NAMM 2024: all the latest guitar news, rumors and predictions from the greatest gear show on Earth
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(Image credit: Press)
NAMM 2024: Itās that time of year again. And by that, we mean the new year. And with the new year comes new gear, courtesy of our favorite guitar show: NAMM.
Held at Anaheim Convention Center in (hopefully) sunny California, NAMM is the hottest ticket to see the latest and greatest guitars, amps and pedals weāll be plugging in over the next 12 months.
Itās fair to say that NAMM has had a rocky ride post-Covid. While NAMM 2020 was a blowout banner year for the show, its 2022 return was markedly more low-key.
Industry heavyweights Fender, Gibson and PRS didnāt return after the pandemic, and whole sections of the labyrinthine Convention Center were closed off. But as we noted in our post-show roundup, it didnāt dampen NAMMās welcoming atmosphere, and made for a more personal event. Big launches from the likes of Ibanez, ESP and Ernie Ball Music Man certainly helped.
2022ās event was held in June, while last yearās festivities took place in April. For 2024, NAMM has settled back into its traditional January timeframe, and with it, weāre seeing the return of exhibitors who might have skipped the first post-pandemic shindigs.
With that in mind, NAMM 2024 is something of a make or break moment for the event ā particularly in a climate where expos such as the videogame industryās E3 have indicated they are done for good.
But weāre already confident this will be a NAMM to remember. The second we logged back onto our emails after a particularly indulgent festive holiday, we were already being tipped off about a number of hot new releases. It feels like thereās genuine excitement around NAMM again, and that is most definitely a reason to celebrate.
With that in mind, weāve rounded up everything fit to print: the biggest news so far, the rumors gathering steam and our own theories, piped direct from the GW teamās brains and/or Magic 8 Ball.
Come at us, NAMM 2024 ā weāre ready for youā¦
NAMM 2024 electric guitar news
Rabea Massaad’s signature Music Man Sabre prototypes ā surely we’ll see the final product at NAMMā¦ (Image credit: Rabea Massaad/YouTube)After offering a surprisingly in-depth look at his new Ernie Ball Music Man signature models just before the holidays, Rabea Massaad is sure to be officially unveiling his tasty new designs at the show. Baked maple bodies, flamed maple necks, extra cutaway carves and Massaadās signature Bare Knuckle Silosā¦ Yep, these will be a highlight.Ibanez always goes hard at NAMM. Always. And wasnāt Tim Henson playing an eight-string TOD recently?2024 marks the return of Dean Guitars after a tricky couple of years of Gibson lawsuits and financial wrangles. But judging from what weāve seen so far ā the classy, Fishman-loaded neck-thru Exile Select, and returning Vengeance and Zero models ā the companyās guitars are more competitively specād and priced than ever, not to mention being much more in line with 2024 aesthetically, too. Weāll be intrigued to see what else the resurgent company brings to the table.
Mick Thomson is now endorsing ESP Guitars and Fishman. Signature gear incoming in one, two, threeā¦ (Image credit: Fishman)Back in May 2023, ESP Guitars announced it had lured Slipknotās Mick Thomson away from Jackson. Hereās hoping their first signature collaboration will be ready for the show ā maybe with some signature Fishman Fluence humbuckers along for the rideā¦Chapman Guitars will likely be showcasing finished versions of its signature models for Black Stone Cherryās Chris Robertson and āDanishā Pete HonorĆ©.Guild Guitars ā now under the Yamaha umbrella ā will be brandishing its extremely long-awaited Kim Thayil signature model. Can we expect a major play given the new ownership?Speaking of Yamaha, itās been a while since weāve seen an electric guitar launch from the Japanese company. Thereās been a lot of discussion about the Revstar range of late, particularly thanks to a certain Matteo Mancuso. It would be a missed opportunity not to capitalize on his success, says us.Musical polymath Jacob Collier made alarmingly good use of a custom five-string Strandberg creation last year, using an altered D A E A D tuning. Could we see a production model? Stranger things have happened.Reverend is teasingā¦ something. Something electric guitar-shaped with a bridge humbucker. And a tremolo. In a fetching shade of blue.NAMM 2024 guitar amp and modeler news
Controlled via your smartphone, and with no screen in sight: the Kemper Profiler Player. (Image credit: Kemper)Those cheeky geniuses at Kemper HQ dropped their smallest Profiler yet, the Profiler Player, in the final week before Christmas. Controlled via your smartphone, and with no screen in sight, itās a bold move from the German company, but crams an entire guitar rig into one compact pedal.Neural DSP finally launched its dedicated desktop controller, Cortex Control, but we would be extremely surprised if a new plugin or even ā whisper it ā amp modeler didnāt pop up at the show. Even if itās just an update for an existing plugin, a la Plini X.Positive Grid is returning to NAMM this year, and will be showcasing the Spark CAB, its flagship FRFR speaker. Will it seek to expand its live offerings? Or focus on the home?IK Multimedia is planning something. We know this much. Could a bigger TONEX modeling pedal be on the cards? Maybe one that combines the companyās underrated X-Gear pedals for a Quad Cortex-rivaling multi-FX? Thatās what weād do if we were in the IK driving seat, anyway.NAMM 2024 guitar pedal news
Still haven’t the delay you’re looking for? (Sorry). MXR’s Joshua Ambient Echo promises to be the Edge in a box. Minus the hat. (Image credit: MXR/Instagram)The big news from BOSS is that itās back at NAMM, to be honest. And still in the throes of its 50th anniversary, weāre bound to see some new limited-editions alongside some fresh stompbox designs. Full-scale SP-1 Spectrum reissue? (No.)MXR kicked off the new year in style, dropping the not-so-subtly named Joshua Ambient Echo, which crams the Edgeās classic delay tones in one compact pedal. Thereās bound to be more from Dunlop and co, too.EarthQuaker Devices has brought its popular Plumes overdrive to bass players with a dedicated low-end offering. The Blumes delivers double the gain, and a deeper response, for the same $99 price tag.Strymon has been releasing a mean line of downsized pedals, starting with the Cloudburst and moving onto the Brig dBucket Delay and UltraViolet Vintage Vibe. Whatās next on their agenda?Jack Whiteās Third Man Hardware are a surprisingly reliable presence at NAMM, and regularly unveil fresh collaborations with pedal manufacturers. The surprise here is that this yearās collab is with budget gear specialist Donner. But what the heck is it? Some kind of multi-FX?
Friedman IR-X, Morgan IR-X, Tone King IR-Xā¦ We’d love to see it. (Image credit: Friedman Amplification)Friedmanās recent IR-X put the companyās revered tube preamps on your pedalboard, complete with impulse responses. It was a genuinely exciting launch, and with Friedman coming under the Boutique Amps Distribution banner, weād be surprised not to see further offerings in this style, perhaps from Morgan or Tone King.UAFX, Universal Audioās guitar pedal offshoot, has been going from strength to strength ā especially after moderately famous guitarist the Edge started using its amp-modeling stompboxes at U2ās Sphere residency. Following the release of the Plexi-inspired Lion ā68 back in October, weād take a punt on something higher-gainā¦ Letās say Boogie, 5150 or JCM-based.After its recent foray into modular synthesis, Gamechanger Audio ā of Light Pedal and Bigsby Pedal fame ā has been awfully quiet on the guitar front for a whileā¦ Could we see some madcap new designs this year?In 2023, Revv dropped the Shawn Tubbs Tilt Boost. Weād bet the office capo on something new from the Canadian co.Zoom really piqued our interest with the revival of its cult compact MultiStomp multi-FX back in October ā weād love to see this expand into twin-footswitch formats. Just sayingā¦Line 6 will be present at the Yamaha booth, as per. The HX One landed back in October ā can we expect any more spinoffs from the Helix line? Or something new altogether?NAMM 2024 acoustic guitar newsMartin says itās āon the edge of something groundbreakingā. Following the success of its radical offset SC series, weāre intrigued to see whatās in storeā¦The last release we saw from Taylor was the Beacon, an astonishingly well-equipped clip-on tuner. Could we see more forays into electronics at NAMM? Alongside some classy new acoustics, no doubt ā more American Dream and environmentally sound models, perhapsā¦
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master’s degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade’s experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O’Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you’ll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
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