the incremental future of the guitar ?

lysander

@p90fool I don't disagree with simply wanting a good instrument as we're used to, but classical instruments are the results of hundreds of years of evolution, innovations and cross pollination.
I'm sure at some points clarinetists were eager to try improvements in the design
I live close to the Horniman museum and often visit the instrument gallery where it's fascinating to see a slice of the breadth and depth of instrument innovation in history.

The electric guitar is still young and may yet evolve into various directions and possibly branch out into several separate instruments, I think it's exciting to be part of that.

The things that I am personally most eager to see improved are: 
- No more noise and hum.
- Tonal shaping directly on the guitar : why be stuck with one sound when a few controls can give you a great range. I think Fishman Fluence pickups with multiple voices are a step in the right direction but I'd also like to see more EQ controls which are common on bass but usually really lacking on guitars
- Multi conductors jack and jack socket: I doubt it will ever happen but why not switch to a multipin connnector as standard for all guitars ? This would greatly improve forward compatibility for more signals to be added to the guitar output, AND also provide power over the cable, so you can be noise free without needing damn batteries in the guitar.
- Tremolos that can be blocked and also where you can change tuning instantly without having to mess around with allen keys and screwdrivers for 15min to get everything in tune and with the right action etc.

I'm aware most of these things have been done or are partially possible, but I'd love them to become standard features of the instrument.

Fifty9

This thread has made me buy a telecaster

p90fool

@lysander you're preaching to the converted a bit tbh, I was a lutenist for quite a few years and consequently had a lot to do with early music and authentic instruments, and I also am constantly messing with various switching and tone filter ideas on my guitars, use my Roland guitar synth all the time in the studio and have more digital outboard gear than I know what to do with.

Despite all this I think I have a reasonable grasp of how to play a guitar as a traditional instrument, using its capacity for light and shade and touch sensitivity, along with the tonal variation you can get from how and where you attack the strings. My problem is that this last bit is the first thing to be sacrificed when you start to introduce too much tech, and I almost have to wear a different "hat" when I'm effectively using a guitar as a controller. 

I'm a technophile, I love experimenting in the studio with guitar software and hardware and have never had any Luddite inhibitions about it, but for me it almost becomes a different instrument, losing a lot of the expressive power of a good guitar into a simple amp along the way. 

In short all innovation is welcome, but that doesn't mean that a great Tele straight into a cranked Deluxe is irrelevant. 

ICBM

p90fool said:

In short all innovation is welcome, but that doesn't mean that a great Tele straight into a cranked Deluxe is irrelevant. 

This. My problem as a guitarist is that I want to sound like two of my major influences at the same time, which is a very difficult circle to square... maybe impossible.

Neil Young and Mike Oldfield.

OilCityPickups

ICBM said:

p90fool said:

In short all innovation is welcome, but that doesn't mean that a great Tele straight into a cranked Deluxe is irrelevant. 

This. My problem as a guitarist is that I want to sound like two of my major influences at the same time, which is a very difficult circle to square... maybe impossible.

Neil Young and Mike Oldfield.

That's needing more drugs and no drugs at the same time ... tough call!

lysander

@p90fool totally on the same page as you, and yeah I also find it necessary to separate the creative / playing brain from the technological aspects otherwise inspiration evaporates very quickly.

Rocker

If there was a serious flaw in guitar design, after sixty plus years of manufacturing, someone would have fixed it.  It hasn't happened so the conclusion must be that the design and manufacture of guitars was spot on from the very start of mass production of guitars.

WiresDreamDisasters

Sassafras said:

SteveRobinson said:

You could call it Nevertune

Or Neverwork.

Or Alwayswritetunes

sev112

Rocker said:

If there was a serious flaw in guitar design, after sixty plus years of manufacturing, someone would have fixed it.  It hasn't happened so the conclusion must be that the design and manufacture of guitars was spot on from the very start of mass production of guitars.

But there is a serious flaw - very taut metallic strings, set out in a way that the majority of people who try to play the instrument try and give up.

why should rock and roll, and guitar song writing only be limited to those who can persevere through the pain of playing 6 string F chords (like all new guitarists get told they have to learn.

 innovations could make learning and developing much easier - 3or 4 string guitars which could be simply extended to 6 string when you become more accomplished; simpler tunings to start with so that you can learn and play a barre chord with just one finger (and not have to add the other 3 fingers in an F chord); comfortable and adjustable “rest” that you can rest your right hand on instead of resting on the painful bridge; nylon wrapped metal strings so that you can play an electric pickup guitar with the comfort of nylon; modular neck that can be put on which lights up minor or major 3rds, or myxolydian notes etc while you are playing ;  

yes I know that all of them exist already in various ways, but we still sell teenagers a painful standard electric to learn on and make them play 6 string F chords).

Other things that are not developing player related : 
proper multi EQ on guitar itself;
acoustic guitar which actually includes some “drums” in various locations, as people seem to like banging the guitar these days;  
A pickup that can take a vocal Mike output and then take it to the amp, instead of having different cables

scrumhalf

I've given this all of five minutes' thought and come up with:

- use of alternative woods for neck and body, there must be so many species of tree that aren't considered for guitar construction.

- recessed pick holders in the body of the guitar

- popularisation of solderless quick-connect wiring to facilitate mid-gig changes, why change guitars if you can change pickups with little or no bother

- guitars with AI that can recognise how well/badly you are playing.

p90fool

sev112 said:

But there is a serious flaw - very taut metallic strings, set out in a way that the majority of people who try to play the instrument try and give up.

why should rock and roll, and guitar song writing only be limited to those who can persevere through the pain of playing 6 string F chords (like all new guitarists get told they have to learn.

 innovations could make learning and developing much easier -

yes I know that all of them exist already in various ways, but we still sell teenagers a painful standard electric to learn on and make them play 6 string F chords).

We've already bypassed the tedious learning process, or at least some people think they have....

LastMantra

Tbf most of these things have already been thought of and generally considered gimmicky.

sev112

I do think fender have something when they think that their market growth in future will come from more people sticking with guitar rather than giving up.  Presumably this is where fenderplay or whatever it is called comes from

(I don’t have any original ideas of my own you know )

Litterick

The future is female.

skullfunkerry

I'm not sure there's too much I can add to this that hasn't already been said. I will say this though: the volume knob on a Strat literally couldn't be in a worse place

dindude

All the equipment that is released each year as the next best thing, yet are we, tonally, any further forwards than we were 40 years ago. On a budget probably, overall, not I think - even backwards in some cases.

sev112

dindude said:

All the equipment that is released each year as the next best thing, yet are we, tonally, any further forwards than we were 40 years ago. On a budget probably, overall, not I think - even backwards in some cases.

Oh definitely, because 40+ years ago if you turned your amp up the signal distorts, and sounds horrible.  so as a result of innovation we can all play with lovely clean tone at long last

2003amxl

I'd love perfect single coil and humbucker sounds from one guitar. I don't mind if its done on the guitar end or digitally modeled on the amp end. The Line 6 variax was promising but had quirks such as palm muting where it fell apart.

AK99

I'm still hoping somebody will get the finger out and develop (a) an easily detachable neck to make it easier to transport and ship the things and (b) some kind of quiuckmount 'string pack' that would let you remove the old and drop in a new set without all the faffing about it currently takes

stickyfiddle

dindude said:

All the equipment that is released each year as the next best thing, yet are we, tonally, any further forwards than we were 40 years ago. On a budget probably, overall, not I think - even backwards in some cases.

Maybe? Things like Old Blood Noise's crazy reverbs and reverse delays weren't a thing 40 years ago. But otherwise generally no, because distorted guitar sounds had already been invented and they're still just as addictive as they were in 1970. The good news is we have better master volumes, attenuators and dirt pedals to get a variety of those distorted guitar sounds without needing a Marshall stack at full chat.