In the last few years a few innovations have come along that have totally turned conventional wisdom - or at least conventional guitar electronics on its head. The first is the nylon string solid body electric guitar. We first saw one of these in the
hands of ace metal Yngwie Malmsteen and was blown away by the sound. For any artist who tries to incorporate elements of classical guitar in his or her repertoire, this instrument of mellow classical tone of a nylon guitar with a comfortable feeling and action in a traditional solid body ax. This has been made possible through the tremendous progress in recent years in connection with Piezo pickup technology. Without going into too much technical detail, the Piezo differ from a traditional magnetic pickup in the Piezo element vibrates with the string, sent an electrical signal that vibration to a preamp in the guitar for treatment, rather than capturing an electromagnetic representation of to vibration, which can then be sent directly to an amplifier or to an onboard preamp if further shaping of the signal desired. The Piezo eliminates the need for steel strings, which would otherwise interact with the magnetic pickup, and also produces more satisfactory results for players with a lighter Fingerstyle technique. Lest you think this is just another passing fancy, Parker has developed a nylon string version of their famous "Fly" model and another up-and-come, Sadowski guitars, produces a Telecaster style model uses the same technology.
Another interesting development is the field of computer guitar interface. It's been a long time coming, and if you believe the explosion in popularity of digital recording with Pro Tools and similar software, it is surprising that it took so long as it did. By far the leader in this field is Line 6's Variax model. Now we will be the first person to admit that we know just enough about computer technology to be dangerous, but we will try to tell you what we know from what we've read and from friends and acquaintances who have played the Variax . We also note that we are in no way affiliated with Line 6 or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates. The Variax is, according to the Line 6 brochure a "digital modeling" guitar that allows musicians to switch between a wide range of potential sounds on one instrument. The sound of a 12-string acoustic, Fender Stratocaster style single coils, Les Paul humbuckers, banjo, dents and dozens of others, are all available at the flick of a switch. The best part about it is that all these tonal variations are completely hum free. Working environment for a musician, it means not having to drag five to seven separate guitars to provide him with all the sounds he requires. The true test, however, to hear one of these fine instruments in action, so if you want to see an addition, a list of authorized dealers is available from the Line 6 website. At an MSRP of around $ 1000 for the midline Variax 600 - it is also available in 300 and 700 - not cheap, but for the professional or amateur with money to burn, it might be a good investment.
There is so much more to be developed in the near future with the improvements in computer technology and miniaturization. Whole racks of effects can now be had in a box the size of a cigarette packet. This is certainly a blessing for the musician, both in terms of price and the effort necessary to move equipment. We foresee a day when a great guitarist rig, with the exception of the instrument itself would be included in the actual guitar itself. And while it may be a comfort to the guitarist who find themselves at home amongst his racks of effects processors, time waiting for no man, and he will eventually find themselves at a crossroads in musical instrument development, much as these men were back in 1930 ' and 40s, when the acoustic guitar was forced to make room for the first electric guitars.
