If you're looking for new musical instruments, the NAMM show is the place to be. Although Winter NAMM is far larger, manufacturers still introduce scads of innovative products at the summer show—or at least confirm that they're finally shipping the ones they announced back in January.

This summer's show once again graced Austin, Texas. I hit the floor with my digicam and press pass, searching for products that sparked my "Wow, I wish I had one of those" smile.

Summer NAMM has a reputation as a guitar show, and I definitely noticed the absence of the big software and pro-audio companies. No Digidesign or Cakewalk, no Manley or Presonus. There was also very little in the way of podcasting gear, with the notable exception of Belkin's TuneStudio, a nifty four-channel mixer that records directly onto an iPod and connects to a computer via USB. Record and upload, all in one light, sturdy package. (More on this in a moment.)

But happily for this guitarist, the boutique guitar and amp makers made a solid showing. I've tried to capture that for you here.

One of the more memorable electronic items was the PowerTune by Tronical. This add-on essentially enables your guitar to tune itself. Push the modified volume button, pick your tuning, strum, and the motorized gadget automatically tunes your guitar to perfection. Gibson was showing the PowerTune as an option on its guitars, where it had the added feature of telling the guitarist exactly how many half-turns to move the saddles to achieve perfect intonation.

DigiTech was showing off its Vocalist Live 4, which I tried out myself and fell in love with. (See our test of the Vocalist 2.) At the Roland display, I was completely amazed by the V-Accordion and its virtuosic demonstrator. Here's a short QuickTime movie I made:

This is Chris at the Roland booth demonstrating the V-Accordion. He makes it look like anyone can do it—and maybe anyone can! This accordion has bellows, but no reeds; every sound is digitally synthesized. (IE users, click to activate, then click play.)

On display in the Peavey booth was the Orange County Choppers custom motorcycle designed in honor of Peavey. There's a Peavey speaker on the back of the bike; a guitar fretboard is inlaid on the gas tank. In return, Peavey designed a limited edition custom guitar in honor of the Orange County Choppers.