New Innovations That You First Doubted But Now Love

[Willie_D]

Originally Posted by s2y

About the only thing that I doubted was bolt-on necks. My main shop wasn't a Taylor dealer, so they did their best to ensure that you grabbed something with a dovetail. Somehow Bob Taylor found out that they were the best local dealer with several brands and now bolt-ons are innovative and they sell a lot of Taylors. Funny how sales people work, eh?

Being the youngster of the forum, I have seen computers and phones evolve. Why not the guitar? I'm all about trying new options, methods, and technology. Surprisingly, this forum seems to be more open to new ideas than the big electric guitar forum. Those guys won't try anything invented after the 1960's.

My personal favs:
1. Coated strings. Play more restring less.
2. Torrified tops.
3. Fanned frets
4. High end picks like Charmed Life and Blue Chip.
5. Bevels.
6. Artsy rosettes. Ok, those are just pretty and don't enhance tone or function.
7. Tone Rite. I feel like it helped with my baritone, which was really stiff when I got it.

[note: bold added for emphasis to highlight what I'm responding to]

Ain't that the truth? According to them the Tele was perfected in '52, the Strat in '56, and the Lester in '59. About the only "innovation" they'll accept is the rosewood fretboard option.

[s2y]

Originally Posted by Willie_D

[note: bold added for emphasis to highlight what I'm responding to]

Ain't that the truth? According to them the Tele was perfected in '52, the Strat in '56, and the Lester in '59. About the only "innovation" they'll accept is the rosewood fretboard option.

A psychologist would have a field day on that forum, eh? Lots of resident curmudgeons. Occasionally you'll find a guy who talks about how great stuff was back then and then you find out they're under 40! There are so many fallacies and arbitrary rules that they like to create. I suppose I'm not too surprised since I've been in bands and have been hearing guys coming up with strange rules.

I'm a cyclist and work in healthcare. I feel like both of those fields are constantly pushing the envelope and have the idea that we're never really done improving. I'll never be done learning and improving on guitar. I hope the guitar can also continue to improve. I suppose we're lucky that there are builders who can make things happen.

[Shades of Blue]

1) V Bracing. Now, I'm not saying it is the end-all for everyone with every guitar for every application, but I can say that I actually understand the concept now and I love it. I'll gladly give up a little low end for the benefits that my 717 has brought to the table. I haven't been this in love with a guitar since....well, ever.

2) Bolt On Necks. I still think dovetail joints sound better, but I had a D-18 in the past that needed a neck reset badly, and it was brand new. Hardly any saddle left and the action was still high. Now, I make that a number one priority when looking at Martins. With a bolt on neck, it isn't really even an issue at all.

[Dove 37]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Zero frets.

I don't have any guitars with them, but most of the other instruments I build have them.

Bob Taylor even stated in the Taylor Wood & Steel publication that he thought the were a good idea but did not pursue their use because the majority of Taylor players would not go for a zero fret because it's too far outside of established tradition in the acoustic guitar world.

I have Zero fret on 1966 Gretsch 6192. Great stuff

[Neil K Walk]

I am totally on board with bolt on necks. I don’t know if I am on board with a complete lack of a tenon but I do love how Taylor and Bourgeois each secure the fretboard.

Which leads me to Martin’s A frame bracing. I love the idea of interlocking bracing underneath the primary cantilever axis for the neck joint. It just makes sense if you think of it from a structural POV. It also reinforces how akin Luther’s is to shipbuilding; ships are built to be both rigid AND flex under pressure.

I’m also a big fan of soundports. I don’t even know why I had reservations. I love being able to hear the guitar more directly from the player’s perspective.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Willie_D

[note: bold added for emphasis to highlight what I'm responding to]

Ain't that the truth? According to them the Tele was perfected in '52, the Strat in '56, and the Lester in '59. About the only "innovation" they'll accept is the rosewood fretboard option.

I have a friend with an actual 52 Tele (not a reissue), and I have a 91 Leo-era G&L ASat Leo Fender signature Tele, being made at the time that Mr. Fender died. So pretty much the first and last Fender-designed Telecasters. We've A/Bd them (through a Blackface Princeton Reverb). Our opinion was: a little different, but both really good Teles.

[raysachs]

Carbon fiber. Never heard of it. Then thought, "how good can it sound"? Then played a couple. At least the couple that I've played sounded wonderful. Probably not exactly like wood, but exactly like an acoustic guitar should sound to my ear - as good as wood in a slightly different way. Now I don't own a wood acoustic or any humidifiers, filters, humidipaks, humidity monitors, etc, etc. I kind of miss the aesthetics of wood, and someday I may buy a cheap one just to have it around, but nothing nice enough to force me back into the whole humidification / dehumidification racket. I'm done with that.

Also, soundports or the equivalent, which was a result of two of the three carbon fiber guitars I've tried having soundholes located up on the shoulder and cut at an offset so that the sound projects both forward and up at the player's ear, like a soundport. Played two very similar guitars that sounded very similar to people sitting a few feet in front of the guitar but the one with the offset soundhole sounded overwhelming better to me when playing them than the one with just the forward facing soundhole. And since I'm my whole audience much of the time, how it sounds to me while I'm playing MATTERS!

-Ray

[Sonics]

I have a few guitars with Richlite, carbon fiber and other 'plastics' utilized to make necks, fingerboards, bridges and other things traditionally fabricated from wood. To be frank I don't notice any 'inferiority', and I might go further and consider the use of these materials an improvement over 'tradition'. After all, these materials don't warp, bend or twist and should stabilize anything they're are glued to.

Actually my best sounding guitar is not made from wood (...scratch that from the record, the neck is made from wood, but that's it!).

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

1) V Bracing. Now, I'm not saying it is the end-all for everyone with every guitar for every application, but I can say that I actually understand the concept now and I love it........

I think this quote applies to many of the innovations mentioned on this thread. Yeh, marketers sometime go over the top touting something as a “must have” which makes some of us respond negatively to the whole idea; but whether it’s bracing, torrefication, zero frets, etc. these things IN THE HANDS OF THE RIGHT LUTHIER, can provide added value/enjoyment to certain players.

[Shadowfox]

I think TUSQ I was very eh about when I was first starting. Now I think I prefer it over bone. Sure you might get a 'better' piece of bone, but the chances are so over the place as being organic material. So the idea that I can get 85/90% the benefits of bone with 100% consistency is great.