The 2011 NAMM convention was held last weekend in Anaheim, CA. GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal has issued the following report:

"NAMM 2011!! Got to hang with all my musician friends, gear-makin' friends, music fan friends, press friends, from all over the world, it's our once-a-year time to see each other.

Hung out at DiMarzio Pickups, spent hours jamming at the Vigier Guitar booth with my ol' buddy Guthrie Govan, did a signing at Engl Amps with Duff & Mike from LOADED, went to TC Electronic where I made sounds for their new line of pedals (see video clip below) and did a little jamming.

Beautiful weather, beautiful musical instruments, great people and players, nice... Til we all meet again, same time next year!"

Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal has released the first of a series of singles, a punky guitar-virtuosic cover of THE FOUR TOPS' 1967 Motown hit, 'Bernadette'.

The song was recorded in the weeks surrounding Ron's first tour with GN'R as their new guitarist in 2006.

The song is available in MP3 (320kps), AAC, and higher-quality formats FLAC, MP3 HD, Apple Lossless and WAV. An instrumental version is also available in these formats.

For guitarists, a "Player Pack" includes a 12-page transcription of the entire lead guitar track (PDF file), accompanied by a Backing Track version of the song (in both MP3 and WAV formats) with everything except the lead/solo guitar parts, so you can play along.

And for the studio-savvy, a Producer Pack of mix “stems” - six separate files of drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals and backing vocals that you can load into your multi-track software and play with levels, edit, and make your own mixes.

Further details here. Check out a sample below: