Every year during the month of June, musical instrument manufacturers from all over the world get together to show each other and the public what they have been working on in their research and development labs over the past 12 months. The results of their hard labor are brought forth at a huge convention that attracts music dealers, musicians, journalists and consumers from every corner of the music business who come to check out the new equipment.

This giant hoopla is called the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show^ and to cover in detail the guitars alone that will be shown at NAMM would take up half this publication; however, some well-chosen phone calls and conversations have provided me with some advance info that you guitar and bass freaks will, I hope, find useful So, bearing in mind that not every guitar company will be mentioned due to space considerations and also due to the fact that some companies were not at liberty to discuss their new products until they are unveiled at the NAMM show, here is a preview of what’s to come in 1981-82.

In recent years the two giants of the American guitar market, Gibson and Fender, have met with stiff competition both from home and abroad, but both companies are showing signs of bouncing back to revive their product line with some fresh new models. The new Heritage Series Les Paul from Gibson is a particularly beautiful guitar that features a two-piece curly maple arched top and a choice of cherry sunburst or tobacco sunburst finishes. This is, of course, a throwback to the vintage Les Paul, and Gibson has even gone back to the smaller headstock size and the mahogany neck on this model. The Heritage Series is proof positive that Gibson can still build a mint Les Paul. Gibson is also coming out with new versions of the Explorer and the hlying V guitars, both of which will feature curly maple topsgbody binding and Old-style finishes. This is probably in response to the success of such companies as Dean and Hamer and others who have flame-maple and curly maple tops of their solidbody guitars in the last few years 1 Although Gibson has been emphasizing their less expensive models, such as the S&nex Les Paul, the company shows signs of a new agressiveness in the upper end market.

Over at Fender, there are similar changes that reflect both the influence of new manufacturers and the soaring popularity of vintage Fender Stratocasters, Telecasters, and Precision Basses, Last year Fender came put with “The Strat,” a new model that features a 4-bolt neck construction, smaller headstock and custom colors with matching headstock colors, all of which are features found on the early 60’s models that are so in demand on the vintage market. Combined with this was all-brass hardware, a new trend brought on by innovative young companies that came into the market with replacement parts, necks and bodies for Fender guitars. The new Precision Special bass guitar features active equalization built into the tone controls pf the bass, which prevents those annoying "dead spots” that used to plague the Precision. The Precision Special retains the classic look and finish of the old P-Bass, yet it performs better. Fender is also brightening up their stock Stratoeaster line by offering some custom colors as standard factory finishes. Fender, like Gibson, is showing a new determination to compete with foreign and domestic manufacturers who have leaped into the market with fresh ideas.

One such domestic manufacturer, perhaps the biggest challenger of all, is Peavey Their T-60 solid body guitar has caught on all over the country, and they have been quick to respond to suggestions about the T-60 that would improve the guitar. The new T-60 has a smaller and lighter tody with more body contour than the early models, Peavey is also offering the guitar in white, black and tobacco sunburst as well as the original natural finish, and the T-60 is now available with a rosewood fretboard, at no extra cost. The latest model is the T-15, a dual single-coil pickup solidbody with a 23V2” scale. The T-15 features a unique humbucker when both pickups are full on (for a complete description, see last month’s Extension Chords column). Peavey is sure to be in the forefront of the competition in 1981-82 because they are building no-nonsense guitars that out-perform many of the most expensive brands.

Over at B.C. Rich, some changes have been made to make their top-of-the-line Bich" model guitars and basses less expensive; these guitars are now available as 6-string models for less than their previous price. Also, Rich is now using their own Quadmatic Brass Bridge, a unit that is 4-way adjustable both for the whole bridge and each individual saddle. Pearlescent finishes are a hot item at B.C. Rich; they offer such ones as “Glitter Rock White,” “Ultraviolet,” “Rude Pmk,” and “Black Pearl,” among others. In their transparent finishes, they have pioneered a “Blue Sunburst” which is a first for the industry. Most interesting, though, is the advance wordthat B.C. Rich is going to have a hollow-bodied .guitar soon, as well as a slimline hollow-body on the order of the Gibson ES 335. Those should be interesting to players that go for T ed Nugent, Larry Carlton, Elvin Bishop (1 could name dozens of others who play hollow-body guitars) type of playing.

Speaking of hollow-bodies, Yamaha makes an outstanding thinline hollow-body guitar that is on a par with any new hollow-body axe now being made. Yamaha also has an inexpensive solidbody guitar that is built on the order of a Stratoeaster with three pickups, but the guitar has a headstock like a Gibson, with three-on-a-side tuning keys, which gives the guitar a most unusual look. Yamaha also has a double cutaway arched top guitar with dual humbuckers, and a Precisionstyle bass guitar.

Yamaha’s Strat-style guitar should be very popular, if Ibanez is any indication. The Blazer series, introduced by Ibanez last year, has been a big success, and this year Ibanez is offering their version of the Strat in a variety of colors. This year’s Blazer will have a mahogany body, and the pickup configurations will be a choice of either two coil-tapped humbuckers or three single-coil pickups. Also, the Blazers will be available with tremolo bridges,; all at a very competitive price. The Ibanez Destroyer is an Explorer-style guitar that has proven very popular with heavy metal guitarists, and the Artist Series is a double-cutaway Les Paul style guitar that has a very beautiful flame-maple arched top. The finishes on the Artists Series models are really CONTINUED FROM PAGE 44

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outstanding. Ibanez a few years ago had a whole host of guitars available, but they have trimmed away a lot of the fat from their product line and are concentrating on fewer models, with the result that the guitars they offer are exceptional, They still offer something for every players, but not so much as to make choosing among their models a confusing task.

Cheap Trick fans will be happy to know that the Hamer Standard (a Rick Nielsen favorite) is available in a limited edition from Hamer. This is an Explorer-style solidbody that features a flame-maple top and body binding. In addition, Hamer has a new model, the Hamer Special, a Les Paul Special style solidbody with double cutaways and a long, very thin neck. (You old-timers will remember the L.P. Special as a trademark of Mountain’s Leslie West.) The Hamer Specials have a rosewood fretboard, flame-maple tops, several different sunburst and solid colors, and dual humbucker. These guitars have an exceptionally authentic-looking “vintage” paint job that is very attractive, and the price is fair.

Over the last few years a lot of professionals have turned to Dean guitars for a rock ’n’ roll “dream machine” such as the Dean ML or the Elite. These guitars are American-made and they don’t come cheap, but the workmanship is outstanding. Dean is offering exotic body and headstock designs in their solidbodies, with flame-maple tops, body binding and humbuckers. The most outstanding thing about the Dean is the neck; they take a lot of time with their V-shaped necks with rosewood fingerboard and big frets. Players who prefer the Gibson feel really go for the Dean because they have the fixed neck (not a bolt-on),, the wide fingerboard, and the easy-to-bend string action that is ideal for rock ’n’ roll.

The Ovation UK-2 is a totally new guitar that has an aluminum inner frame and a Urelite body molded to that frame. The advantage of Urelite is that it provides uniform density from one guitar to the next, whereas some wood bodies vary in weight. Urelite provides good sustain as well, and the bridge mounts directly onto the frame. The neck bolts to the frame, too, which all adds up to good sustain. Ovation is now using their own pickup, which has more output than their previous pickups, as well as a brass nut and bridge saddle. The UK-2 looks like the Gibson L5-S, with arched top and back. The cutaways are like a Telly, and the pickup configuration and controls are basically like that of a Les Paul, with the exception that the coil-tap switches are mounted on the bezel of the pickup itself, rather than on the body of the guitar. The UK-2 has an ebony fretboard, mahogany neck and Schaller tuning machines. The UK-2 will be available in four colors. Also, the Ovation Preacher, Viper and the Magnum Bass have all been reconfigured and repackaged for 1981. The new Magnum III and Magnum IV basses have a different body shape and are available in Natural, Satin, and the all-new “Barnboard” finish, which is a two-tone sunburst finish using gray stain and black paint. Ovation has always been in a commanding position in the acoustic/ electric end of the market, with their only serious challenge coming from Takamine; perhaps the UK-2 will give them more of a foothold in the solidbody electric market.

Another company that is gaining attention among guitar players is Washburn. The new Stage Series A-20 is an Explorer-style solidbody with flat flame-maple tops. The guitars are available in cherry or tobacco sunburst, and there is a special model in black with brass binding, which has to be an industry first. The A-20 comes with or without a vibrato tailpiece. The A-20 guitars have coil taps on the tone controls, a patented brass bridge, ebony fingerboards, brass position markers (another first) and a brass nut. The Wing Series from Washburn are double-cutaway guitars with abalone-inlaid tops, coil taps, curly maple arched tops, and pearl wingshaped inlays in the neck. All the Washburn guitars feature neck-through-body construction.

Over at DiMarzio, there is a new vintage Strat pickup in the works, the VS-1, which will be added to the line of pickups this year. But the big thing happening from DiMarzio is necks and bodies. The 50’s style Strat V-shaped necks that they are producing are excellent, and they are coming with a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard for the Strat. Telecaster and P-Bass style necks are on the way, and they shold be dynamite as well. DiMarzio has come up with a new technique of “pour-in” binding on their Star bodies as well as their Explorer and Telecasterand P-Bass style that is really amazing. Also, they are offering curly maple tops on the Strat and Telly bodies. These bodies and necks are being made with great care and attention to detail, and they adapt to existing guitars with ease. Many guitar shops such as Strings And Things in Memphis (see photos) are building custom solidbody guitars using these bodies and necks and a variety of pickup configurations with excellent results. The quality and the competitive price of these custom replacement parts makes the custom guitar market a very lucrative area for dealers who can put the parts together and do a quality paint job. The obvious advantage to the player is that he/she can have exactly the body style, neck size, pickup configuration, bridge and paint job desired. Because of this personal touch, one-of-a-kind guitars are becoming more and more popular.

Another company at the forefront of this trend is Schecter. They are the undisputed leader in providing exotic wood bodies and necks made of woods from evefy corner of the world. Of course, these bodies and necks don’t come cheap, but they offer a unique choice to the player who wants something like teakwood, bubinga, koa or the like. Schecter is also coming out with a Super Rock Humbucker and assembly for Les Paul guitars that give the player more sustain and output than stock pickups. Schecter pioneered the Tapped Pickup Assembly for Fender guitars, and those assemblies are still very popular. Schecter offers not only pickups, bodies and necks, but complete guitars that are very carefully assembled.

Another company that started out as a builder of bodies is Kharma Bodies. They also have expanded their product line to include, as of this year, a complete guitar, the Rhama series guitar. These instruments have birds-eye maple and flame-maple bodies, lacquer finishes and two-tone sunburst tops. They are made on the order of Strats, Tellys and Precision Basses.

Finally, a word about Seymour Duncan, who many believe builds the best pickup on the market today. Seymour started out rewinding pickups for himself and friends, and he maintained that rewinding service even after he went into business as a pickup manufacturer. As of this year, the rewinding service has been discontinued, because Seymour now has such a variety of humbucking and single coil pickups that he can satisfy the needs of virtually any guitarist. No one has studied the properties of pickups more carefully than Seymour Duncan. His research has been exhaustive, and the result of this painstaking effort is a line of pickups that is superior.

One more note: at press time, information on the Kramer XKG-10 was incomplete, but it is a new model from Kramer that is shaped like the Flying V with a somewhat smaller body. I’ll get a snapshot of it at the show and fill you in later. Meanwhile, keep pickin’ and remember: no matter where you go in life, there you are.