It's that time of year again – the NAMM Show. One of the most exciting few days of the year for any gear nerd, it's been a busy couple of days in Anaheim for us. Today we're here to run down ten of our favorite things we caught at the 2025 NAMM Show. Some bigger, some smaller, but it's all killer, no filler. In no particular order, let's get into it.
Surfy Industries rides the wave into 2025 with new pedals
We all love Surfy Industries, so naturally, we were psyched to find them at NAMM with a couple new gizmos. Among them, the SurfyMan and SurfyBear Compact Deluxe. After speaking with Surfy, we got the scoop on two new gadgets for 2025.
In classic Surfy fashion, the 2025's new SurfyMan hearkens to the classic analog sounds of some of America's favorite tube amplifiers. Their latest, the SurfyMan pays homage to the classic "brown" Showman amplifier through a fully analog preamp design. This addition to Surfy's lineup features classic amp tonality along with a few more modern considerations like a headphone out, a balanced TRS output, and nine to eighteen volt power operation. The SurfyMan is designed with a charming amp grille sure to cause a couple double-takes for the average passerby.
Alongside the new SurfyMan, Surfy debuted their new SurfyBear Compact Deluxe. This new device combines the powers of the SurfyBear Compact spring reverb and SurfyTrem analog tremolo pedals into one enclosure. Spurred on by fan requests, this single unit is sure to make a splash among Surfy fans both new and old.
Taylor Guitars goes for gold with new Gold Label Collection acoustic guitars
It's always an event when new Taylor acoustic guitars come to town. New for 2025, the Taylor Guitar Gold Label Collection assembles with exciting new developments in acoustic guitar design straight from Taylor Guitars Master Luthier Andy Powers.
One of the most notable of these developments is a new body shape. Going back to the drawing board, Taylor Guitars introduces the Super Auditorium shape, a take on Taylor's classic Grand Auditorium. A wider lower bout makes for the most distinct change in the design alongside a new fanned Taylor V-Class bracing pattern. Resulting in a warmer sound off the bat, aided by its new Honduran rosewood bridge, the Super Auditorium is a different sort of beast altogether.
Further features added to these Gold Label models include new headstock logos and shapes, different colorways, and L.R. Baggs electronics systems instead of the usual Taylor Expression System electronics. Tonewoods to expect from this new collection include spruce, torrefied spruce, Honduran rosewood, and koa for a balance of both new and classic Taylor sound profiles.
MXR eyes the stage with Rockman X100 effect pedal
The '80s – the times of big hair, big stadiums, big personalities...you get the idea. In celebration of that particular time as well as one of rock's earliest musical, consumer-grade gadgets, MXR released the MXR Rockman X100 effect pedal.
This release from MXR is actually a bit of a revival of an '80s headphone amplifier originally designed by Tom Scholz of Boston. Capturing that late '70s to early '80s arena rock sound, the Rockman comes loaded with four gain stages and a lush bucket brigade chorus perfect for that kind of stadium-ready sound.
We actually took a closer look at the Rockman X100 and you can check out our review of it here:
Fender sits down with Jack White in a Q&A session
In a small event, Fender hosted an intimate Q&A session with guitarist Jack White discussing a host of topics from his creative process to his many creative endeavors to his new line of instruments from Fender.
When discussing how he engages with his many creative projects at this point in his career versus previous decades, White detailed:
"I just try to engage with where I'm at at the time and not bombard myself. When I was younger, I'd stay up all night worrying about everything and think about everything all the time. I'm older now so I don't let those things bother me so much, I actually laugh about them too."
White also went on to describe the re-recording process for his 2024 album No Name, which he details voluntarily re-recording his guitar parts after they were almost finished once he received his signature Pano-Verb amplifier from Fender:
"What happened was we didn't get the amplifier until I was almost done with this last album that I made, and when it finally arrived, I re-recorded all the guitar parts through it (White laughs). Because I couldn't stop. We did one song with it and it's just so great (...) If an engineer's freaking out, you know you made something good."
Shop Fender Jack White Pano-Verb
Kauer gets messy with splatter-style showcase guitars
Dropping by our friends at Kauer Guitars, we found a showcase lineup of Kauer classics featuring one-of-a-kind splatter finishes.
Mesa Boogie goes back to the '90s with the '90s Dual Rectifier amp head
Throwing back to the high-gain sounds of the '90s that made Mesa a household name in grunge and metal, Mesa debuts their '90s Dual Rectifier amp head. This entry to the Mesa canon acts as a faithful recreation of the original Dual Rectifier Solo head made famous across countless recordings throughout the distorted, cranked, high-gain '90s.
This one-hundred-watt head comes equipped with four Mesa 6L6 power tubes and five 12AX7 preamp tubes. Altogether, the amp plays with massive rectifier power and features a classic dual-channel configuration. Patented switchable rectifiers with tube or silicon diode rectification makes this '90s classic a powerful and versatile unit ready to bounce through a spectrum of high-gain tube tones.
Shop Mesa Boogie '90s Dual Rectifier
Ernie Ball Music Man teams up with Cory Wong for the StingRay II guitar
Cory Wong is one of modern funk, pop, and R&B's standby guitar players. To match his kinetic energy and love for humbucking guitar tones, Ernie Ball Music Man has debuted the StingRay II line of electric guitars.
These Ernie Ball creations come built with all the bouncing, bright, and poppy energy Cory Wong is famous for. Figured roasted maple necks, StingRay-style bodies and Ernie Ball Music Man HT humbucking pickups designed in collaboration with Cory Wong make these guitars sleek, streamlined, expressive, and ready to take on the world.
Marshall clocks in with new JCM and 1959-style amps and effect pedals
There's a legacy to Marshall amps, if we could be so bold to say. With this legacy, Marshall has recontextualized some of their classic JCM and 1959 "Plexi" amps into new forms for the modern day. These forms stack up as a series of newly-designed, England-made tube amplifiers and exciting, analog, amp-style overdrive pedals.
The Marshall amps in question getting a reformat and a refresh include the Marshall JCM800, the Marshall JCM900 and the Marshall 1959. These classic, high-gain rock machines can be found all across the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s behind all your favorite guitarists at one time or another. Today's new amps and pedals come designed with all the same amplified mojo as the originals with a number of closer, more modern considerations to make them distinct and easily worked into your current rig.
Fender sets the bar with new Standard Series electric guitars
Fender's always got something cooking for the players, it seems. This year's NAMM brought Fender to debut their new Standard Series electric guitars. These models, designed to act as an entryway for new players into the Fender family, come together with classic Fender specs, sounds, and styles to really open the playing field even wider.
The Fender Standard Series of electric guitars features classic Fender models like the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass. Any player looking to take up the Fender legacy and make it their own now have an even more accessible means of doing so. If you've ever been itching to bring on a Fender of your own, there's never been a better time!
Orange stacks up with a wall of amps
You know you can see the Great Wall of Orange from space. No kidding, all you need to do is just tear the roof off the convention center. Which in all honesty you probably could do if you plugged these all in...
Happy NAMM, everybody!
