Best Product at NAMM

It's been quite a long time from the closing gates of this year's winter NAMM until now, the moment of truth... Nevertheless, the result was worth the waiting as the judges have had a lot of products to choose from. Yes, it's about the „prom queen", the overall best product displayed at the NAMM and with so many attendants and such a large number of various products, this choice wasn't by far an easy one, especially as the NAMM judging is supposedly one of the most serious from the music industry.

There may be some high egos in the game of the NAMM but, regardless of them, the judges have to do their best when deciding who gets to be crowned: it's the largest show - so everybody is watching or covering it, it's January - meaning that the winner gets a full year of promotion and everybody wants this award. But unfortunately, there is need for more than will and ego to get the judges favors: it's about quality and price, novelty and public choice, addressability and also looks... And this year, all these went to Michael Kelly Guitars!

Michael Kelly Guitar Co. is a Florida-based manufacturer which has been making guitars, basses and mandolins for quite some time now and has grown to earn respect and consideration from lots of players. It's now time for the Michael Kelly brand to receive its NAMM recognition for one of the new models presented in January.

The queen of the NAMM is the MK Patriot Limited guitar: a Korean-made guitar in archtop design and mahogany, bubinga, ebony and maple woods. The Patriot Limited features a set net and a pair of Rockfield SWC pickups, especially designed for coil-tap operation (meaning that you can operate the humbuckers in single-coil mode as well).

The mahogany body makes the Limited Patriot more like a baritone-grade guitar while the ebony fretboard makes a true luxury touch. A TonePros bridge and Grover tuners make sure you will get the support you need and that your strings stay in tune the whole night you might spend on stage. Besides the 2 awesome finishes in either bubinga or spalted maple, the Patriot Limited comes in with a highly polished gloss, so you'll truly sparkle in the spotlight.

So much for the tech specs; the nicest part comes just now: the street-price announced at NAMM for the Michael Kelly Patriot Limited guitar is somewhere around $500 and this simply makes it a guitar for everyone, whether you are a beginner and want something more than the 99-dollars beginner set axe, yet you are not ready to buy "the real thing" or a professional looking for a good sound from a high quality guitar for less than a grand.

Altogether, it seems like the six judges from NAMM have had a tough decision to make when they had to choose among the new stuff issued in January. The overall features of this - you must admit it, very lovely piece of gear - combined with the exceptional affordability and the Michael Kelly signature have weighted enough to gain the supreme title at the winter NAMM this year. Watch out for the stores as it's most likely this guitar will be sold out soon!

Photos by Michael Kelly guitar Co.