shaped acoustic mic gets its own preamp and DSP
    IK Multimedia's new iRig Acoustic Stage package marries a pick-shaped MEMS microphone with a battery-powered box rocking a preamp and digital signal processing to make any acoustic guitar sound just like it would if it was captured in a traditional recording studio.
  • The Percussa Synthor System 8 modular synthesis setup is made up of a new Engine hardware synth, a Remote controller and base station and eight AudioCube smart controllers (not shown in the render)
    Music
    Tangible modular music system stands on its own
    About 10 years ago, Percussa launched AudioCubes, an e-music system made up of smart cubes that could communicate wirelessly with each other and a computer. A software synth and a Remote controller followed, and now a hardware synth called the Engine has been added to form the Synthor System 8.
  • The Stylophone Gen X-1 debuts at NAMM 2017, before going on sale in May
    Music
    Iconic pocket toy synth gets a powerful tune up
    Dubreq has revealed a new version of the classic Stylophone ahead of NAMM 2017. Like the original, the Gen X-1 has a metal keyboard played using a stylus, runs on batteries and outputs sounds through its own speaker. The new model offers more tone control and a touch sensitive sound strip.
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