4 New Guitar Innovations

Hello!

Today I'll be looking at some of the recent technological advances that could change the face of guitar playing forever. Or in the case of the last item on our list, just make some Scandinavians look a bit silly. To stay informed in your guitar purchasing decisions, get a copy of the Nitty Gritty Guitar Book, the latest and essential guide to buying and maintaining guitars.

1. The Gibson Robot
Fancy electronics in the bridge and headstock, and tiny tiny motors in the tuners means that this guitar can tune itself.

Although this isn't the first self tuning system to be developed (the 'Transperformance' system has been around for around 2o years), it is the cheapest and the least invasive - the Transperformance system significantly altered the look and feel of the guitar. The Gibson Robot is available in a variety of shapes and styles (including the classic Les Paul shape) for between $1000 and $3000 (a bargain compared to some of the guitars we looked at the other day!). It comes with 7 factory preset tunings, 6 of which can be customised, and tunes in around 15 seconds, meaning that the days of taking a second guitar for that annoying song thats tuned half a step down could soon be over!

2. True Temperament
This strange looking thing is a 'True Temperament' neck. To explain what this is for we're going to need a bit of guitar theory. For more in depth explanations of the various parts of a guitar and how they affect the sound, check out The Nitty Gritty Guitar Book.

When tuning your guitar, as well as making sure it is in concert pitch (as checked with an electronic tuner), you also need to tune by ear to correct that the guitar has the correct intonation (that it is in tune with itself).

Although there is a setting in the bridge to help with this, the overall system is flawed, because there are myriad factors affecting the intonation. When deciding the spacing of frets, most guitar makers use only one of these factors - the scale length.

What 'True Temperament' have done is to ascertain the perfect fret position for each string individually at each semitone, resulting in the curious curved frets.

I predict that these kind of frets will become more and more popular over the coming years - in fact Steve Vai has already made a pledge to retrofit all his guitars with True Temperament necks.

3. Synth Guitars

There are two I want to talk about here. The Moog Guitar is made by a prominent synth company, and allows guitarists to utilise a wide range of effects in their music, including infinite sustain. The Fender VG Strat is similar, but has the added bonus of being able to output in 7 different tunings at the turn of a dial, which is pretty impressive!

4. The Virtual Air Guitar Project

Computer science students in Finland have written a program that tracks the movement of your hands while playing air guitar, and then plays riffs and licks to match.

The system is built around motion sensor technology, and a database of scales built around the minor pentatonic (common in rock music). The software plays through the scale as the left hand is moved up and down the "fretboard", and the system even includes hammer-ons and bends. There's also a foot pedal that switches to a mode that plays chords.



Although some of these guitars may be slightly out of your price range (although cheaper than the ones we looked at last week), its definitely a good idea to stay informed. This will give you a better chance of getting a good deal when buying your next guitar. Check out The Nitty Gritty Guitar Book; the essential guide to buying and maintaining guitars.