You never know what you’re going to find wandering the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center when NAMM is in town. And for the 2026 show, there were certainly a few things that stood out! Here’s a rundown of Team AMS’s favorite things we saw at NAMM 2026 — in no particular order.
Danelectro Goes Back to the ‘50s
Some things are so cool they cause you to do a double take. And some things are absolutely gorgeous and make TWO of AMS’s biggest guitar nerds stop dead in their tracks to take a closer look. What were we looking at? Danelectro’s 2026 lineup refresh.
It might be 21st Century, but Danelectro is going back to the ‘50s with “Dano 2026.” They took some of their most popular and iconic features from the ‘50s and brought them back into the modern era:
- Full bell headstock (1954)
- Rosewood saddle bridge (1954)
- Skate key tuners (1958)
- Official 1950s lipstick pickups (now with more gain!)
- U3 pickguards (1955)
- Authentic 1950s color finishes
Top to bottom, these things were cool! The finishes were stunning, the pickups sounded nice and jangly, and the rosewood bridge is a super unique feature for an electric guitar. They also had a really cool grip-like texture on the sides to add even more character.
You can bet when these things officially release, Ryan and I will be the first two in line to pick one up.
Casio Dimension Shifter
Any clumsy guitarists out there who don’t know how to tap dance? Well does Casio have the product for you! Their new Dimension Shifter really turned some heads at NAMM, including AMS’s very own team members. It’s essentially like putting an expression pedal on your guitar strap.
Now, that might sound weird, but it really can add tons of expression to your playing without forcing you to watch your feet. Assign it to any parameter (volume, pitch shifting, tremolo, etc.), and all you have to do is move your guitar. It’s like a B-Bender with infinitely more versatility!
It might take a little getting used to, but after a while you’ll be adjusting parameters as effortlessly as you make your guitar face during a sweet solo. It really brings “expression” to a new level.
Korg Phase8
Have you ever heard of an acoustic synthesizer before? We hadn’t either until we walked into the Korg booth at NAMM 2026. It’s called the Phase8, and it’s kinda if you mixed a kalimba with a sequencer — and it’s super cool!
The sequencer part activates little electromagnetic hammers that hit metal resonators and produce a tone. You can put all sorts of stuff on the resonators to make different sounds, like blocks, sticks, rods, or really whatever you have lying around. You can also trigger the resonators with your fingers to add melodies on top of your sequences.
As if it wasn’t already cool enough, it sports all sorts of I/O, so you can even use it as an effects processor for your guitar, keyboard, or whatever else you want to plug into it. It’s a really crazy little machine and we were excited to get to play with it at NAMM.
Boss’s Quiet Demo Room
NAMM is pretty busy. There are a lot of people, and they’re all making a lot of noise with a lot of instruments. And I’d have to say the Boss demo room was one of the busiest and loudest.
As you might imagine, trying to shoot a video in such crowded and loud spaces drives our video producer and audio engineer a bit crazy. However, Boss thought ahead and set up a private, quiet demo room — and it was air conditioned! Needless to say, it was one of our favorite parts of NAMM.
But the room itself wasn’t the only “cool” thing at the Boss booth. We also got to check out the brand-new GX-1 and GX-1B multi-effects units. They have the same power and versatility as the bigger flagship GX-100, but they’re tiny! Everything has been simplified to be as easy to use as possible. Just grab it, plug in, and you’re ready to play. You don’t even need a power outlet because they can run on batteries! (And they’re not hard on the wallet, either.)
Beat the Street Tour Bus
Have you seen some of the tour busses artists cruise around in? They’re crazy! And the Beat the Street busses might be some of the craziest. They’re huge, have all blacked-out windows, all the luxury features, the works. And while it was awesome to get to see what a real-deal tour bus looks like at NAMM, it was really what was on the inside that counts — or rather, who… We got to talk to Billy Corgan!
That’s right; we saw an awesome tour bus AND talked to one of the most accomplished songwriters of all time about his new Laney Pedal: the SUPERGRACE LOUDPEDAL.
No, I’m not yelling. You’re supposed to spell it in all caps. That’s just to show you how loud it is even before you plug it in!
Billy Corgan has been working with Laney for years to develop what’s essentially his rig in a box. It’s small, lightweight, fits on a pedalboard, and sounds exactly like Billy Corgan’s amp and cab setup. You get the classic British SUPERGROUP sound on one channel and the GRACE modern high gain on the other. What more could you need!?
Bad Cat Hot Cat 50
In the world of guitar amps, everyone wants the vintage sound without the limited vintage features. I mean, how do you even use a one-channel amp anymore!? When we wandered over to the Bad Cat booth at NAMM 2026, we think they might have solved the woes of most modern guitar players with the Hot Cat 50, which is why it definitely deserves a spot on this list.
The Bad Cat Hot Cat 50 is basically the ultimate amp experience for modern players. It gives you all the tube-driven goodness that you’d expect from Bad Cat amps, but it takes versatility to a whole new level with a unique way of channel voicing.
Technically, the Hot Cat 50 has two channels: a clean and a dirty. There’s nothing surprising about that. But what really knocks it into next gear is the Lo and Hi switch.
In Lo mode, you get to hear the channel exactly as it was meant to sound. But when you hit it into Hi, it activates another preamp tube. So when you’re on channel 1 Lo, you have two 12AX7 tubes. When you flip to Hi, you have three, giving you more gain. The same idea works on channel 2, bumping you from three to four preamp tubes.
When you combine the two channels each with two separate voicings, you basically get a four-channel beast! Here’s how Bad Cat describes the tones:
- Clean Low: American Clean
- Clean High: Cranked AC or JTM-style breakup
- Gain Low: British Crunch
- Gain High: Bad Cat’s Signature High-Gain Sound
If you want one amp that can do it all (and do it really well, might we add), you’ll definitely want to check out the Bad Cat Hot Cat 50.
Premium Chicken Sandwiches
NAMM might be mostly about music gear, but there’s one thing the team always looks forward to during our trips to Cali, and that’s the Premium Chicken Sandwiches.
Sure, there are restaurants and food trucks all over the place. But there’s a secret spot in the main hall that sells some of the tastiest chicken sandwiches you’ll ever want to try. Not only is the flavor amazing, but it’s also super convenient for running around the NAMM floor because you don’t have to leave the convention center! Add it all together, and you get a tasty bite that’s worthy of the “Best of NAMM” list — at least if you ask us.
Another Year of NAMM
NAMM is always a whirlwind of new gear that feels like it’s over as quickly as it arrives. We saw some amazing stuff at the 2026 show that can’t possibly fit into a single list. So if you want to check out all the latest NAMM releases, head on over to the AMS New Gear page.
You can (should) also visit our YouTube channel where we have all the videos we shot at NAMM. And don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there!
Now I guess we just sit around and twiddle our thumbs until next year…
Zildjian L80 348 Low Volume Cymbal Set 13/14/18
Special Price $324.95
Yamaha CP73 73-Key Weighted Action Stage Piano
Special Price $2,199.99
