NAMM

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.

Many synthesizers are aimed squarely at adults, but hardware for youngsters occasionally comes along that's capable of satisfying grown ups, too. Such is the case with Blipblox, a music-making toy for kids which looks like so much fun that parents might just end up playing it themselves.​

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.

​We've seen some incredible instruments from Fender Custom Shop's Yuriy Shishkov in the last couple of years. And now the Master Builder has teamed up with Jim Dolmage to create a guitar and amp which pay a not-so-subtle homage to The Who's iconic 1975 rock opera, Tommy.​

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.

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.

​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.​

​Emulating the tones of iconic guitars is not exactly new, we've seen a number of amps, instruments and apps giving players access to legendary sounds. Italy's Sim1 is aiming to stand out from the crowd by not only cramming classic tones into a stomp, but doing so without any sampling or MIDI help.

​​If you want a guitar that's dripping with history then you can either hit the auctions or grab yourself an instrument made using wood from old buildings. Fender has chosen the latter for a limited edition Telecaster from Yuriy Shishkov​ that makes use of bench boards from the Hollywood Bowl.​

​Legendary noodler Eddy Van Halen partnered with Peavey in the late 1990s to make a signature six-string named the Wolfgang. Rumors of a new version have been floating around for a little while now, and Peavey appears to have done them justice with the launch of the HP2 at the Summer NAMM show.​

Line 6 is looking to solve reliability, affordability and complexity issues of wireless guitar systems with the Relay G10, a plug and play solution that's claimed as easy as using a cable and has enough battery life to survive the longest of noodlefests.

Taylor has developed a new health monitoring system for its guitars. Similar to fitness trackers like the Tickr X or Garmin's Vivosmart, TaylorSense keeps track of an instrument's well-being and sends status updates and alerts to a companion app running on a Bluetooth-connected smartphone.