It is hard to believe that it’s been four years since I have presented any NAMM Best of Show Awards. Yes, we did cover the 2022 and 2023 Shows, but we weren’t there in force (and neither were the vendors), so we did not do any awards for those Shows. 2024 was the big question mark NAMM Show. “It’s back! Isn’t it?” Prior to the Show, many of the folks I talked to felt that there was a strong chance that this was one last hurrah. However, once the 2024 NAMM Show kicked off, and all throughout, there was a strong sense of optimism. The Show definitely seemed to be “back,” if not slightly smaller. We all found ourselves definitely looking forward to the 2025 Show.
And with the Show being back, so are the the Bass Gear Magazine 2024 Winter NAMM Best of Show Awards! Here are your winners:
Trickfish Amplification – Bullhead 3k Bass Head
When I first heard of the 3,000-watt Bullhead 3k, I have to admit, my first thought was that it was overkill. I own and gig with a 700-watt Bullhead .5k, and it more than covers all of my gigging needs. But the more I learn about the 3k, the more compelling it becomes. Having two channels is convenient if you want to run a ton of cabs, or power stacks on two sides of the stage, but the 3k has a few more tricks (pun intended) up its sleeves. If you only plug into the front input, your signal is passed through to both power amps. If you plug into the front input and the rear input, the rear input is routed to the channel 2 – unless you don’t have a cab plugged into channel 2, in which case, it is summed into channel 1, and the Gain and Volume controls at the top of the faceplate let you mix how much signal is passed. Being able to route two signal paths into either one channel, or two, opens up even more use scenarios. This would all be academic if it didn’t sound awesome, and by golly, it did! I was only able to hear a few snippets of anything approaching “loud” – the noise police were definitely hovering around the Trickfish booth – but I do love how the really good rigs let things sound full-range and authoritative, even at lower volumes. The Bullhead 3k definitely delivers! https://www.trickfishamps.com/
Marleaux BassGuitars – Spock Bass Guitar
We try to face each NAMM Show with an unbiased view for what is truly special. Many times, this leads us to discover new brands, but sometimes, you get hit with something new and special from brands you know very well. Gerald Marleaux has managed to sufficiently “wow!” us three times in the past (for his Diva, Contra, and mBass 2000 models), and now the new Spock bass makes Gerald our first four-time Best of Show winner. The Spock bass is an archtop design which uses a unique “Marleaux Logic Mesh” top, which is a translucent, yet very strong, fabric mesh. The bass itself is a 32-inch scale, with a single housing with two pickups inside (which can be operated in parallel, series, or single-coil mode). The controls for the 3-band EQ, volume, passive tone, and pickup switching are all located on the back of the bass. It is very light, and very playable. The pickup selection options, along with the active/passive modes, and 3-band EQ allow for a large variety of tones. All being considered, the Spock bass was a logical choice for a BGM Best of Show Award. https://www.marleaux-bass.de/en/instrumente/spock/
Ampeg® – Venture® Line of Bass Heads and Enclosures
There is no more well-known bass amplification brand than Ampeg, and the new Venture series clearly builds upon the brand’s history and moves forward in relatively predictable fashion. So, it might strike you as an odd choice for a Best of Show Award. But as easy as it is to be won over by something new and unpredictable, there is also merit in doing something more predictable, but doing it very well. This is the first total amplification lineup remake since Yamaha Guitar Group bought Ampeg, and they definitely put some thought into things. The V-3, V-7, and V-12 heads (which, predictably, are rated for 300, 700, and 1,200 watts) have very familiar front ends, with two notable differences. The first is small, but impactful; the midrange frequency adjustment is now sweepable from 200Hz to 3kHz, as opposed to having a selection of pre-set frequencies. The other big change is the addition of the SGT Overdrive circuit, from the SGT-DI, which allows you to dial in clean through dirty versions of the SVT or B-15. The cabs feature Lavoce® neodymium drivers, and are offered in 1×12, 1×15, 2×10, 2×12, and 4×10 configurations. All cabs feature high-frequency drivers. I was initially skeptical of the durability of the covering – which is slightly soft to the touch – but after watching Dino purposefully “dent” it with his fingernail and then seeing it (eventually) bounce back, I was impressed. All in all, the Venture Series is undoubtedly Ampeg, and while they demonstrate evolution in predictable ways, what they have done here is very good! https://ampeg.com/products/venture-bass-amplifiers/
Gruv Gear – Kapsule Travel Case
Gruv Gear introduced the Kapsule several years ago, but they have made some recent improvements, and this is the first time we’ve had a good look at it at a NAMM Show following the pandemic. Being the bass geeks that we are, whenever a player at NAMM pulled their instrument(s) out of a Kapsule case – which comes in single-instrument and dual-instrument configurations – we all took notice. It is an elegant design, with more than enough room for not only your instrument and gig accessories, but also all the luggage space you would need for a 4-5 day trip. This case was meant to travel, with a polycarbonate/ABS shell, multiple types of protective foam, padded “airmesh” and other protective panels. The wheels are easily installed/removed, and it balances fairly well when standing upright, as well. You can strap it on and where it like a backpack, as well. Since it is designed for travel, the Kapsule also features a TSA lock (3-digit code), and has a laser-etched Global Recovery Tag (with free lifetime service when you register). If you travel with an instrument, the Kapsule is a must! https://gruvgear.com/collections/homepage-featured/products/kapsule
L.E.H. Guitars – Electric Basses
I have been blessed to have known Ellis Hahn for many years, and in fact, several of my Sadowsky basses have Ellis’ signature inside the control cavity cover. Ellis worked up to become the shop manager at Sadowsky Guitars in 2013, and ultimately left in 2021 to pursue L.E.H. full-time. I was able to play an L.E.H. bass earlier, but 2024 was the first time for a dedicated L.E.H. Guitars booth at NAMM. While we do normally pick a particular instrument for our Best of Show Awards, we all honestly couldn’t single out just one, so we were thrilled to award Ellis a BGM Best of Show Award for the entire clutch of NAMM Show basses. We thought about giving the award to the 32” scale 4-string (which fits in a standard guitar-sized gig bag), but then there was the 34” scale Jetstream 5-string with the blue/purple burst burl top. Oh, but we couldn’t forget about the two killer 5-string Offset basses… You get my point. Some of the unique features common to all of the basses include the boost-only graphic EQ sliders, the increased distance from the nut to the lowest string tuner post (it’s subtle, but it matters!), and the impeccable feel and playability of the necks. Ellis has also really dialed in the string tension on all of the basses, which is something you don’t really appreciate until you feel it done “right.” Believe us when we say that Ellis’ basses are second to none! https://www.lehguitars.com/
Octave – Haricane C1 VST Host
As much fun as it is to encounter truly great products from brands you know quite well, part of the real magic of the NAMM Show is to find something exceptional from a company you have never heard of. This was the case for us with the Haricane C1 VST host from Octave. VST hosting is something most players with a PC-based home studio are very familiar with, and some brave souls have probably even tried to incorporate VST host rigs into their live performances. Mostly, this involves bringing a laptop to a rig (though there are some other innovative options out there). Octave has taken things in a very interesting and very compelling direction with the Haricane C1. It is a quad-core Celeron PC running Windows 11 Pro, with a host of I/O’s and a 10.1” HD touchscreen on top. It has too many features to try and cover them all, but this thing packs a respectable amount of processing power and features into a very compact, giggable package. It comes pre-loaded with free amp modelers and VST plugins, but it can run anything that you can run on Windows 11. It has an ASIO compatible audio interface, and it even packs sufficient onboard battery power to operate for 5-7 hours without external power. What really blew us away was the price: $798, if you order before February 15th. After this, the price will go up a bit, but Dr. Haris Sophocleous (Ph.D. in Electronic Music Composition) assures us that the price will remain under $1,000, even after the sale is over. If you know what VST hosting is all about, the Haricane C1 should be on your watch list! https://octavetech.eu/
