What's the BEST thing at NAMM 2024?
Join our friends Chris and Matt from Driftwood Guitars as they journey through the bustling halls of the 2024 NAMM Show and set out to uncover the most groundbreaking and innovative products that are revolutionizing the music scene.
Video Transcription
Chris Alvarado: Hi, Chris and Matt from Driftwood Guitars here, and we're taking over StewMac's YouTube channel for the day.
Matt Fiddler: To be clear, we were asked to take over. Our hacking skills aren't that good yet.
Chris: We're collaborating with StewMac to do something super cool that Matt and I have been wanting to do for a super long time. And that's to go to the 2024 NAMM Convention.
Matt: That's the National Association of Musical Merchants (NAMM).
Chris: In Anaheim, California. And as guitar builders, we're so excited to be amongst our people. We're going to see people in the industry and folks that have chatted with us over YouTube all of these years and we're taking you guys with us.
Matt: Well, we're taking our cameras with us, but you'll be along with us after the edits are all finished.
Chris: You mean they're not just going to get all into our suitcases?
Matt: We'd have to check that bag.
Chris: Exactly.
Matt: Anyways, do you want to tell them about our mission?
Chris: Every year at NAMM there's so many cool and new products that are revealed and these companies have been working over the course of the last year to do R&D and to finally reveal these products. And Matt and I are going to make it our mission to walk the entire convention floor over the course of several days and then we're going to see what product we think is our favorite one and then present it to you guys.
Matt: That's right. We're going to try and find the coolest thing at NAMM.
Chris: And we leave in an hour and we're not even packed up yet so we got to get out of here.
[Chris and Matt head to the airport, catch a flight out to Anaheim and get checked into their hotel in Anaheim by the convention center]
The NAMM Show
Ok. We've finally made it and now all we got to do is walk around the whole floor and find the coolest thing that we can find. So let's get after it.
[up beat electric guitar music playing]
Andy.
[on-screen text reads: Andy Ferris]
Andy Ferris: Chris.
Chris: What's your favorite thing you've seen at NAMM so far?
Andy: Apart from you? Second time I've used that joke. It would be the G50, which is at the Revv booth because Revv make it.
Chris: Awesome. And what is the G50?
[on-screen text reads: Revv G50 Demo]
Andy: The G50 is a three-channel amp, 50-watt version of their 101, so it's a more usable amp. And the reason I enjoyed it is because the guy that demoed it, Sam, was phenomenal at his job and he really showed me what a difference the people make when it comes to gear. The amp was great, but put it in my hands, it wasn't that good. But this guy, he wasn't just an amazing player. He knew his stuff and he was a really nice guy and he made me felt really welcome.
Chris: I'd love to hear it. We'll have to go check that out.
Aaron, what's the favorite thing you've seen so far at NAMM?
[Aaron Lucas - Dark Forest Cypress]
Aaron Lucas: Well, I'm a big fan of stories and history and the Joi Guitars, If 6 Was 9 is awesome [on-screen text reads: "If 6 was 9" Hendrix Guitar], just with everything with Jimmy and stuff. I think that probably takes the cake.
Chris: Yeah, that's a super cool guitar. Cool man. Thanks.
Aaron: Yeah, man.
[up beat electric guitar music playing]
Chris: Paul, what's the favorite thing you've seen in NAMM so far?
[on-screen text reads: Paul Davids]
Paul Davids: I've seen many beautiful things, but I think the one that stood out was the Collings 470 JL Julian Lage model [on-screen text reads: Hear the Collings 470 JL].
Chris: That's such a sweet guitar.
Paul: And I picked it up. It didn't sound like Julian, but if I get a little bit closer to him, I'll take it.
[up beat electric guitar music playing]
Chris: That's awesome, man. Thanks. Appreciate it.
Paul: You too.
Chris: Rhett, what's your favorite thing you've seen in NAMM so far?
[on-screen text reads: Rhett Shull]
Rhett Shull: Two Rock and Divided by Thirteen coming together [on-screen text reads: Two Rock Amplifiers].
Chris: Nice.
Rhett: I think it's great.
Chris: Nice. Awesome.
So these are super cool guitars called Batsons [on-screen text reads: Batsons Guitar Review]. I think they might be out, I know they're out of North America, but it's where my DaVinci model guitar design got its inspiration from when I was first making them. Super cool. My first time actually getting to put hands on one and it sounds super cool. It sounds like it's got a lot of bottom end on it, which I love. So it's really cool to hold one in my hand.
All right, it's Sunday and that means Matt and I've been walking the floor for four whole days. We've met so many people, we've seen hundreds and hundreds of different manufacturers. We saw so many really cool things. Honestly, at this exact point, I don't know that I can answer the question of what was my favorite thing I saw at NAMM? So I think it's going to take a couple more days of processing all the things that happened here before I can answer that question.
The winner is...
When StewMac challenged us to this task, we maybe foolishly thought that it would be easy, but we really truly had no idea how incredible NAMM would be.
Matt: But in the middle of our incredibly scientific and precise decision-making process [Matt and Chris are pointing to a whiteboard with mathmatical formulas and funny thoughts], we started to realize something. The most incredible thing that we found at NAMM wasn't any one product, it was the people.
Chris: Yeah. It was really the people that stood as our favorite thing. People like us who love music, who love making things that make music better. It was incredibly inspiring to be at a place with so many like-minded artists, innovators, people tirelessly pursuing their passion to make the musical world a better place.
Matt: Agreed. That was hands-down my favorite thing. Just meeting everyone and feeling inspired to continue down my path to building guitars, making music, and making videos.
Chris: So that's it. The people win.
We just want to thank StewMac for sending us out to Anaheim, to hang out with everybody. And our biggest thanks goes out to everybody in the field, those that are out there helping to make this industry thrive and grow. And we're all better off for it.
