Namm '24

[Doctor Jeff]

That Collings is HOT.

I totally agree. LOVE the vintage vibe with the piano black and tortoiseshell. The pickup covers/rings are very similar to Gretsch, which goes for a similar retro look.

[jzucker]

This is the one that caught my attention. A lot to like here.

Sire Larry Carlton L5
– Sire USA

Attachment 108294

After my dad died in 2021, i spent 2+ years playing bass almost exclusively. (dad was a bassist). I had a bunch of really expensive, hand made basses. I sold them all when I realized that dad would have wanted me to stick to guitar. However, I bought a $399 Sire Marcus Miller M7. Honestly, it blows away the hand-made, boutique basses I had!

[jzucker]

I took a look at all the photos of this guitar and the binding and pieces matching the binding are a huge part of the cosmetics of this guitar. It's not just the binding itself. There's a very ornate pickguard, binding material in the pickup face plates, a binding material cap on the back of the neck joint, and an obviously custom truss rod cover. It's part of a very unique look and Collings is REALLY good at that kind of detail work and they take a lot of pride in it. That's what I really think they were referring to but words got processed by a PR professional instead of their own craftsmen so it doesn't tell the story as well as it should. Have a look at a few more pictures and it becomes obvious what they were trying to achieve. (I have to say, that if I were a much wealthier man, I would love to own this guitar).

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i dunno man, a $6k guitar with plastic binding doesn't do much for me..

[starjasmine]

OK, I watched it again. He says "A lot of guys can get a really good guitar now, and don't have to pay Gibson prices, you know?"

Saying "don't have to pay Gibson prices" while looking directly into the camera struck me as sending a message to Gibson. I first saw this video on a large-screen TV, which seemed to bring out the nuance of the direct stare into the camera a lot more than watching it on a smaller computer monitor.

[Hammertone]

Another one for the books, until the next one. It was a busy four days. Höfner was located in a relatively quiet hall, next to Hal Leonard. They did have a small performance corner, the high point (for me) being when Wolf Marshall played a set. That was swell. More to come regardiing gear...

[Polyp]

How many days in a due course? :-/

The same number as inches in a piece of string.

[Hammertone]

Not much happening in the archtop world to be seen at NAMM. Sad, but makes sense, given that hollow archtop guitars are teeny percentage of guitar sales. Prototypes of the Metheny CC model were on display over in Ibanez land, locked in their holders. Cheap little laminated guitar w/a CC pickup.

[Jim Soloway]

i dunno man, a $6k guitar with plastic binding doesn't do much for me..

I like the look and more importantly, a 24 1/8" scale length would be very special to me. There's not a lot of choices for archtops with scale lengths below 24.75" regardless of features. But honestly, at $6,000 (if that's what it is) it doesn't really matter what the binding is made of or what the scale length may be, it's probably not going to be for me.

[Hammertone]

Eastman AR372CE-SB, with an MSRP of $1,699:

[Hammertone]

Sire:

[Hammertone]

D'Angelico:

[Hammertone]

More Ibanez:

[Hammertone]

Collings:

[Hammertone]

There were one or two more hollow archtops (like the Godin models previously posted) among the vast sea of solidbodies, semis, and flattops. I suppose it's good news that cheap but good laminated archtops are still being shown at a nakedly commercial event like NAMM.

It was nice to see Collings displaying an Eastside LC jazz guitar (didn't check to see which version) - They are lovely guitars.

[Hammertone]

Over on Hofnerland, we had the usual - some nice Chinese guitars, some cheap Chinese guitars, some lovely German basses, some German classical guitars and a couple of German steel-string guitars. A bit of news - Höfner is making a few German-made Verythin Standard guitars - these are excellent instruments - 25 1/4" scale, spruce block, ebony board, super-flamey maple neck and body, etceteras.

[Jim Soloway]

Sire:

How were these Sires? Any idea what the weight was like?

[Hammertone]

I took a look at all the photos of this guitar and the binding and pieces matching the binding are a huge part of the cosmetics of this guitar. It's not just the binding itself. There's a very ornate pickguard, binding material in the pickup face plates, a binding material cap on the back of the neck joint, and an obviously custom truss rod cover. It's part of a very unique look and Collings is REALLY good at that kind of detail work and they take a lot of pride in it. That's what I really think they were referring to but words got processed by a PR professional instead of their own craftsmen so it doesn't tell the story as well as it should. Have a look at a few more pictures and it becomes obvious what they were trying to achieve. (I have to say, that if I were a much wealthier man, I would love to own this guitar).

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The boys over at Deviser have stumbled around this in their special way as well, using tortoiseshell plastic and other acoustic flattop design cues on a flat-top electric.

[jads57]

I don’t really care for any of these Archtop offering except the D’Angelico small 15” Mark Whitfield model. And even then it’s probably got to thin of a neck profile for my taste.

[Sleeko]

These chubby Dangelico's look mighty fine to me.

D'Angelico:

[mr. beaumont]

These chubby Dangelico's look mighty fine to me.

Yeah, that fatboy with the DeArmond is my jam.

[Hammertone]

How were these Sires? Any idea what the weight was like?

They all looked like shiny poly-finished, cheap Furutama to me. I'm sure many of them sound and play fine. No idea about weight or details.

[Litterick]

I guess I meant and was wondering, what then, everyone else would pay for a booth that size at that show

I did a search ( good or bad ? ) the venue being the Anaheim Convention Center, and it came back at $40. a sq. foot, sold in 100 sq. ft. increments..

So a 5 ft x 20 ft booth is $4000. ?? Gulp.

How many retailers will see that booth, and its tenant's products?

[cmajor9]

Just remember… how they look and how they sound are two different things.

These chubby Dangelico's look mighty fine to me.

.

[himself]

The middle one is not 2024 news, is it?

[AllanAllen]

Not much happening in the archtop world to be seen at NAMM. Sad, but makes sense, given that hollow archtop guitars are teeny percentage of guitar sales. Prototypes of the Metheny CC model were on display over in Ibanez land, locked in their holders. Cheap little laminated guitar w/a CC pickup.

Cheap little laminated guitar w/a CC pickup

Yes please, this is exactly what I want to buy.