Static Live February 2021

Going
to
California,
Kinda
By Randy Pepper
Every January, every musician and store owner
gets psyched to go to California to see what’s
new in the world of musical merchandise. This
year it’s going to be a little different there will be
no NAMM in Anaheim California; this year it’s
going to be virtual. Now there will be seminars
and stuff like that that you can login and watch
on your computer just like you would normally
in person but now you can watch it in your
underwear.
This year they’re going to be honoring Garth
Brooks and Melissa Etheridge and some others.
Some of the musical distributors have already
laid out what’s new. PRS has already done their
virtual launch party. They introduced the 22 fret
new Special Semi-Hollow edition. It has two PRS
58/15 LT humbuckers and a PRS Narrowfield
middle pickup that is paired with a five way
blades switch and two mini toggle switches that
tap the 58/LT pickups. They also re-introduced
the studio model which they also did back in the
1990s and it hasn’t been seen since, but it’s back
in a whole new way. Basically the same thing;
two single coils with one humbucker and a five
way switch. For more info on all the new models
including the new custom 24-08 Visit prsguitars.
com.
Takamine also had their launch party as well.
They introduced their new LTD 2021 Blue Rose
edition and a few others. You can check those
out as well at takamine.com. Gibson announced
that they would do their virtual show starting
January 18th and in the coming weeks you’ll see
more and more retailers coming out with new
models - we will see models from Fender and
others.
The best way to follow all the action is to go to
those websites and see when their launch parties
are or keep an eye on YouTube as most of them
will be streamed live for everyone to watch. That
is a big deal because in the past you had to have
a pass just to get in to NAMM and if you didn’t
own a music store or know somebody in the
music industry, you didn’t get in. This year is so
different as everyone will get to see what’s new in
the world of MI. It will be interesting to see if we
only miss the January event and not the summer
NAMM; all of the guitar shows are still canceled
until the summer but God willing we get to do
those shows as well.
Although there has been talk of Holding a virtual
guitar show, I don’t know how this would work
because you would have so many dealers from
all over the country trying to sell their stuff and
not be able to do trades and buying as well. One
thing is for sure - this has been a very strange
time for everyone and that includes all of the
musical industry, let’s just hope by this time next
year we’re back to normal.
Randy Pepper is the
owner of the Guitar Attic
and Holly Hill and a
Guitarist for hire.