The wafflemakers of Anaheim are warming. Dazzling glitter finishes are being applied to awe-inspiring shred machines. Tubes are being toasted. Pedals chained. Promotional picks packed into tiny jeans pockets and bassists are pickling their slapping thumbs to make them extra hard. Yes: NAMM is back.
After a year that’s seen the trade pulling together in the face of shared challenges and with NAMM taking a leading role in lobbying Congress, our sense is of a stronger sense of unity among firms in 2026, or at least an agreement to split the costs of a laminator. Rest assured though, they’ll still be competing for our eyes and ears at the year’s biggest gear showcase.
Guitar World will be keeping you abreast of all the key guitar, amp, pedal, modeler and bass announcements right here, both in the run-up to the event and across the NAMM show itself (January 20-24, 2026), with our team on the ground in Anaheim.
Bookmark the heck out of this page, and it will be your one-stop shop for all the breaking news throughout NAMM – before, during and after the show – until the close of the month. If it’s not here, it’s not important – or we just haven’t got to it yet because we’re face down in our laptops having a small but mighty power nap.
2025 was a genuine return to form for NAMM, after a few shaky years, in which big firms abandoned ship at an alarming rate. Now they’re mostly back onboard, albeit in reduced footprint, or in a backroom capacity. Fortunately, after many tours of NAMM, we’ve gotten quite good at finding those rooms.
So stick with us, and we’ll take you along for the ride, as we try out the most exciting new guitar gear, step through the big firms’ mystery doors for exclusive peeks at their latest line-ups, and check in with some of the A-list guitar talent that the world’s biggest music-making event attracts.
NAMM 2026: Electric guitars
- The big news at Fender is its new CEO, Edward ‘Bud’ Cole – the man who pioneered the resurgence of Fender Japan and opened the brand’s Tokyo Flagship store. Obviously, it’s a little too soon for him to have made any major changes just yet, but it will be intriguing to see how his new leadership affects the brand’s NAMM plans. Beyond the usual Custom Shop extravaganza, we’re not sure what’s in store. But Mateus Asato’s departure from Suhr sure is interesting timing, eh?
- With 2026 being Megadeth’s grand farewell, we fully expect Gibson to embrace ’Deth. There’s the small matter of that Dave Mustaine Les Paul he’s been teasing for literally years, and that sick custom Explorer that Teemu Mäntysaari has been wielding at recent shows. We also know that a new Michael Schenker Flying V is in the works. And surely, surely, the long-awaited Mark Morton Les Paul will finally show its, erm, face?
- Speaking of Megadeth, Jackson dropped a pair of new Chris Broderick Soloists at the tail end of the year.
- Gibson has also paid tribute to rock 'n' roll royalty by releasing a Collector's Edition replica of Keith Richards' go-to six-string – his 1960 ES-355.
- Donner is launching what it’s called “the ultimate headless guitar”, the HLX-500. Certainly looks familiar, eh? Elsewhere, it’s updated its Hush headless guitar models with a quintet of new finishes, while the original HUSH-I – launched at NAMM 2022 – has received an upgrade with the VHUSH I EVO2.
- In terms of bang for buck, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything that can match Harley Benton’s ST-Modern Carlos Asensio signature model. The YouTuber’s Superstrat has rolled fingerboard edges, Luminlay side dots, roasted maple neck and a Vega-Trem VT1 Ultratrem for under $700.
- Ibanez has unveiled its most 'prog rock' guitar to date with the launch of the Alpha Series. It's giving serious Abasi Concepts/Ernie Ball/Strandberg vibes, and we are so here for it. A refreshing entry into the shred and metal guitar specialist's lineup.
- Speaking of Ibanez, NAMM is usually a reliable time to get some new Ibanez artist models. At Guitar Summit, the firm unexpectedly launched its Bernth guitar. Could more surprise signatures be in the offing? After all, Isaiah Sharkey has been teasing a new Ibanez on social media...
- Kiesel is showcasing its all-new Aero range of electric guitars. They kinda look like Sci-Fi, space age S-styles. That grated pickguard looks pretty darn cool, too.
- PRS' early 2026 lineup includes a long-awaited Mojave Brown Satin Silver Sky, a brand-new S2 Vela HHT, a load of new-look models, and some key wholesale SE updates, including new tuning pegs and pickup rings.
-PRS also has launched a surprise new signature guitar for Ed Sheeran, and the SE Cosmic Splash is a tastily specced hollowbody baritone limited to just 1,000 pieces.
- Silvertone is back, and it's back with a bang, reviving the uber-cool 1478 offset, semi-hollow 1446, and the oddball 1449.
- Epiphone and Fatoumata Diawara have made history together, unveiling the brand’s first signature model for a woman of color. The $699 Epiphone Fatoumata Diawara signature SG is loaded with a heap of switching options and just look at that artwork...
- Yamaha hit the event early, with two big announcements, reviving it’s lesser-spotted T-style Pacifica SC, under its popular Professional and Professional Plus lines, and unveiling a major signature launch, with the arrival of the Chris Buck RevStar RS02CB.
NAMM 2026: Effects pedals
- DigiTech/DOD will be showcasing its Badder Monkey overdrive. But will there be any more surprises?
- The JHS Pedals x Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi 2, sourced from a long-lost circuit schematic, was one of 2025’s coolest pedal launches, and will be out in the wild at the show.
- Electro-Harmonix has also just unveiled the potentially game-changing Effects Interface Hardware Plugin, which turns pedals into plugins and vice versa without the need for converters, re-amp boxes and complex cable setups.
- Neural DSP might have already won the NAMM game this year, taking another quantum leap in modeling by launching the Quad Cortex mini – packing the full processing power of the Quad Cortex, plus a touchscreen into 8.9” x 4.5” footprint.
- This might be the moment where we figure out what Gamechanger Audio’s Recoder actually is. Because the company sure as heck don’t know what to call it.
- Strymon is the king of digital pedals. But the Fairfax marked its first foray into fully analog stompboxes – a Class A output stage drive pedal that’s “a complete miniature amplifier in 100% analog form”.
- Death By Audio’s Destroyer Series looks so, so awesome. Reverb, delay, phaser and fuzz effects are on tap – the company is calling them the “family of beautifully chaotic stereo tone machines”.
- Forget digital emulations of analog circuits. Dirty Boy’s Silver Boy is an analog version of a popular digital amp sim.
- The Nocturne is Keeley’s latest collab with Andy Timmons – a reverb pedal the virtuoso hails as “the most inspiring reverb I’ve ever heard”.
- J. Rockett’s Aqueous Chorus has distinct CE-1 vibes courtesy of a preamp and its BBD-style textures, but it can turn its hands to more modern tones, too.
- Crazy Tube Circuits will be channeling classic Orange fuzz and grind with the Orama twin-footswitch drive pedal.
- EarthQuaker Devices and Dr. Z have put their heads together for the ZEQD-Pre – a tube-loaded preamp pedal that might just be the tonal tool your digital rig has been crying out for. With a pristine EF86 tube, it promises to inject genuine valve warmth to any signal chain.
- Collision Devices is looking to satisfy our hunger for tasty pedal drops with the Snack Series, which comprises bite-sized fuzz, pitch and delay 'boxes that sound as good as they look.
- Nuclear Audio has perhaps pioneered an industry-first with its Fission Drive. True to the name, it splits your signal in two and injects adjustable levels of gain to the two separate frequency bands. Very gnarly.
- DSM & Humboldt have followed its fan-favorite (and widely acclaimed) Simplifier analog amp modeling pedal with the Dumblifier. It does exactly what it says on the tin: offers authentic, non-digital tube amp tones inspired by the mythical Dumble Overdrive Special.
- Boss has moved to take control of the beginner amp modeler market with the $229 GX-1 – and it looks a total breeze to operate.
- Ibanez is hoping to reassert its presence in the world of high-end effects pedal with the Layer Delayer – a wild echo machine that serves as its most ambitious stompbox to date.
- Poly Effects and Josh Smith have released their latest boundary-pushing effects pedal, the Kanso.
- Vox has ramped up its pedal arsenal with the VFZ-1 and VTB-1. The first is inspired by the the Maestro Fuzz-Face, while the latter takes cues from Rory Gallagher and Brian May's favored Treble Booster.
- Walrus has expanded its Canvas range of utility pedals with the impressively feature-packed volume pedal. The firm has also introduced a "first of its kind" Mantle analog bass preamp and DI box.
- Beloved YouTuber guitarist and producer Ryan “Fluff” Bruce is expanding his signature gear empire with a new overdrive pedal from Warm Audio: the Warm Audio Fluff Drive.
- Billy Corgan has condensed the tone of his $100,000+ Smashing Pumpkins rig into the new $629 Laney Black Country Customs Supergrace pedal amp – and he tells GW he’s even tested it in front of 60,000 My Chemical Romance fans...
NAMM 2026: Guitar amps
- Marshall has celebrated the Lunar New Year with a striking collaboration with Beijing artist FCCK, who has helped craft some visually distinctive combo amps.
- EVH will be showing its first-ever digital amp, the Hypersonic, which was announced late last year.
- One big surprise that will be showcased at this year’s show is EHX’s ABRAMS100 (EHX) – a 100-watt solid-state head for under $300. Designed, obviously, for pedal users.
- Orange has rolled out the OR60 – an all-valve guitar amp head that it says is the “most versatile it has ever built.” It may look simple, but it promises versatility and a plethora of tone shaping goodness...
- Vox has added new Greenback combos to its premium Hand-Wired amp family (Vox).
- And, speaking of Vox, the firm is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Valvetronix series of hybrid amp modelers by releasing its most advanced iterations yet: the VT20X and VT40X.
- Synergy Amps, which has long looked at the amplifier world in alternative ways, has debuted its new machine-learning power amp technology for “a no-compromise amplifier solution” – showcased via two new offerings with Wampler and Friedman.
NAMM 2026: Acoustic guitars
- Taylor has lifted the curtain on what it's calling perhaps its most advanced acoustic date as part of a comprehensive unveiling of its class-of-2026 guitars. The Next Generation Grand Auditorium models are particularly intriguing, with new bracing, an all-new Claria pickup system, and that nifty Action Control Neck. A new benchmark in tone, playability and performance? Taylor thinks so.
NAMM 2026: Bass guitars
- Ibanez has brought back the Iceman bass guitar for the first time in almost 20 years. Hallelujah. It's not everyone's favorite Ibanez by any means, but it is beloved by Paul Stanley and Daron Malakian, so there's a lot of pedigree there. Now, bassists can get in on the fun. Everyone say, 'Thank you, Ibanez.'
- Aria Guitars has announced a commemorative signature bass for the late Cliff Burton to mark 40 years since his passing.
NAMM 2026: Pickups and accessories
- Seymour Duncan has released its third set of signature Slash pickups. They're the same humbuckers that were fitted into Slash's Back to the Beginning Gibson SG.
- D'Addario has, er, expanded its XPND family of pedalboards and accessories with the Pedal Pry Tool. We all know that trying to wrestle your prized pedals from the vice-like grip of a well-secured hook and loop fastening is the opposite of fun. The Pedal Pry Tool makes light work of removing pedals. Even more reason to buy some more stompboxes...
- Casio is unlocking a new world of expressive guitar playing with the Dimension Shifter, a device that clips onto guitar straps and allows users to wirelessly control effects, pedals, and move with their movements.
