| This has got to be one of the coolest pieces of gear I've seen. How about half a watt
of pure class A tube power that fits in the palm of your hand. Oh yeh, it will push a 4x12
cab with ease. This unique device is the ZVex Nano Amp ($499 list) which you can check out at
www.zvex.com. The folks a ZVex also had one of the
coolest booth themes that I saw,
usually Ernie Ball has this category nailed but this the ZVex guys and gals one hands down.
Everyone was dressed in lab coats with the whole mad scientist thing happening. They also
produce a full range of effects in some wildly colored boxes.
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Speeking of Ernie Ball Music Man, they had the whole NFL thing happening. Complete
with custom painted helmets, cheer leaders and Sterling Ball dressed a Vince Lombardie. Nothing really
new guitar wise from EB/MM but since they always have the coolest booth them I had to include
them. You can check out their stuff at www.ernieball.com
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| Another cool product is the Axe Hugger(
www.axehugger.com. The Axe Hugger wraps around your guitar stand for added protection.
I know all my stands the rubber has cracked and is falling off, definately some great thinking
on these folks part.
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| A quick detour to the land of recording where everything has gone digital. A new
product, a new spin on an old product and new software from Cakewalk. Let's start with
Cakewalk (www.cakewalk.com) which announced Project 5.
Project 5 is a softsynth program that allows for the creation of numerous "soft" synths giving
you unlimited synths for any recording project.
How about a new PC to record with, the folks at MusicXPC (
www.musicxpc.com) have developed a small form factor, smaller than a bread box, that has
been optimized for hard disk recording and is virtually silent.
Need a way to capture those ideas and you left your studio engineer at home. Then the Digitech
www.digitech.com RPx400 or GNX3 are just what you need.
These new guitar processors are designed for recording and combined with Digitech's version
of Sonar can select, arm and start recording a track with a foot switch.
Also, Creative Labs who are better known for their Soundblaster line of products have released
a PC keyboard with 49 piano keys built in so you can lay down some quick piano lines.
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| How about some Fender action. Fender has re-released the '64 VibroVerb with a few small
changes compared to the reissue from around 1992. This reissue comes with 1x15" speaker
while the earlier model had a 2x10 configuration.
While were in Fender-land, how about a paisley tele. Where have I seen this paint before?
This tele is a custom shop only paint scheme, wonder where the better deal is?
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Since where talking about the big boys how about some Gibby action. The first is new
prototype SG unfortunately you will need the matching Viper to afford this guitar. Those of
you who visit often know about my pention for gold tops so I couldn't pass up this Les Paul
double cutaway.
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| Having lived in Mississippi for a number of years and marrying a southern bell from the
same state I gotta check out what Peavey is showing off and besides they hand out shot glasses
every year. This year it was all about Jaeger Miester with a XXX stack decked out in the
Jaeger scheme. As always there were plenty of custom EVH's decorating the walls including one
covered in cut up credit cards. Eddie dropped by the booth on Saturday but the crowd kept some
of us away.
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