By: Matt_Dunn
There's still a lot of room for innovation and finding new ways to make live gigs simpler for musicians.
In recent months, I've been very consumed with the question of what comes next for the electric guitar? What innovation is left? What new designs or ideas will blossom under challenging market conditions? Sometimes, guitar gear can feel a bit stale for those of us who review and demo a wide range of products across all sorts of prices. There's still so much amazing and impressive gear flowing from builders, but a good chunk of it isn't actually "innovative," even if it is special.
This line of thinking had me focus on two different guitar builders in recent weeks: Ciari Guitars and Ten32 Guitars. Both of these companies offer guitars that are supposed to be truly modular, in the sense that they can be taken apart and packed into a case for easier transport. While early attempts at products like these have been seen as gimmicks, the idea is becoming more and more attractive for many touring musicians. In fact, the reason I'm so interested in these two brands is because they seem to have really high-quality guitars by all traditional metrics, in lieu of gimmicks. So is it possible that these guitars will be at the forefront of the next wave of guitar innovation?
Touring Is Getting Complicated
One thing I'm constantly hearing from musicians is how the reality of touring is changing. It's getting more and more expensive and difficult, resulting in smaller amounts of gear and shrunken personnel groups hitting the road. We've already seen this reflected in many musicians' movement towards digital amp solutions to replace bulky and heavy half stacks and tube amps. Could guitars be next to get downsized?
When I look at a guitar like the Ciari Ascender Solo, I see a very portable alternative to my go-to Les Paul Junior-style guitars. You could take two of these on the road and fold them up to make traveling a little easier. Ten32 guitars take this to an even more impressive level, with guitars capable of being broken down into a freaking backpack. Sure, there will be quirks to iron it as folks try to bring these ideas to the mainstream, but that doesn't mean these aren't great ideas to make touring a little easier.
With Modularity Comes Room For Customization
In recent years, there has been some experimentation with guitars that can have their pickups and electronics easily swapped through modules. While this hasn't taken off yet, I do think it is an idea with some serious merit. What would be most impressive, though, is if brands like Ciari, Ten32, or others merge these pickup modules with these portable guitar designs. Having the ability to replace an armada of guitars with just 1 or 2 with revolving pickups would be a huge win for many budget-minded gigging musicians. It would also likely keep folks from getting too bored with certain sounds, guitars, and styles without them needing to purchase a new guitar. To me, this is the ideal combination of the two trends into one more practical and meaningful product.
Guitar Innovation Is Not Dead
There have been a lot of claims amongst the forums and comment sections of a perceived lack of guitar innovation. At the same time, many folks far wiser than I have pointed out that guitarists don't always want innovation, they just want Les Pauls and Strats. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, if you ask me, and I think folks just want something to get excited about. It takes time, and a lot of builders and brands must go through some trial and error to land on a truly good idea. The key here is to find the ideas and combinations of ideas that seem to have the most promise to answer modern needs. In my opinion, embracing some of these ultra-modular guitar designs will be the next "big thing" as it directly answers problems associated with modern touring and tight budgets in the music industry.