Day 3 of NAMM and the troupers of the music industry were again out in full force, covering literally miles and miles of exhibits.  With seven main exhibition halls on four levels—we have yet to see the same manufacturer twice!  In fact, the crowds were even thicker today, a beautiful sunny Saturday that kicked off with a full marching band parade through the convention center grounds.

Hard to imagine, but Day 2 here at the NAMM show was even more exciting than Day 1.  The incredible weather continued, and the crowds were even thicker in the Anaheim Convention Centre for the second day of the show.  Today, we were lucky enough to get some unprecedented access to some of North America’s most distinctive guitar and amp manufacturers. 

Against the backdrop of some beautiful, sunny California weather, the hordes converged on the Anaheim Convention Center for the kick-off of the NAMM show today.  It’s a little hard to know where to start—every guitar, bass, amp, drum, keyboard, interface, and accessory company in the world is exhibiting here this weekend.  “Kid in a candy store” only barely describes the feeling as you head into the hall and feast your eyes on the array of vendors.

Part Two of Guitar Fixation's coverage of the 2008 LA Amp show has us visitng Digitech, Simple Amps, Lone Wolf Amps, Kaliphoria Music, Bugera Amplifier, Red Iron Amplifiers, Xtis Amplifiers,  Soultone Amplification, and of course the good people at Fender.

On a cool Saturday morning (October 4th) I took a very short flight (only 45 minutes in the air) from San Francisco to Burbank to check out the 4th annual LA Amp Show. I had read about the show in the past and decided to have a look for myself. After a short cab ride from Burbank (that turned out to be a rip off as the Cab driver took me on the freeway and that added $20 to the fare – be warned!) I was at the hotel and ready to feast my eyes and ears on some new and cool products from the amp world.

The first thing that strikes you as you exit the highway and drive into the town of Santa Cruz is the remarkable air of calm that surrounds. Perhaps it is the freshness of the air, or perhaps the surrounding beauty of the trees, but in the end you are left feeling, “I would love to live here.”

I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to Guitar Fixation, a web site devoted to all things guitar. The idea behind this site was to bring you, the guitar enthusiast, a source for the latest guitar news, gear reviews, tours of the manufactures you know and love (and introduce you to some new ones!)

What sets a Santa Cruz Guitar apart from the rest?
Santa Cruz is one of the few companies that can really control the way a guitar sounds. That may sound odd, but the nature of wood is such that unless the pieces of wood are treated individually and independently, you can’t get consistent sound out of the guitar, nor can you control the way the guitar sounds. We are more related to classical violin building as far as intent than we would be to the modern steel string guitar. That is really in the realm of factories until about 35-40 years ago when it began to become a very serious instrument. So by applying those principals and principals…

Ten years ago I bought a Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve head for $100. It was under-powered and didn't have the original cabinet, but the tone was perfect for me. I fell in love with it, and eventually had a friend go through the thing and hot-rod it out to be more useful. The tone got better, and I began to brag to everyone about how good it sounded. Then I got paranoid. What if it gets stolen? What if there is a fire in my building? I decided to buy another head and have it ramped up so I could have a back up. For a couple of weeks I had been digging around on eBay but hadn't pulled the…

Rudy’s Music Stop has been a New York institution since opening the doors in 1978. Owned by the venerable Rudy Pensa, the shop is located on the much-lauded 48th Street in New York City’s “Music Street.” The shop is defined by its collection of rare and highly sought after Guitars, Basses, Amps, Effects and everything in between. With the recent opening of the Amp Shop on 7th avenue (where the repair shop resides as well as Pensa Custom guitars) Rudy’s is the last word on Guitar in NYC.