On May 19, music lovers and collectors will get their chance to snag a treasure trove of memorabilia linked to rock and pop icons. Among many items of clothing, handwritten song lyrics and instruments once owned by rock's greatest stars is an gem of a find that's not been seen in public since 1965.
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Exotic hardwoods are getting harder to come by and tighter tonewood regulations are having an impact on guitar making. France's Alquier Guitars is going all out for its Cosmic builds, turning away from tropical wood, making use of sustainable bamboo and breaking out titanium hardware.
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Vibrato systems are designed to temporarily change the tension of guitar strings to create subtle pitch variations or monster dives and sweeps. The Pitch Pilot gives players pitch control of individual strings instead of having to divebomb all of them simultaneously.
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We've seen a number of strange stomps over the years, but nothing compares to the Plasma Pedal, a fuzz box that routes a guitar's signal through a gas-filled tube, turning it into high-voltage discharges, then transforms it back to wicked distorted analog crunch for output to an amp or desk.
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Last year, YouTube guitar wizard Jared Dines began a quest to find a skilled luthier who could make him a one-off 17-string guitar. After being let down by a US builder, Australia's Perry Ormsby stepped in to save the day. The result is the 18-string monster you see here, dubbed the Djent 2018.
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For more than 100 years, most of the soundboards of acoustic guitars have used X-shaped bracing to not only reinforce the top but to help give the instruments their voice. Now Taylor Guitars has announced the V-Class bracing system, which is said to both boost volume and increase sustain.
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Zivix has announced the third generation of its pleasantly portable Jamstik smart guitar MIDI controller. The company is now offering different models to serve learners and more experienced players – with more frets, more power and (hopefully) more picking fun.
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Acoustic players who want to add effects can pop in a soundhole pickup and cable it up to pedals and an amp or route sounds captured by a microphone through and effects loop. With the Pulse, they can tap into such things from the instrument itself – no cables, no pedals, no amps.
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We've seen a number of guitars made with wood reclaimed from old bridges, a firehouse and shacks. But Canada's Joi guitars has dipped into rock 'n' roll history for a limited edition acoustic made using reclaimed wood, wiring, paint and nails from the Seattle family home of Jimi Hendrix.
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Boss has announced what's billed as the world's first totally wireless guitar amplifier. As well as enabling cable-free connection between guitar and amp, the Katana-Air can run on batteries – giving musicians the ability to wander around while performing, with no risk of tripping over cables.
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