NAMM Highlights & Top Picks 2025!
Published on 24 January 2025
It’s NAMM time! The new gear for 2025 has been announced in droves, and some of it is even here in our stores already!
Whilst the NAMM show is still happening over in Anaheim, much of the big releases have been unveiled. I think it’s a fine time, therefore, to check out some of the most exciting stuff and herd it all together in one place!
Contents
Jackson X Series Graphic Finishes
Martin Grand J-28E Double Neck
What is NAMM?
NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) is the biggest industry showcase for musical equipment of the year. Most (not all) of the world’s major instrument, amp and pedal brands set up a stand or booth in the Anaheim Convention Centre, in order to reveal new instrument lines, glad-hand the general public and hype up representatives from the world of music retail.
It’s a busy, bustly, kinetic place to be, with excitement over new releases and special ‘NAMM Edition’ custom creations proving an attraction for all lovers of the 6-string and beyond.
NAMM Highlights 2025
My blog today focuses on the most fun and interesting releases by the big hitters, in terms of stuff that you yourself will have a chance to get your hands on. As I say, the show itself is still in full swing as I write this, so when our guitarguitar people return, they may well have some pictures and stories of the more esoteric, custom one-off masterpieces that pop up for NAMM (ESP have considerable prior game in this area), but they’ll most likely never release them over here for sale. I want to concentrate on the stuff that will be getting shipped to the UK and sold to you, our customers. That’s where the real excitement begins, after all: when instruments get into the hands of musicians!
Let’s see what has gotten myself and the gg staff jumping up and down with glee this week…
Fender Standard Series
I expect you’ll have seen, heard and read about these already, but in case you haven’t, the Fender Standard Series is the brand’s new Indonesian-made range of guitars and basses. Priced at under-or-around £500, these Fender-branded guitars are big news thanks to the quality being there, the colours looking right and the sounds offered being distinctly ‘Fender’.
These should be in most if not all of our stores by the time you read this, so make sure you sit down with one of the range (you can pick a Strat, a Tele, an HSS Strat, a Jazz bass or a P-Bass) next time you’re in your local guitarguitar, and see what all the fuss is about.
MXR Rockman X100
The market for period-correct, authentically 80s lead guitar sounds has grown in recent years. Since synthwave came along and bands like Toto became okay to like again, guitarists have gotten nostalgic about the sounds of the famous Rockman, a headphone amp/studio tool that delivered a very distinctive, searing lead guitar tone.
MXR - never a brand to follow the herd - are leading the charge for this sound with a scarily accurate pedal version, the MXR Rockman X100. If you love those tones (and why wouldn’t you?) then I reckon you’ll be impressed by MXR’s efforts.
Room on your pedal board for one more? Thought so!
Marshall Modified Heads
Marshall unveiled a lot of shiny new black and gold items at this NAMM show, and my pick has to be the new Marshall Modified amp heads. Boutique, hand-wired quality, with models that bring the best of ‘classic Marshall’ to the fore: I’m talking the JCM800 here as much as the 1959 Plexi!
These upgraded, enhanced valve monsters are the amps you always hoped Marshall would make, with all of the signature bark and bite that made the brand legendary. Well thought out microswitches allow for versatile tone switching, but don’t get sidetracked: these amp heads are ‘rock’ personified!
Jackson X Series Graphic Finishes
First the Rockman comes back, then Marshall bring us some choice JCM800 heads, and now Jackson are unleashing a range of graphic finish shredsticks?! I feel like it’s 1987 all over again!
That’s great news for guitarists, since that 80s era was the heyday for spectacular six-string pyrotechnics. Jackson were definitely one of the ‘must-have’ brands, and it’s very cool to see them having fun with graphics again. Check out these three X Series axes for a taster:
Jackson X Series DK2 Illuminati
Digitech Whammy MonoNeon
Freaky bass extraordinaire MonoNeon has put his dayglo touch on the beloved Digitech Whammy pedal. It’s a timely update for the famous red pedal, adding some quite bizarre new modes to a pedal that can already be safely described as ‘outlandish’.
This new MonoNeon Whammy goes further in terms of octaves as well as offering some modes suggested by MonoNeon himself (Hypersonic, anyone?), and with that superb paintjob, you are not going to lose this on a dark stage!
Taylor Gold Label
Ever since we received a mysterious package late last year from Taylor - with instructions not to open it until I was on camera with Andy Powers - we’ve been very intrigued by what we now know is the new Gold Series.
The Taylor Gold series is the brand’s retro-modern take on the beloved ‘Pre War’ dreadnoughts of the 1930s. Powers and his team have sought to capture the essence of those instruments - both visually and sonically - in a range that still fits in with the rest of Taylor’s offerings. I’d say they’ve very much succeeded.
Orange Baby Amps
Legendary British amp makers Orange are one of the very few brands out there who can deliver a solid state amp that totally kills it when competing with valve amps.
Step forward, then, the new trio of Orange Baby heads, three 100 watt solid state affairs with footswitchable channels, small-but-tough portable chassis and a gig bag.
Each model (Dual, Tour and Gain) varies in offerings such as gain levels and shared EQs, but what each amp has - and this is pretty cool - is a built in compressor for the clean channel. The right effect, just where you need it? Great idea.
These will plug into any cab and unleash the dirt with minimal fuss. Did I say that the sounds are based on the awesome Orange Rockerverb? I have now!
New ESP
Metal giants ESP unloaded a spectacular arsenal of new guitars just ahead of NAMM.
There are new signature axes for Testament’s Alex Skolnick and Rammstein’s Richard Z Kruspe, and a whole fleet of new Eclipses, TE and Phoenix models.
Some have the ultra stripped back single-humbucker-only option (such as the LTD TE-201 below), which is becoming a bit of a trademark for the brand.
If you like to rock hard, you are going to find it pretty difficult to keep your wallet in your pocket after you check these out!
Martin Grand J-28E Double Neck
You never knew you loved double neck acoustics until you saw this, did you? I really like how many risks Martin are taking these days. Their offset SC13 was a space age design that came out of nowhere, and now there’s this very unique double neck!
The angled necks and single soundhole almost make this Martin look like a long-forgotten item from a 1920s catalogue. It manages to keep that historic Martin vibe in check whilst giving us a guitar that none of us have come across before.
If you are currently asking yourself when you’ll ever need an acoustic 6 string and 12 string at the same time, then you clearly need to investigate the Martin Grand J-28E Double Neck at your earliest convenience!
Roland V-Stage
Pioneering tech brand Roland have made more game-changing instruments than perhaps any other brand. Wild claim? Well, how about the 808 drum machine, 303 bass synth (entire genres exist because of this), BOSS pedals, guitar synthesis (keep trying, guys!) and the whole concept of MIDI, just off the top of my head. Music would be in a sorry state without this Japanese giant.
So, it’s worth getting excited for the new V-Stage keyboard! Following on in nomenclature at least from the powerful (but now pretty old) V-synth, the new V-Stage aims to echo all of that previous synth’s powerful creativity and control, and place it into a keyboard instrument for today’s performer.
Nowadays, we need to have a wide variety of sounds - both ‘real’ and synthetic - and we need them to be controllable in a number of ways. Roland are talking about quite next-level processing power here, and this should see the V-Stage aiming to be the only piece of equipment a keys player needs on stage. With sections for organ, piano, synth, fx etc - each with an abundance of control knobs instead of menus - it seems that Roland may be directly going for Nord’s crown in the battle for synth supremacy. Are those reddish end pieces merely a coincidence?
76 and 88 key models are available for pre-order right now!
Watch a Video Playlist
If all of this newness has gotten you into a flap, just calm yourself down and take in this video playlist we’ve put together for you (there's some different gear choices on the playlist, if you need incentive to click 'n' watch!). You’ll definitely be excited about something on this list, so you should know that pre-orders are available on everything that isn’t already available right now.
What a way to start the weekend, eh?
Click to View All of the NAMM 2025 Releases
