WHAT'S NEXT ...NEW GEAR IN 2018

 WHAT's NEXT.... with NEW GEAR ??? 


DIGITAL

In a month the NAMM show (much like the Detroit car show) will reveal their new products.
The thing I noticed in the last few years is a big improvement and lower costs in digital pedals.
This is because new and even better chips are available on the market. These are not cheap but for the high end you can expect a new level of quality.
 Maybe more important the last generation of chips that makers like Strymon
and others have made in to a much coveted product will drop in price and allow
mainstream priced products to move from the very passable to WOW!
So expect a very high quality in Digital Delays and reverb. The same for modulation pedals like Flangers, Chorus, Vibrato etc
I feel that digital OD's will still not even get anywhere near the very best analog ones.
YET!  :-)

BETTER OVERDRIVES

One thing that will start to happen will be more overdrives to start to address details in sound that tubes amps impart to the music that have never been seriously dealt with.
Supro, Custom Tones and Clemo Labs have made pedals that addresses how 'sag' which is caused by transformers in a tube amp not only respond to the sound but to the 'feel' and the positive response to the guy playing their guitar. Unfortunately this has not been dealt with at all by most makers.

OD pedals need to address the dynamic range issue. The lighter your touch with a tube the less distortion you get. The harder you hit the string the more a tube distorts. Some OD's do this anywhere from not at all ...to not bad. Compared to a good tube amp most pedals fail miserably.
The main reason I buy a great sounding and expensive OD pedal only to sell it after even a few weeks is because of this.

TUBES REPLACED BY TUBES & TUBE SUBSTITUTES
Vox has address the tube issue by making a faux tube the Nutube that at least visually appears to be part mechanical. Ibanez will soon have a new Tube Screamer with a NuTube.
NuTube was designed and built by Korg engineers. Korg owns Vox. Korg wisely decided to licence the use of the NuTube before others took it apart and found away to clone it (legally) and sell it to anyone.
I expect both solid state amp makers and many new dirt pedals manufacturers will be checking it out.

Bluguitar makes a 2 lb. amp with a Russian military tube that is the size of the cap on a ball point pen. It can substitute for the power amp tubes in a tube amp without the the need for the need of the massive and very heavy transformers that power them.


FAUX STACKS
Most of today's players are using small open back amplifiers.
The issue of having a circuit to address the sound made by a 'stack' has been given little or no thought.The size of an actual speaker and the tone created by a closed speaker boxes natural resonance is all but ignored. Again I point to Custom Tones. They allow you to turn on either a 2x12 or a 4x12 sealed back speaker box sound to give you that massive low end typical of a Marshall stack.
HOTONE XTOMP & XTOMP MINI  digital modeling pedals let you download speaker several cabs. This may be the best solution for pedals you already own.

I think we may see more pedals addressing these issues in 2018.


GUITARS

I expect the Chinese quality will notch up.
The very best of the Chinese stuff will enter the entry level Pro market.
There will be more makers who will follow the Chapman guitar's formula. They will give you a high end guitar for a mid range price.

IS THIS THE YEAR FOR...
A PRO NO EXCUSE GUITAR FOR $500.00 USD
The thing I have been looking for is a new maker who gives you a $1200.00 pro guitar for $500.00
The main reason no one does this is because most players buy on looks & features. So a thin veneer of great wood on the top with some binding, split coils on the PU's etc.
A serious guitar MUST have it's own body style. Nothing looked like Tele, Strat, LP etc. when they first came out. No matter how well a LP is by anyone but Gibson we all think 'fake' 'second rate' and if money was no object we get the real deal without giving these 'me too's' a second thought.
PU's are not tied to this feeling. Gibson puts the PAF in many gutars. Even Fender has a HB what's more it has the same shape and dimentions as a Gibson.
So a new guitar without it's own shape has a ZERO cool factor. But the PU has the biggest effect on our sound so we do not care who invented it.

 It will take someone new...
 who wants to establish a new Brand name without copying Fender, Gibson & Ibanez  body styles. 

It can be done ...if you let me digress and I can tell you how.

 Zero frills!!!
-NO binding or inlays.
-Bolt on maple neck of Hard Rock Maple.
-a plank body like a Tele (but with an original shape not a copy) in a Grade A quality tone wood.
 Alder for Fender tones. African Mahogany and Canadian Maple for Gibson sounds.
-Fender style hardtail bridge with quality metal (like a Wilkinson).
-Quality electrics ...but minimal. One volume & tone and a toggle switch.
-Quality pick ups ( Wilkinson PAF made in Korea or any Artec (also Korean) premium models.
 Artec make PU for Epiphone, Seymour Duncan & Fender. They use exactly the same materials and spec as Duncan even for their own PU's
- basic quality tuners (like Wilkinson)
-Polyester paint in a plain colour ...no metallic, pearl or other 2 or 3 stage processes. Polyester is 'cheap' looks great and wears better the more expensive paints. It has an overkill shine that tends to glare to much when looking at a great woodgrain.But on a plain colour it looks as good maybe even better.

A guitar like this could have a killer sound!!! It could easily blow away even some high end LP's or Fenders. Yes guitars that cost 5 times more! The worst case scenario to make one from playing great to dead perfect may require your local repair guy to do $100.00 in tweaks. No big deal since out of the box it should play as good as a U.S. Fender Pro.with the same problem.

Perhaps it could look something like this???
Ignore everything but the shape of the body of both the original Kay on the right and the modified 50's KAY guitar below.
To say this shape is like any present 'Hot' guitars is not justified. It would be like saying a GretschDuo Jet single cut looks like an LP.

The top horn is relatively modest but it balances the guitar so the guitar is not neck heavy. The lower cutaway allows you to get at the top notes of a 24 fret guitar with ease yet does not look radical in spite of that. The shape is distinct without doing the Explorer, V's or other out there thing.
What I love about it is it looks like it has been around forever
when in fact to most people it will be the first time they saw it.
It has a built in traditional look. This always up's the comfort level when choosing a guitar
The Tele came out in 1950  & the Strat in 1954 this body style looks like what Fender might have done if thy had brought out a guitar in 1952. Half Tele half Strat.

Just imagine a plain colour and maple neck like the Strat pic.
                                           

PICK UP CHOICES
FENDER STRAT & TELE
and GIBSON PAF & P90

Lollar Tele on HB mount

Lollar P90 on HB mount

By simply shortening and then widening the bobbin in a Fender Tele or Strat pickup or Gibson P90 they will fit onto a Gibson standard size pickup mount.
In this way giving the buyer a choice of classic bullet proof sounds without the maker modifying the guitar.

Duncan 2 Tele HB mount
making a single PU is a given

So for the same price you can have a LP  sound with a mahogany body with a maple top and real PAF pickups.
Or an alder body with Strat pickups.
Or an alder body with Tele bridge and a PAF neck
(unless you are a die hard classic Tele guy...you will not miss a Tele neck PU even Fender sells a Tele with a a Humbucker)




The final result is guitar that is not a waste of money to upgrade.  Over time one could change tuners, bridges, electronics or  pickups etc. The guts of the guitar...the woods and build are timeless. The guitar will age well...maybe even improve.