Our first stop at NAMM was the Roland / BOSS room. As you might imagine, there was a lot of gear that would make any musician drool.
Shiny Pedals
BOSS has unveiled “reborn” versions of their iconic Overdrive and Distortion Pedals – named the OD-1X and the DS-1X.
These pedals look amazing – chrome treadplates and knobs and a nod to the original with a chrome screw on the front. Like all BOSS pedals you can operate these with standard 9V batteries or string them together on a pedal board fed by external power.
We were treated to a phenomenal demonstration of the pedals which incorporate an almost “ESP-like” technology that preserves the tone and dynamics of your playing regardless of where you are on the fretboard.
Dialing in a solo tone that screams in the higher register also maintains its clarity in the lower frets. In the past, a guitarist may have had to adjust their solo to avoid the muddiness that might start to enter the tone.
Amps for the Everyday Guitarist
Roland has a line of acoustic amps that Best Buy carries. One that stood out was the AC-33 which can operate on battery power (8 AA batteries) for up to 25 hours.
These amps incorporate anti-feedback technology that detects and notches out offending frequencies in a split second – both for your microphone and acoustic guitar. The AC-33 also adjust their power consumption depending upon whether you are using them with batteries or power.
For the electric guitarist, Roland has migrated the Cube brand to be on its own. The amps come in a variety of power ratings ranging from 3 watts to 80 watts. What’s really cool is that Roland has developed an iOS app called CUBE Jam that integrates with the amp so that you can jam, record and learn guitar with your iOS device.
I haven’t even covered the drums, vocals and keyboards yet… More to come from NAMM 2014 in Anaheim.
