Daddy Dee Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 The Gig-Saver: 15 Tones, One Guitar I'm not a musician, but thought this was a pretty cool guitar concept. The coil guitar webpage has a number of sampler videos at the bottom of the web page. I'd sure be interested to hear what the real guitarists on the forum think of this innovation. http://www.coil-guitars.com/#/models/angel/ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106479558 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 horrid website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I thought this might be about the new crop of guitars that can digitally simulate hundreds of the sounds of all the other guitars including alternate tunings, pitch transpositions, 12 strings, and effects modulations that can be altered by waving the guitar through a light sensor. There are a few of these out now. I've heard them... New ideas and technologies are always popping up, but we guitarists area very conservative lot when it comes to instruments. For all of the"advances" in shapes and electronics, the two guitars that totallydominate the electric guitar scene are still the simple FenderStratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul; both have remained basicallyunchanged for the last 50 years, and the older ones are highly prized. Real guitarists tend to ignore these new things. The truth of the matter is that almost all of the tone of a guitar isin the hands of the musician, not so much from the attributes of theinstrument itself. The most important quality of a guitar is to not impede the movement of a musical idea from the guitarist's mind, through his hands, to the final sound. That is all, and that is why simplicity and transparency are the things we like in a guitar. As for the "no heel" guitar that allows easy access to the higher frets, its been done before and has never caught on. Part of the popular "mystique" of playing lead guitar is the supposed difficulty in playing up in the high frets. In reality, acomplished guitarists find it no more difficult than anywhere else. In many solos, the highpoint or climax occurs in conjunction with playing up in the high frets, and the popular dramatic association is that this is the hardest part of the solo to play. This is almost never true, but it looks good on stage and impresses the crowd. Pretty much a non problem; common practice is to not overdo the time spent up there anyway, for musical reasons and to preserve the drama, not technical. As far as the multiple wiring configurations of the pickup coils, that has been going on for a long time. I have modified my Strat wiring so the pickup selection combinations allow two configurations that none of the normal Strats offer. I rewired guitar pickups 40 years ago as a teen, just about all electric guitar players have done this, usually to discover that the best sounds were from the original design. As far as the NPR segment, they dropped the ball as usual, a disappointment, but not a surprize. No one tests guitar pickup selection combinations by using a distorted overdriven amp. And the true test for discriminating players will not be just chords, but single notes, phrases, and solos where the tone of the instrument is most critical to the musician. I think it is a little funny that of the dozen "different" settings, only about three of them have a discernablby distinctive sound from the others, but that is probably due to the distorted amp playing chords. Playing my Strat at rehearsal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Well put, Paul! I mostly play an acoustic, which derives its tone from the different woods that are used in the guitars construction. The higher quality the construction, the nicer the tone can be, but still varies a lot based on the technique and skill of the player. A good quality instrument inspires better playing. Good intonation (staying in tune as you play up the neck) and playability (lower string action, etc.) all contribute. The only newer instrument I have seen to be really innovative, is the Stick. It isn't just a fancy/different guitar. I have been tempted to get one, but am not disciplined enough to learn it, and the price of entry is a little high (although I have spent more on acoustics). I would be more inclined to get a cello and work at it... http://www.stick.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 Paul, Bruce Thanks for your take. Makes sense. btw, the stick is an interesting looking instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 There was a Les Paul with autotune motors built in for Jimmy Page. With it you could memorize different tunings and with a push of a button the guitar would make the shift for you. I've seen Steve Howe of Yes play an electric guitar with built in electronics that would emulate the sound of a multitude of stringed instruments. It was much more than just electronic effects added to the sound of a guitar- very interesting stuff. The Chapman Stick is very innovative, the leading player of this instruement is Tony Levin of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel's band. I had the good fortune to see him play it at the Vogue nightclub many years ago. Fascinating instrument that allows bass and lead parts to be played simultaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Variax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Jimmy Riff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Transperformance autotuning guitar models Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_Strummin Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Stick with the usual suspects: Martin, Gibson, Taylor, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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