Barry Wood's NAMM Oddities 2023 Edition

 Packrat Barry

Other Goodies

80% Less Filling

This is an entirely new speaker technology that's designed to produce the frequency response of a typical guitar cabinet in a very compact form factor. Another big bonus is that you don't have to worry about mic placement since there's no on-axis "kill zone."

eminent-tech

What's Good For The Goose…

If you're going to reduce the size of the cabinet, why not the amp head too? Laney has put a 60W guitar amp into a stomp box.

laney

Great For Bass Players With Bad Backs

Not wanting to leave the bass players out of the march of miniaturization, Trace Elliot has created an ultra compact bass amplifier that puts out 200 watts and weighs just over a pound and half.

traceelliot

Plunge Prevention

Add this spring-loaded quick release gadget to your strap and never again worry about an unscheduled unstrapping.

theroklok

Very Simple, Very Clever

This is a different approach to a strap lock. It doesn't have the cool quick release of the Rol-lok but it makes up for it by also handling cable management. Looping your instrument cable through this will keep the locking portion secured to your strap button.

ivucreator

LED Sidelines

EGOguitar has added yet another option to their build-a-guitar system that I saw a few shows back.

Formidable Flash

If you want to turn your singer/songwriter solo gig into a Vegas act, this is the add-on for you. Fortunately it doesn't require any permanent modifications of your guitar.

Junior's First Amp

These little battery-powered amps from Lorcan might look like something from Fisher-Price, but they deliver grown-up sound. The guitar amp includes distortion and delay and the bass amp had compression and boost.

calinemusic

The Unforgettable Stand

Well, you might forget it--as in stop thinking about it--but it's literally impossible to leave behind since it's attached to the guitar.

fret37

One Gain Pedal to Rule Them All

Why just have one or two gain pedals when you can have multitudes? Apparently the Josh Smith Flat V is popular with country session players, which makes sense because with just this and an amp you can cover a lot of tonal ground.

polyeffects2

Promoting Decision Paralysis

Not only can you swap in different sets of pickups, there are a plethora of on-board effects modules. Guitarists might not want to let their significant others know about this guitar since it removes much of the rationale of having a stable of them.

sharkguitars

Gluteus Pickimus

With a name like Anatomy of Sound, you have to know they've got body parts on the brain, and this pick proves it.

anatomyofsound

Transducer Infiltration

As the name so sneakily suggests, the 2Mic has two mics. There's an internal system that puts the output jack in the endpin (bottom cutaway photo) and a "studio" model that clips to the outside of the guitar (top photo) and allows for internal and external positioning of the mics.

the2mic

Dual Path

If your instrument has a TRS output (like for an internal mic and piezo pickup) you can plug it into these pedals, which have switches that allow each pedal to process either or both outputs. Very clever and very compact.

fishman

Sharpen That Ginsu

All I'm saying is that the horse would have to be sliced very, very thinly in order to be considered even vaguely translucent.

prsguitars

Tasty Tone

There are so many boutique pedal makes out there that you really need an angle to set yourself apart. In this case it's pedals named after food. You do, of course, run the risk of rehearsal being called early on account of everyone mysteriously wanting Asian take-out.

From left to right: Spicy Curry, Miso-Katsu (pork cutlet), Raw Eggs and Rice.

r-diner-sounds

Hentai Adjacent

While the manga artwork on these pedals doesn't actually get into Hentai territory, there are several that would definitely be NSFCG (Not Suitable For Church Gigs).

soundprojectsiva

Craft Beer & Boutique Pedals

I've got to imagine that there are artists who have created artwork both for pedals and beer cans.

kinkguitarpedals

Security Measures

If you've got your settings where you want them and don't want them accidentally changed between gigs, just drop the shield and practice safe sets.

ovaltone

Don’t Be A Fool, Cover Your Tool

You never know what horrors might befall your microphone when you're not on stage.

maloneystagegearcovers

Look Ma, No Hands

This overdrive pedal allows you to dial it up and down with your foot while you're playing. Maybe one of these would help Jonny Greenwood spend less time on his knees, but probably not.

blackmountainpicks

Hearing Loss Rate Indicators

Now people around you can see what sound levels you're subjecting yourself to. Kidding aside, these are pretty cool Bluetooth headphones that have track skip buttons and a mobile app that let you change the EQ and the meter backlight color.

metersmusic
Next Up: Percussion

©2023 Barry Wood