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The guitar's place as the sound of modernity has long been usurped by electronics. Even more portable. Generating a wider range of newer sounds. Capable of replicating the sound of a whole band - with percussion, strings, horns. Allowing people with minimal instrumental skills to generate complex music. Able to cannibalise and reproduce all the sounds of past music. Guitar is just too much hard work. And you have to find guys to play the other parts.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
And combined with a recognised shape, brand awareness and at least reasonable resale value (not counting vintage prices) it can make it harder to come up with genuinely new designs that will appeal to the (typically) main line markets and be profitable.
I suppose digital modelling for both amps and guitars and robot tuners are some examples of real innovations. By and large these have been pretty successful but won't appeal to everyone. The advancement of reliable, affordable and good quality PA systems means that there has been a noticeable shift to smaller, lighter amps and digital mfx.
It's very difficult for designers to know what will be successful and particularly 're digital modelling gear folk who previously paid big bucks for state of the art gear that has since devalued hugely are now typically wary of making such outlays again. Line 6 Variax guitars, Roland synth guitars etc probably fall into this scenario too. The difficulty with true innovations is that often there is a design and research cost that has to be recovered.
Definitely a difficult conundrum for innovation.
https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/gibson-firebird-x-502631
It can sometimes be difficult to know which are the right innovations and which are the wrong ones initially though, it has to be said.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Kahler springs stretch? All springs stretch. It’s what they do. If you mean exceed their elastic limit then that does take years in normal use (I’ve also encountered Fender ones that have gone floppy but they were used in a guitar string since 1967 with 12 gauge strings). On a Kahler these are very simple to replace and cost $6 each, so hardly the end of the world...
Yes, you can replace Kahler springs - now. For many years they were unavailable, and if they stop making them again then they will also be - and unlike Fender (or Floyd Rose) springs, there aren’t literally millions of them around. They do have more of a tendency to fail as well, it’s very common on older ones.
And the Kahler does kill the resonance of the guitar. I started fitting them in the late 80s when I was just starting as a repairer, and always noticed it - even with the saddles set as high as possible they affect the tone and sustain of the guitar. I still have my old routing templates somewhere, but I haven’t needed to use one for about 25 years, thankfully!
So it seems unfortunate that a guitar made from a material of the future should be hamstrung by being fitted with a bridge from the past which would have been better left there...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein