New Horizons: the future of tone
While many of NAMM’s launches took well-travelled paths, other guitars, amps and effects pointed to new directions in tone. Here we gaze into a crystal ball to speculate on where guitar is headed – and examine the innovative instruments that are leading t
1 Tonewoods Are A ChAngin’
Fender has put the spotlight on recycled and unusual woods with its Exotic Collection. This range promotes ‘rescued’ mahogany from Honduras and pine bodies from wood that dates back more than 100 years as part of the Buckstaff Furniture Company’s facility in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Shedua (ovangkol) and blackwood are other woods used in this limited range.
Other major players such as Taylor and Martin launched NAMM 2017 guitars with some less-used woods. Martin’s DC-16 and DC-16E show off sycamore back and sides albeit with a mahogany-like colour; the OMC-16E uses Sitka spruce and cherry certified from a sustainable source by the Forest Stewardship Council. The new GPCRSG and DCRSG (both £1,450) advertise back and sides from mutenye (Guibourtia arnoldiana), from the same genus as shedua/ovangkgol (Guibourtia ehie). Taylor has replaced the layered rosewood used on one of its GS Mini-e models with layered walnut for this year, also used in the 100 series.
Meanwhile, some makers are looking at options in the light of the unresolved rosewood availability issue. Shergold recently launched their range of electrics featuring solid Indonesian rosewood necks and fingerboards. Patrick Eggle told us they are looking at alternatives. “We hope,” said Patrick, “that it’s just a case of getting the admin sorted, which we will do. The thing is, if we don’t get this sorted it’s going to have a negative impact. People will switch from rosewood to pau ferro or something, which will move the pressure elsewhere. I think everyone wants to make it work but no-one really knows what the future holds.”
2 PriCes defy reAson
If the backdrop to this NAMM was the post-Brexit price hikes, not to mention the rosewood shortages, another talking point was just how the heck can Gibson create a ‘Made in the USA’ guitar range – their new S Series (conceived for online retailers) – that kicks off at $399? We grilled Gibson’s Jim DeCola who maintained that the wood parts are fabricated and finished in Nashville, but not surprisingly the parts and electronics are sourced overseas adding that “the only soldering we do is the earth wire.” But it’s not just the S Series; as ever, Gibson has some very low-dollar ‘Made In USA’ guitars under-pinning its new 2017 electric range, which kicks off with the $799 Les Paul Faded T and the $899 Les Paul Tribute T, before there’s quite a leap to the $1,499 Les Paul Studio T. In contrast PRS’s USA-made S-Series kicks off at $999 with the allmahogany Standard 22 Satin.
Taylor, Martin and Fender all use Mexico for their low-end and Taylor’s Academy series was another of the show’s talking points: bare-bones, but quality all-wood guitars that kick off at $668. Translated into pounds that’s £563, as we state in this issue, which seems peanuts for a Taylor guitar but there is a host of, ahem, more finished-looking Chinese guitars from most of the big players.