NAMM 2026: New Releases and Expectations

It’s NAMM time! The world’s musical instrument retailers all collectively shift their gaze west towards Anaheim once again, for a winter trade show that is filled with excitement and hopeful apprehension. What will the show bring us all this year?

That’s what this article is for! NAMM launches on the 22nd January - today, if you’re reading this hot of the press - and I’ve got some very cool stuff to show you, as well as some educated guesses about what else might show up.

Here’s what I know so far…

Taylor are going at it with a zeal this year, uncovering not only new Gold Label guitars (square shoulder dreadnoughts) and a fresh Big Baby, but offering a whole new refresh on key guitars.

Dubbed Taylor’s Next Generation series, what I’ve seen so far is a range of Grand Auditorium ‘14’ models, with several new features. Chiefly, there’s the Action Control Neck, a new neck join that allows particularly easy maintenance and adjustment. I’ve seen it, I’ve had a shot with their special tool, and it’s impressive.

Secondly, there’s a brand new pickup system, the Claria, which is an undersaddle piezo design. The controls for this are now soundhole mounted, and feature a mid-contour knob for powerful tone-shaping.

Also, there are new ‘Weathervane’ inlays, and the models I’ve so far seen - all 14 style grand auditoriums - feature all-solid timbers. There will be new Builder’s Edition guitars released soon too, so it's all go for Taylor!

Ibanez came in early with a raft of new releases for 2026. Several of these are already on our site and available for either ordering or pre-ordering! Here’s a couple of highlights for you:

Ibanez Alpha: a brand new shape here from Ibanez, the Alpha is a cutting edge multiscale guitar, available in both 7 and 8 string permutations. It’s clearly one for the Prog metal and djent brigades, and features stainless steel frets and Fishman Fluence Modern pickup sets.

Ibanez Iceman IC420MFM: a very cool refresh on one of Ibanez’s most enduring original shapes, the IC420MFM changes things up with a maple fingerboard, flame top and gold hardware. A most unusual combo, and one that works exceedingly well if you ask me!

On top of these, we’ll be seeing loads more from Ibanez, including new Talman acoustics, new SR bass models, new guitars from the Prestige & Gio subranges and, rather excellently, the return of the mighty Xiphos! Yes, check out the XPT420DX alongside the rest of the new Ibanez models by clicking below.

Click to View our Latest Ibanez Guitars

Laney’s big NAMM release is an exciting collaboration with the Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who has been a user of their amps for years now. Well-recognised for his superb guitar tones, Corgan has worked alongside both the British amp-makers and his own amp tech, Brian Carstens, to create the Laney Supergrace Loudpedal.

This is a floor-based amp-in-a-box with a channel each for a vintage Laney Supergroup and the Carstens Grace, along with a boost and digital reverb. In full disclosure, I’ve had a good go of this already, and it sounds apocalyptic. Huge tones with tons of muscle and clarity, and it works well with pedals as well. It’s made in the UK and will be a no-brainer for anyone who wants top-tier high gain.

Corgan is also set to receive the 2025 TEC Innovation Award at the show, for his ‘visionary approach to guitar-driven sound, experimental production and expansive creative output’. Congrats!

Talking about classy high gain sounds, the company who practically invented the concept - MESA/Boogie - have unveiled a brand new version of their Triple Rectifier amp.

The MESA/Boogie Triple Rectifier 90s is a 150w head with two channels: orange/vintage and modern/red. That extra rectifier (compared with the famous Dual Rec) should give an even tighter response to your rhythmic riffing, and with 6L6 power amp valves, the ‘improved’ Clean mode may just mean that you have everything you need for ultimate hard rocking right there in one gorgeous amp. I cannot wait to try this one out!

A PRS for Ed Sheeran? Yes indeed! The guy who singlehandedly raised the profile of small travel-sized acoustics used a red PRS guitar in his song for the Brad Pitt F1 movie, and is apparently using PRS models to write with just now.

So, it’s maybe less of a surprise to learn that there’s a very limited edition PRS SE Ed Sheeran Cosmic Splash guitar on the way! Limited to 1000 guitars, this is actually pretty unusual: it’s a baritone for one thing, and it has a piezo pickup for acoustic sounds. This semi-hollow monster features Ed’s artwork on the finish and has cassette player-style Play, Stop etc symbols as fingerboard inlays.

If you manage to snare one of these badboys, you’ll also receive a signed art card from Ed, too, so it’s quite a special package!

PRS are also showing up with awesome new S2 Vela models, in metallic finishes including Holoflake!!!

Have you been converted to the cause of the Quad Cortex yet? Many guitarists have, thanks to unparalleled sound quality and ‘capturing’ ability. It’s cutting edge tech that delivers the best sounds from the history of electric guitar, and a whole lot more besides.

Anyway, there’s a new model and it has just been announced at Winter NAMM 2026! The Neural DSP Quad Cortex Mini is a new floor unit with a large touchscreen and a footswitch in each corner of the top. It’s about half the size of the regular Quad Cortex and, according to Neural DSO, will offer the ‘full flagship performance’ within the smaller footprint.

Exciting!

Alternative country superstar Molly Tuttle is to receive not one but two signature guitars from Martin. We’ve seen a lot of this recently from Martin with artists like Jason Isbell and Jeff Tweedy: Martin issue a gorgeous, spendy model and a more streamlined, affordable model, both for the same artist at the same time. I’m here for it!

For Molly, her two models are the D18 Molly Tuttle and the DX2E Molly Tuttle. The D18 model has a beautiful glossy sunburst finish, special waxing and waning moon fingerboard inlays and a v-neck profile. The DX2E model also rocks the inlays and sunburst finish (albeit a satin version) and also includes an E1 pickup system. Very cool!

There will be loads of things releasing over the next week or so whilst NAMM is in full swing, and we’ll be keeping our eyes out over here for more news as it arrives! I’ll be looking for Cort’s new headless guitars, the brand new Fender range of audio interfaces and much more!

NAMM is always wild with new and exciting things for us guitarists to distract our lives with, so keep an eye on our site for up-to-date news as it comes in!