NAMM 2007 is in full swing, and the new product releases have been quite impressive. The Moog FreqBox demo was a highlight, with Moog rep Cyril Lance showing off a wide range of FreqBox noises; everything from what sounds like Edgar Winter's Frankenstein played thru a kazoo, to a beautifully deep, crunchy synth vibe. Very tasty. Look for a Gearwire video on that demo shortly.

Ibanez showed off a two-thousand dollar, eight-string guitar made especially for the dreaded shred. And speaking of the "s-word", the Ernie Ball booth was populated by scary people wearing cheeseball 80s metal wigs and stripey pants. I was too afraid to venture near to see if they were reps, refugees from a Ratt reunion video shoot, or some kind of 80s performance art display.

One of my favorite moments so far was a chat with luthier John Carruthers, who has built guitars for Frank Zappa, Hendrix, and many other notables. Carruthers is shy about discussing his work with the greats, preferring to talk about his most recent creations for Daisy Rock. Carruthers says he started out as a guitar player, but he soon learned he was better at making them than he was playing. He says work with the big names in rock is fun, but he treats each guitar project with equal respect. "A lot of time it's about how well the guitar stays in tune," Carruthers said of what people seek from his custom projects, "Sometimes it has to do with the sound choices, the electronics, pickups, preamps, things like that."

I chatted with Daisy Rock founder Tish Ciravolo and Carruthers about DR's new line of made-in-the-USA, custom-built-by-Carruthers axes, and spent some time looking at TAMA prototype drums. According to Ibanez/Tama rep Paul Specht, the company will bring a new, not-yet-in-production model to the show just to get some feedback from attendees. Tama's all-acrylic prototype on display doesn't feature any new sound innovations, it's really the finish that's on display.

Gearwire's Rob Warmowski spend some quality time with TC Electronic, looking at reissue pedals, and the new I/O with an onboard guitar tuner. Stay tuned for that video.

NAMM is just getting started, so keep watching Gearwire for more coverage, including some great exclusive videos on Moog, Boss, Daisy Rock, Fender, and much more.