With no major guitar string launches this year, the focus on D’Addario’s stand was split between its many brands and diverse markets.
D’Addario’s woodwind line saw a fair amount of activity with the introduction of the Reserve Evolution Bb Clarinet Reeds, the thickest blank reed under the Reserve line that D’Addario says offers a roundness of sound, a heavy spine for increased projection, a thicker tip for enhanced articulation and greater warmth and flexibility. Also shown was the Reserve Evolution Bb Clarinet Mouthpiece, which: ‘delivers a warm and refined tone, featuring quick response and ease of articulation. The mouthpiece is medium-long facing for greater flexibility, features an optimized beak shape for added comfort, a revolutionary ramp and bore taper geometry for a fuller, more centered tone and altered baffle for added projection and articulation nuance’.
Among additions to its accessories line, D’Addario showed the NS Micro Headstock Tuner with a display that has a 360-degree rotation and with 90-degree screen orientation options. Also new was the Professional Tour-Grade Power Base, designed for the touring musician. The Power Base offers five standard space outlets and three transformer spaced outlets. Unlike most power strips that easily tip over, the Power Base features a low, wide footprint in a sturdy metal housing that remains anchored.
Evans Drumheads, introduced SoundOff Drumheads, a new line of products featuring a low volume set-up for acoustic drums. These drumheads are made using a single-ply of black mesh material, ‘dramatically reducing the volume of everyday drumming’. They will be available for tom, snare, and bass applications in sizes 8-24″.
Evans Drumheads also announced the exclusive worldwide distribution for Arti Dixson’s Bass Drum Lift, a tool for raising a bass drum off the floor, improving resonance and beater striking location. By lifting the drum off the floor with this product, and removing excessive clamping force on the hoop, the Evans Dixson Bass Drum Lift allows the bass drum to resonate more naturally, producing a better tone. It is designed to work with bass drums ranging in 16 – 24″ in size, the maker says.
Finally, Promark launched new maple drumsticks as part of its Select Balance line. ‘Compared with hickory, maple is a softer and lighter wood, allowing for a larger diameter drumstick without the added weight. As maple is a softer wood, it is also very comfortable in the hand, and will not transmit vibrations as easily as denser woods like hickory and oak,’ Promark says. These new models will feature the Rebound design of the Select Balance models: ‘..a long, 3″ taper for optimized finesse and agility, but with the addition of a round tip for a bright, full tone that is articulate on drums and cymbals. Rebound 7A, 5A, 55A AND 5B models are available in both standard length (16″) and long versions (16 ½”)’.
Indo: www.daddario.com