Tone

Guitarists use a capo to raise the pitch of an instrument but still play familiar chord shapes and fingerings. But what if you don't want all the strings to change pitch or want a different starting point for each string? That's where Fretlocks come in.

The Pole Position Sliding Pickup System allows players to change the position of a guitar's pickup relative to the strings on the fly. This means a guitarist can opt for a bright bridge tone or a fat, warm neck tone, or anything inbetween – all with just a light touch from the picking hand.

Les Paul's friend, confidant, collaborator and guitar tech for over four decades has picked through the tech innovator's experimental models and prototypes, his extensive notes and the hot-potch of parts and joined the dots to realize his mentor's dream and create the Tru-Clones PAF 57 humbucker.

Dialtone claims its "infinitely adjustable-tone pickup" aimed at the guitarist wanting to tailor their sound on the fly without swapping or switching is the first of its kind in the world. It promises a lot of tone control without the need for further effects boxes or software control.

Thomas Blug's BluGuitar has recently revealed a 100 W signature boutique tube amp named the Amp1 that's small enough to fit on a pedalboard or throw in a gigbag.

The company behind the digital tuning wizardry in Peavey's AT-200 guitar, Antares, has announced the release of the Auto-Tune for Guitar Custom Installation Kits.

NAMM 2014 has been chosen for the first public appearance of the Aristides 070, a seven-string guitar made from Arium.

Gizmag reviews the second generation Farmer's Mill Electric Mud Grinder stomp from Poland's Crushsound. The effects unit breaks up the signal running from instrument to amp, and features something called True Random Technology to ensure that the signal dropouts never repeat.

AweSome Musical Instruments is taking orders for a 3D-printed guitar with a novel pickup selection system that puts 76 different pickup tones at a player's disposal.

The Anti-Effect pedal from Poland's Chaosound imitates electroacoustic track damage for a precision-controlled broken guitar sound.

Peavey Electronics and Parker Guitars have teamed up with Antares to launch the first electric guitars incorporating Auto-Tune technology.

Bob Wiley's Ministar dispenses with the traditional guitar body, which adds little or nothing to its tone, and instead offers an odd-looking neck with pickups.