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Jul 29, 2023

NAMM 2023: Biggest guitar, pedal and amp announcements

Everything you need to know about NAMM 2023. Image: Daniel Knighton Get

Everything you need to know about NAMM 2023.

Image: Daniel Knighton

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This year's edition of the NAMM Show is set to take place from 13 to 15 April, and while it's no big secret that Fender, Gibson and PRS won't be showcasing at the event, there are still plenty of big and exciting gear announcements to go around.

From Martin and ESP to Earthquaker and more – stay tuned as we bring you the latest guitars, pedals, amps announcements from NAMM 2023, right here.

Fender Audio has unveiled The Riff, a portable bluetooth speaker which also doubles up as a practice guitar amplifier.

This small speaker offers 30 hours of battery life and can be used to play guitar or bass through, as well as music. It has slider controls on its top panel (which supposedly emulate the feeling of sliding your fingers down a fretboard) to adjust volume, bass and treble.

Further controls can be accessed using the Fender Control app.

Córdoba Guitars has launched an all-new Natural Amber finish for its popular electro-nylon hybrid guitar, The Stage. The original Stage earned an 8/10 from us at Guitar.com when we tried it out last year (2022).

The new finish for the model comes with all the usual specs, and is equipped with the revolutionary pickup system that was co-developed with Fishman, as seen in the original. The Stage also includes a recycled Nylon Gig Bag made from microplastics and discarded fishing nets to reduce global impact. Find out more at CordobaGuitars.com.

Ashdown has launched the MF 484 amplifier, which combines "the classic tone of a valve amp and the modern technology of amp modelling", coming loaded with a Two Notes Torpedo system. This lets you forgo a real cabinet and use one of six high-quality IRs.

Ibanez has expanded its already healthy lineup of signature guitars. Alongside new guitars for Lari Basillo, Paul Stanley and more is a new signature for Ichika Nito, based on the slightly out-there Talman platform.

Gold, gold, gold – that seems to be the theme with Mateus Asato's latest collaboration with Suhr. The guitar virtuoso shared a snippet of his latest T-style signature models, which includes one with goldfoil pickups. We’re also apparently going to be hearing these guitars on Asato's much-anticipated debut album. Stay tuned for more.

A post shared by Mateus Asato (@mateusasato)

Following from the Surfliner announced last year, Guild is back with the Surfliner Deluxe, which trades the string-through body design for an elegant and vintage-flavoured Floating Vibrato Tailpiece.

Guild says that the new tailpiece will open up the Surfliner "to new playing styles, capable of a broad range of vibrato effects, from subtle flutters to deep swell," and has also equipped the tailpiece with a easily accessible tension screw.

The highly anticipated six-string model of Tosin Abasi's radical Kaizen guitars is unleashed. The six-string Kaizen retains most of the appointments of its seven-string predecessor, and is available in the same multi-scale design that fans from 24.75" to 25.5". There's also custom wound Ernie Ball humbuckers to look forward to. It comes in a standard Apollo Black, while Indigo, Mint and Chalk are available in limited quantities of 60 per colour.

Godin Guitars has added to its Multiac range of acoustic guitars with the Multiac Mundial, which features an updated, modernised look, and ultra-light construction with a Silver Leaf Maple body, Cedar top and Spanish Cedar neck. The hollow-body guitar also comes equipped with the Godin Double Source Custom preamp found on their Encore models, which allows players to mix the undersaddle pickup with the two body sensors in the guitar.

Takamine announced an array of new acoustic models, including a limited-run LTD2023 to celebrate the Sante Fe series 30th anniversary. There's also six additions to the G series that range in shapes.

Eastman has introduced a new version of the Juliet electric guitar it launched at last year's NAMM, Juliet LA comes dressed in a Celestine Blue Truetone Gloss finish, with a matching headstock.

Juliet LA features a lightweight one-piece Okoume body that's "sculpted for maximum comfort and playability" and an original offset body design by head designer Otto D’Ambrosio. There's now also a pair of Seymour Duncan Radiator Phat Cat P-90s with gold foil covers, Göldo K-line locking tuners to keep the instrument in tune, a Göldo Les Trem system with Göldo 3-Point Vario "moving" bridge to limit top contact, and allow for "maximum articulation, sustain, and resonance".

Seagull Guitars has marked its 41st anniversary with the launch of a vintage-minded acoustic: the Seagull S6 Collection 1982 dreadnought. Made entirely in Canada with sustainably sourced wood, the guitar features a pressure-tested solid Cedar top with Wild Cherry back and sides, and a natural finish that contributes to a bright, rich and warm tone.

Acoustic players aren't being left out in the pedal game – Fishman's new AFX Mini pedals for acoustic guitars add dimensions to your performance while taking up little room on your pedal board. They include the AcoustiVerb, Broken Record Looper/Sampler and the Pro EQ Mini. Each feature 32-bit processing alongside true bypass and buffered bypass options, all while housed in a compact enclosure.

ESP has prepped a serious plethora of models for 2023 ranging from updated artist series models and LTD Deluxe models, to new additions to the Japan-built E-II Series. Artists getting updated or new signature models include James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Bill Kelliher (Mastodon), Gary Holt (Exodus), Javier Reyes (Animals As Leaders), Lars Frederiksen (Rancid), Nergal (Behemoth), and Stephen Carpenter (Deftones).

Meanwhile, the Japan-built E-II series includes 12 new entries, including two new arrow models, four new E-II Eclipse series guitars, and four more guitars to the E-II M Series.

Electro-Harmonix has made the Lizard Queen octave fuzz available to buy, a year after Josh Scott dreamed up, DIY-ed and geeked out over the pedal on his JHS Show. The resulting pedal – designed by Scott and artist Daniel Danger – is a gloriously fuzz love letter to 70s-era Electro-Harmonix – available at just $99.

Taylor's esteemed Builder's Edition collection has grown once again with the addition of the 814ce acoustic-electric model, which is designed with an emphasis on "ultra-premium feel and sound".

The flagship Grand Auditorium guitar sports a four-piece top Adirondack spruce top, paired with solid Indian rosewood back and sides, and a Neo-Tropical Mahogany neck.

Sterling by Music Man has rolled out choice updates for the "Goldie" St. Vincent Signature, the Cutlass CT50 Plus and Cutlass CT30HSS, Albert Lee's AL40P, and the Mariposa. These range from new pickup configurations, to new body finishes and new build materials – and each of the guitars will be available onwards from 1 May.

Universal Audio's highly-praised UAFX pedal series gets three more additions for 2023 with the Del-Verb Ambience Companion, Galaxy ‘74 Tape Echo & Reverb, and Max Dual Preamp & Compressor.

Once again, each of these are inspired by the sounds of classic guitar studio equipment. The Galaxy ’74 in particular features an "exacting emulation" of the Roland Space Echo from the 70s.

Old Blood Noise Endeavours drops a new chorus pedal with a twist, the BL-82 Chorus Variable Clock Effector pedal uses a variable clock control to shift between shimmering chorus and chaotic modulated delays. Though described as a chorus, the BL-82 sits somewhere between chorus and flanger. Two delay lines are modulated by opposite synchronised LFOs combined in parallel, providing swirling sounds. The clock control can then adjust both delay speed and modulation for more experimentation.

Warbling tones, nervy vibrato and flanging rock sounds abound – Earthquaker's new Aurelius is a Tri-Voice chorus pedal with three effect modes, and six editable presets. The device draws inspiration from the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble – originally released in the ’70s – but with a much more compact and modern design. Users can choose between three modes, Vibrato, Chorus and Rotary, and can manipulate their Width, Rate, and Balance to achieve their desired sound.

The German guitar amp makers are celebrating its 40th anniversary with the launch of "extremely limited" Fireball 100 and 25 amps – each decorated in a red and white racing stripe design. These collector's pieces are limited to just 40 units (with matching cabinets) each.

Martin is once again spicing things up with the launch of six swanky limited-edition acoustic guitars, including ones with artwork by Klaus Voormann, Robert Goetzl and Martin Goetz, a Bitcoin guitar and a model designed by brand CEO Thomas Ripsam.

The guitar brand also introduced three new models to its 2023 ukulele lineup, including one in partnership with iconic lifestyle brand, Life is Good, and on top of that, additions to its award-winning Junior series with the first Junior Bass models, Jr. Bass strings, and a new 000CJR-10E StreetMaster.

Composite guitar maker RUF Guitars has unveiled its new full carbon Schrödinger Series, which features guitars crafted with a proprietary composite material, Ruffaine. The Schrödinger Series is "fully tonally adjustable" and "remarkably insensitive" to temperature and humidity changes, making it an ideal choice for touring musicians looking for both versatility and reliability.

Vox and Brian May teamed up on a pair of limited-edition guitar amplifiers – the MV50 and AmPlug – this NAMM season to bring authentic Queen tones in compact sizes. the MV50 and its accompanying 1×8 cabinet takes advantage of Vox's Nutube technology to push 25 watts of output from a remarkably small head. Meanwhile, the AmPlug is a headphone amplifier that's meant to be plugged into your guitar's output jack and features some authentic effects, including a Wembley-style phaser and chorus.

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