Are guitarists really stuck in the past with traditional designs?

[Eagle]

Oh and let's not forget the world's most boring Modern guitar;

As good as it is (and I own one) the cut away is cramped and WTF is the contouring in the lower cut away supposed to help with???

 

[laxu]

Those folks in the 1950s just absolutely nailed it.

Counterpoint:

This era bridge designs are crap.

• The tune-o-matic is one of the stupidest bridge designs out there with a laundry list of problems and inconveniences.
• The Tele ashtray is pretty ugly without the intended cover (made before the idea of palm muting became a thing) and can have a bit sharp edges too.
• The original Fender tremolo wasn't that good at staying in tune even for the light warble people would use at the time.

Then you have that Fender block heel that cannot be called a good design, or the upper fret access on a LP, or its fragile headstock. Or the neck dive issues of a SG.

But aesthetically...they definitely got it right! To the point that it's hard to make an electric guitar that can be clearly called different but able to stand in the same pantheon of aesthetically pleasing designs.

 

[laxu]

It's strange how guitarists embraced "like it was back in the day" design and features, while bassists went the other way.

We guitarists would probably benefit more from things like low impedance output from active preamps with EQ features built into the guitar. Even a simple passive low cut feature adds a lot of versatility to any electric guitar.

 

[6CA7-A]

Well Slash claim he was the only one playing a LP in da 80's and he single-handedly saved the brand.
Saul also spent most da 80's drunk & on smack so ...
Also doesn't splain why i started my lusting for a LP in the 1960's.

 

[Achilles]

Great modern stuff:
View attachment 23383

Mayones are incredible!!!! Owned an all black Setius years back and the build was top shelf all the way.

 

[Achilles]

• The tune-o-matic is one of the stupidest bridge designs out there with a laundry list of problems and inconveniences.
• The Tele ashtray is pretty ugly without the intended cover (made before the idea of palm muting became a thing) and can have a bit sharp edges too.
• The original Fender tremolo wasn't that good at staying in tune even for the light warble people would use at the time.

Try and imagine what it would have been like if there was forums in the 50s......

Anyway,

The Quad Cortex power supply sucks.
The Fractal user interface is outdated.
The HX Stomp power brick can double as a tire stop.
The Kemper toaster looks like it belongs in a bad 50s sci-fi flick.

 

[laxu]

Try and imagine what it would have been like if there was forums in the 50s......

Anyway,

The Quad Cortex power supply sucks.
The Fractal user interface is decades outdated.
The HX Stomp power brick can double as a tire stop.
The Kemper toaster looks like it belongs in a bad 50s sci-fi flick.

Bottom line is the average Joe consumers are buying and loving all of these things
that all us anal dweebs find ugly, stupid, bad, etc.

The issue is that those bad aspects of the design are still so pervasive for "vintage accuracy."

There have been functionally superior TOM style bridges. The one on my Yamaha SA-1200S from somewhere in the late '70s or early '80s has more intonation range, better saddle mounting, much higher tolerances than modern Gotoh and more. It's over 40 years old and the only non-original parts are the frets, pickups and nut.

Similarly adding a contoured heel ala Fender Ultra range to all of the models would make sense, as did Gibson's attempts to fix the headstock fragility. It's buyer stupidity that they shun these improvements "because Jimi or Jimmy didn't need them!"

 

[Achilles]

It's buyer NOSTALGIA that they shun these improvements "because Jimi or Jimmy didn't need them!"

FIFY

 

[Eagle]

Mayones are incredible!!!! Owned an all black Setius years back and the build was top shelf all the way.

And Setius is by far the worst thing they ever made.

 

[Achilles]

And Setius is by far the worst thing they ever made.

I bet you got one of them arsehole thingies too, huh?




opinions are just like em.....

 

[Eagle]

Try and imagine what it would have been like if there was forums in the 50s......

Anyway,

The Quad Cortex power supply sucks.
The Fractal user interface is decades outdated.
The HX Stomp power brick can double as a tire stop.
The Kemper toaster looks like it belongs in a bad 50s sci-fi flick.

Fractal UI is as simple as it could be to do as much as it does. Very easy to program from the front panel and the computer interface is the best one. The Quad Toytex power and build quality is far more an issue. HX is just cheap nasty and Kemper has the audacity to not look conventional.

 

[Eagle]

I bet you got one them arsehole thingies too, huh?




opinions are just like em.....

? I mean the other stuff is massively better.

 

[6CA7-A]

I call them "guitars".

 

[metropolis_4]

Some of you guys forgot to read the OP and missed the point. It was just a joke.

But it makes me wonder. The ‘60s and ‘70s especially were full of so many terrible new and original guitar designs that I could see guitarists being conditioned to just stick with what was tried and true instead of taking risks.

How many guitarists got burned back then buying what was advertised as the best new innovation in guitars only to be frustrated with it being garbage?

Maybe tradition is more of a guitarist culture thing that was born out of a measure of practicality and safe way of navigating the land mine that was the booming guitar market back in the day

 

[Achilles]

But it makes me wonder. The ‘60s and ‘70s especially were full of so many terrible new and original guitar designs that I could see guitarists being conditioned to just stick with what was tried and true instead of taking risks.

How many guitarists got burned back then buying what was advertised as the best new innovation in guitars only to be frustrated with it being garbage?

If nothing else strapping on a guitar is a personal fashion statement. You need to look down and get off on what you see,
and of course you'd love if anyone looking at you digs it too.

If you think about it only in that sense, and use actual fashion as in clothes and hair as the parallel, think about what's
popular today with both women and men. Nothing outrageously new or innovative.
I've worn a pair of jeans probably 99 out of every 100 days of my life for the last 50 freaking years. Bet I'm far from a minority.

Fads with women's hair come and go, as in the 80s......in hindsight

Look around today and most women have a style that's either an older classic or a variation thereof.

Now imagine your a fashion designer in the 2020s. What do you come up with with full anticipation of
if creating a buzz, selling in mass qty.s, and hopefully having a long shelf life?

Guitar builders are stuck in the same boat! And have been for decades.

Agree with @DrewJD82, Strandberg my be the most recent example of someone thinking
outside the box and actually scoring a hit,

 

[la szum]

Why we as humans get so hung up on innovation is the real question? Kill the old for the sake of the new!

 

[la szum]

I like this German word that has no real English equivalent. It kind of questions the
notion of inevitable and eternal progress. It's Verschlimmbesserung. Big word of the day!

Literally means, "trying to improve things, but only making things worse."

Verschlimmbesserung Meaning | Translations by Dictionary.com

Verschlimmbesserung is a German noun word for an attempted improvement that only makes things worse.

www.dictionary.com

 

[duzie]

Why we as humans get so hung up on innovation is the real question? Kill the old for the sake of the new!

 

[metropolis_4]

For every Strandberg there are about 10 Godwin Guitorgans

 

[DrewJD82]

• The original Fender tremolo wasn't that good at staying in tune even for the light warble people would use at the time.