Helmet guitar

NAMM supposedly stands for the “National Association of Music Manufacturers.” It’s purportedly a trade show for music instruments and technology. But, for brief but glorious moments, “NAMM show” translates in English to “ridiculous musical stuff.” Just how ridiculous? We’re talking guitars made out of football helmets.

Just in case you think you might extract any respectability from this $299 novelty guitar, there’s more: interchangeable face masks. Multiple colors for matching your favorite team (you’ll have to provide the logos — guess they didn’t pony up for a license). A built-in speaker, just in case an amp looks too, you know, professional. And the pièce de résistance, football-shaped guitar picks.

Any pride left? Well, how about filming a demo video playing this,(inexplicably) shirtless. Hint: do not tell, say, potential dates or job interviews “Last night, I took off my shirt and started totally wailing on my helmet guitar!” That could be interpreted in way too many ways, none of them not wrong.

Hey, at least Miesel Stringed Instruments doesn’t have any illusions. They promise the guitar “will have you rockin’ all the way from your rec room at home, college dorm, tailgate party, to the Super Bowl after party!”

Read more in Peter Kirn's article at Createdigitalmusic.com.

Maven Peal Ships First Impact Pedal, The Howler

Impact pedals are a new pedal category that incorporate Maven Peal's patented Sag Circuit power supply design features into a small, compact pedal. Impact pedals change the feel of the strings as well as the sound of your tone without negatively impacting your neighbors, family, band members and your ear drums.

"What's really fun about the Howler is that you can use it in a variety of ways, including a Clean/Fat Boost, a Clean Treble Boost, Jazzy/Tweedy Dark Compression, Overdrive and as a Clean Buffer for driving long cables/difficult loads, or as a Clean Buffer with additional sag. You can do so much with this pedal, some guitarists are already using two Howlers: one in front of the amp as a Clean Treble Boost and/or Overdrive, and one in the recording signal chain to add warmth (sag) to the signal," explains Dave Zimmerman, Maven Peal's president and circuit designer. "You can't make a loose amp tight with the Howler, but you sure can take a tight amp, such as a transistor or modeling amp, and make it bloom like never before."

The Howler is handcrafted using the same audiophile quality components used in Maven Peal amplifiers, giving you a transparent tone and very low noise floor. The Peal knob allows you to add that saggy, compressed feeling and smoothed out high end of a cranked amp to any amplifier, including transistor and modeling amps. Because the Peal knob behaves differently with different guitar volumes and Gain knob settings, and doesn't need to be pushed into overdrive to sag the signal, the Howler offers a new and unique range of control over your tone.

The Howler offers Gain, Tone, Peal™ and Volume knob controls and runs on an 18 volt adapter for more headroom (no internal batteries). Input, Output and Power jacks are located at the front of the box (as opposed to the side) for easy access when mounted to a pedal board. Retailing for $450 plus shipping, the Howler is available direct from Maven Peal Instruments.

The Maven Peal Sag Circuit (patent numbers 5,635,872 and 5,909,145) takes MI amplifier technology into the 21st century by giving guitarists and bassists genuine control over the vintage sound and feel of power supply sag using today's components. Maven Peal Instruments, Inc. uses nonlinear analysis (chaos theory) to design audio and musical instrument amplifiers.

BSM Introduces The VX-C Classic Pedal

The BSM VX-C Classic model is the most authentic copy of the British Vox Treble and Bass booster from the late 60's. It offers the original tone network and gain making it the perfect copy of this out-of-production stompbox.
The VX-C Classic model includes a tone control, that allows an extraordinary amount of versatility from a woolly bass tone up to a sparkling high-end vintage sound. It's also possible to produce the sound of a wah-wah pedal, set to a fixed middle position. So you can create the sound of Michael Schenker during his work with UFO or Mick Ronson, guitarist in the early 70s David Bowie backing band the Spiders.

The booster is true bypass and can powered only by battery and has no external power supply. The BSM full guarantee periods are 1 year for all mechanical parts, including the switch, pots, jacks, etc. and 3 years for the electronics.
MSRP: €180.00
For more information, visit their web site at www.treblebooster.net.

Ampeg Debuts New Dan Armstrong AMG100 Electric Guitar At NAMM

With its distinctive Plexiglas body and unique interchangeable pickup system, Ampeg's Dan Armstrong "see-through" guitar has been turning heads and impressing discerning guitarists since its introduction in 1969. Now, nearly four decades later, Ampeg is unveiling its AMG100 electric guitar line — wood-bodied iterations of the famed original, which was reissued in 2006 as the ADA6. Offering nearly the same specifications as the ultra-thin ADA6 — albeit crafted from traditional vintage electric guitar tone woods instead of clear acrylic — the new AMG100 is available in three versions: AMG100 BLD ($949.99 list / $729.99 MAP), featuring a lightweight swamp ash body with vintage blonde finish and single-ply black pick guard; AMG100 CH ($699.99 list / $529.99 MAP), with its lightweight mahogany body sporting a vintage cherry finish and laminated black pick guard; and AMG100 BK ($599.99 list / $449.99 MAP), featuring an alder body with black finish and tortoise-shell pick guard.
Boasting both the symmetrical, double-cutaway body and removable pickup system that set the Dan Armstrong design apart from other electric guitars, each of the three AMG100 models features a 24.75-inch-scale bolt-on maple neck, 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, and unique neck joint permitting easy access to two full octaves of riffage on every string. Above the nut, the headstock incorporates nickel Grover die cast tuners, which are positioned for nearly direct string pull while being close-coupled for minimum string tension differences. The result is a guitar that stays in tune even under the duress of overzealous windmills Swappable pickups supplied with the guitar include the single-coil "Rock Treble" and dual-coil "Sustain Treble" controllable via retro-styled rotary pots for volume and tone, as well as a three-way tone switch offering multiple "presets" from a single pickup. The center switch position allows the tone circuit to be bypassed, while the other two positions enable the single tone control to affect different frequencies as the tone knob is adjusted.
The Ampeg AMG100 along with other new Ampeg/LOUD products for 2008, will be on display in booth #5776 (Hall B) at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim, California, from January 17-20.
For more information, visit their web site at www.ampeg.com.