Fender Alternate Reality Sixty-Six

[leokula]

Regardless we will not have the answer to that in our lifetimes more than likely, all I can tell you is that when I see articles about how the youth of today isn't as interested in the electric guitar as the kids of yesterday, I think, sure, I can see that... it's been boring the shit out of me for some time. Why would a kid be excited about a version of their great grandfather's guitar?

Not everyone wants to work with clay, after all.

Great points man, definitely.

[Embenny]

Well, I see your point about "functional" objects vs instruments, but consider this:

Let's say you're a painter (or more broadly, any visual artist). For us, the guitar is the tool that inspires and enables us to express our music - it is both a tool and a source of inspiration.

This is analogous to a painter's brushes, paints, canvases, etc. So, has the painting world stagnated since 1950? Not at all. New formulas and compositions of paint have been developed continuously in that time. The material used in paintbrushes has, as well. Primers have been developed and refined. Recently, a race for the most intensely light-absorbing pigment (i.e. blackest black) has been going on, with Anish Kapoor getting exclusive rights to the Vantablack coating and the rest of the art community getting Black 2.0, leading to the whole "world's pinkest pink" battle with Stuart Semple banning Anish from using his pigment, Anish getting some anyway, and so on.

The point is that sculptors and painters have had a broadening array of tools and materials with which to express themselves. In the electric guitar world, the big innovation has been in amplification, but even then, it's been a race to see who can digitally recreate the technology of 1950-1970 the most faithfully - not who can create new sounds. There's no Vantablack of the electric guitar world.

This, by the way, is Vantablack:



And this is Black 3.0, which is actually a paint and therefore much more versatile:

[Larry Mal]

"And this, kids, is an exact vintage replica of the bugle used to lead the Hussars' charge in the Battle of Vienna, often considered the turning point of the Ottoman-Habsburg conflict, after which the Ottoman Turk never dared menace Christendom ever again. Why, put this to your lips and you'll feel exactly how a member of the Polish heavy cavalry would have felt that fateful day, staring down the teeming Janissaries and saying unto them, 'Vienna, you shall not take, Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha!' ... now, who wants to sign up for lessons?"

I'm clowning! I'll leave the thread now, I see that I'm not really contributing very much at this point. Sorry everyone!

[fuzzjunkie]

[Stephen_42]

On first glance that looks like Spock lifting up his shirt to reveal a large and oddly placed nipple and now I can't unsee that

[Larry Mal]

Right? Screw the electric guitar, I want that future music like you see there. Can we get Fender on that?

The Stratolyre.

[Embenny]

If Fender released the Stratolyre, Larry would just complain that Fender is still only cobbling together parts of existing instruments.

"Oh great, so it's a strat headstock on the same old lyre we've been using since antiquity."

[Larry Mal]

"Does the Stratolyre have to be based on King David's lyre? How is this at all relevant to the kids of today?"

[Flurko]

This debate is really interesting and thought provoking, and there I am, playing my jazzmaster through a cheap computer than could do many great things but is worth approximately the same amount, only to emulate a basic amp trem circuit because I'm to mean to buy some proper pedals.

I was suggested this video about the newest iteration of the Chapman Stick on YouTube ( https://youtu.be/OUUpAuNhpCM ), a really innovative instrument on which only one piece a music I really enjoy was ever recorded (elephant talk by King Crimson).

[vistavision]

The Spockuar, or the Vulcanmaster.

(I would totally own something called the Vulcanmaster)

[X-Ray Spex]

This debate is really interesting and thought provoking, and there I am, playing my jazzmaster through a cheap computer than could do many great things but is worth approximately the same amount, only to emulate a basic amp trem circuit because I'm to mean to buy some proper pedals.

I was suggested this video about the newest iteration of the Chapman Stick on YouTube ( https://youtu.be/OUUpAuNhpCM ), a really innovative instrument on which only one piece a music I really enjoy was ever recorded (elephant talk by King Crimson).

The Chapman stick is all over that Discipline album, check out this live concert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64swVmq_XPk . The dude uses the Chapman the whole concert with no issues so maybe a bit more versatile than just that one track. Only problem is that Chapman the name these days is associated with that cringy Youtube bloke.

[601210]

that cringy Youtube bloke.

Ugh you just reminded me of that amp demo I just saw where they just played a bluesdad version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for 20 minutes, I thought I've successfully erased it from my memory at this point.

[Embenny]

Why you raggin' on Chappers and the Captain?

I remember when they did a blind tone test to see if Rob could guess what guitar he was listening to. He got most of them spot on, except a G&L ASAT and a Jaguar, which I think he described as sounding something like "A strat with all the balls sucked out of it."

I found that pretty funny. That's pretty much exactly what I'd expect the bluesdad/80's shred solo crowd to say about someone playing pentatonic blues licks on a Jag.

[TeenageShutdown!]

Because they’re the equivelant of every obnoxious classic rock dj. I’d rather watch Andy from ProGuitarShop get to the point rather than watch some reality show review bullshit.

[Embenny]

Well, Andy is actually a really tasteful player and is always fun to listen to irrespective of the gear in question. The only complaint I have is that he doesn't use a pick, so the tone he gets is quite different from what someone else with the same gear and settings might sound like when using a pick.

The Anderton's videos are exactly that - music reality TV. They don't cover nearly the same breadth of styles and tones as Andy and the playing is not as polished. Rob is talented but is a shredder and basically only shreds or plays chords. The other guy is just the rich guy who inherited a music store and plays guitar. Mostly repetitive pentatonic licks with some sour notes and the same "uhhh I don't know what to do" strategies of repeating phrases and holding long notes that every blues dad leans on ad nauseam.