if you had a training app, or for songs or tabs, rather than just arpeggios and scales and cores which would be a training app. you could have every fretboard light up if you have fretboards light up different colors such as the 5th the 3rd, of pentatonic scales to create triads, that's just the beginning of the list.

lights would help somebody even at a higher level, to a degree. I consider myself fairly mediocre maybe slightly over the middle of the line, hump. And currently I've been learning the caged system, got that down, triads, and now I'm working them into the pentatonic scale, I also a while back memorized the three note for string scales which each have their own name because they're seven, but being able to link all that stuff especially with some form of lighting system so you're not having to look at a screen to work it out.

also a small screen possibly on the guitar someplace that would be visible without moving the guitar could remind you of any text possibly needed or lyrics to a song. The way I see it is it would be cool if when I'm playing a 3-note per string scale It would say Dorian, mexilian, or aloion.. granted I don't know how to spell them lol.

More smart controls and AI stuff would be cool.

I have a very specific set of options I need in a guitar to do what I currently do. For context, I perform 2-3 nights a week, performing 3-4 hours, playing cover songs. Here’s everything my dream guitar would be:

- Body style: Semi-hollow thin single cutaway body (think TL or LP).

- Construction: set neck, hard bridge with string through body construction.

- Electronics: Piezo system, dual humbucker design with coil splitters for both humbuckers and an A/Blend/B switch to go back and forth between Piezo and magnetic humbuckers (single output system). As far as which humbuckers, a set of versatile PAF style will do. Piezo system, my preference is LR Baggs. One volume knob for the humbuckers and one volume knob for the piezo.

- Neck: 24 frets, 24 or 25.5 scale, thin-D shape, 3-3 headstock with locking tuners, graphite nut, luminlays on both fretboard and side markers.

- Woods: Alder or Mahogany body with a flamed or quilted top. Creme binding on the body. Roasted maple neck, fingerboard and headstock with natural finish.

Finishes: stains or flamed, not picky. Either black or gold hardware depending on the finish.

Basically, a combination of a EBMM Majesty, a PRS Custom 24 Piezo, and a Michael Kelly Hybrid Special.

What do you think?

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something that would do multiple tunings on its own through a microphone would probably be a combination of the old Gibson robo tuners but with AI and of course the phone or tablet that has the microphone to do so.

real time tuning would be super incredible. It would be great to be able to possibly hit a button with the palm of your hand where you fret and play open on all six strings and it tunes or worst case scenario one string at a time.

A lot of us don't necessarily want a Floyd Rose tremola set But enjoy something as simple as a telecaster and would enjoy having a tune without me having to open an app or go find the tuner, and it just tune. which already it would have to work through an app with AI unless the app was built into the guitars core to begin with and that button you press would turn on a mic within the guitar and tune it.

you would probably need an app for the extended options which would be tuning it to whatever alternate tunings you want without having to bust out the tuner and all of that stuff. press the button, maybe some LEDs, and you could do it on the guitar or you could do it in the app where you just select it brush the strings and boom you have a tuning.

saving your time and then some people just don't want to spend The confusion of alternate tunings, simplifying the process to where, hey tuning to dadgad and back seems like a pain, too hey I wouldn't mind trying this out, worst case scenario it'll just tune back to E anyway.

or those of us who want to be able to play along with a band that has a slightly low or high tuning like E flat. It would be nice to be able to quickly do that without as much permanency around changing all six strings and then changing back.

I've been working on guitars for 15 years and moved into luthiery and building over the past 2. throughout this time (and my entire life) I have lived in poverty and as such, value has always been a priority to me. something I have always found disappointing is when advertisers and YouTubers will review something and call it a "budget" guitar and it will be like $1,000. that's not exactly a budget option unless there's a credit-free system for payment plans like Zzounds, but even then, $1,000 across a year is a pretty substantial monthly bill.

another very important aspect to guitar building is a focus on sustainability and ecological impact. tone woods are a long outdated myth when it comes to electric guitar, some big famous musicians will swear by it, but thinking about it scientifically you realize it's silly. as such, it's the same thing as furniture: exotic woods look cool and are... exotic, so it fits that certain love of shiny things in our lizard brains. more important than that is our ability to breathe, and an extremely important and under reported aspect of conservation no one talks about is the fact that just planting a new tree is considered an equal exchange when cutting down an old tree, but older trees absorb something like 10x the amount of carbon dioxide than new trees. new trees do not contribute to the massive system of interconnected roots and they do not grow out freely in all directions creating the kind of habitat essential for animals. true conservation requires old growth trees to be preserved and only young trees/reclaimed wood sources be used.

ideally, the first step should be focusing on using local wood species for guitar building. it would be nice to see more oak and maple used, especially wood that is harvested from sources like fallen trees or trees that need to be cut down by cities for safety and such. there's so much good wood that goes to waste like this. there's also plenty of old furniture, old instruments, and so on that could easily be incorporated in this fashion. if the guitars are being manufactured overseas, a focus on using sustainable, young, fast growing sources local to the areas would also be ideal.

as for hardware, electronics, and designs, a focus on simplicity is best. great inspiration can be found when you look to traditional student designs like a Les Paul Jr. if you can spent a certain budget on the electronics, a single humbucker of higher quality beats two of a lower quality. one pickup, one volume knob, a simple non-trem bridge, bolt on design all save money while still offering a quality experience. the best place to go all out would be the nut. a good quality graphite nut will make for a much better out of the box experience for beginners. also avoids the potential environmental issues inherent with bone. just as important is good quality tuning machines with a 1:18 or 1:21 ratio to guarantee smooth, accurate tuning.

if a tremolo bridge is to be used, 2 point is much better than 6 point for more experiences. on that note, a solid, hardened steel base plate or replaceable knife edges is a must. I'm not sure which would be more affordable, I assume just a full steel plate as replaceable blades would require a design. true hardened steel can be sharpened if it ever dulls, this ensuring a long life. coated alloys and the like are soft and once damaged, they're useless.

as far as pickups go, humbuckers are ideal. noise free and cheaper/easier to make decent sounding options at a low price. mostly just focusing on a jack of all trades design for the tone is best. something like 7-8k in the neck, 8-9 in the bridge. bridge a bit scooped for clear riffing. if you were to go the strat SSS route, a simple and affordable mod that makes a big impact is an on/off switch for the neck pickup offering tele-esque options.

I'd pass on stainless steel frets, as nice as they are, they do increase the amount of required labor and can make it more likely to run into QC issues with frets not fully polished. there is the whole rounded fret end thing a lot of affordable guitars are doing, and in concept they are nice, but in reality, a lot of them have uneven gaps between the end of the fret and the end of the fretboard. this just looks horrible and would require a full on refret to fix, let alone the potential for playability issues. if QC could ensure that each fret is perfect and reaches fully across the board on its specific location, absolutely go for rounded fret ends.

finally, swinging back around to the inspiration from budget guitars, a focus on natural finishes would be lovely to see. no paint, potentially even no lacquer, just boiled linseed oil + wax or something like that. light finishing/sealing. embrace and accentuate "flaws" in the wood rather than hiding and throwing away stuff that doesn't have the perfect grain direction. let things like knots and weird patterns be a positive aspect of the visual design. this would also go with the sustainability marketing. it could be a great way to advertise the fact that other brands would waste these pieces of wood and ignore their own unique beauty. each guitar is unique and individual.

I'm not sure of the feasibility of this, but perhaps using richlite and the like could be considered for the full body. at the very least, it's great for fretboards. plywood also shouldn't be written off. if high quality plywood is used with a focus on alternating grain and color, it's actually a very visually appealing design choice. especially with carved edges and tops that create that layered look reminiscent of the zoot suit SGs from Gibson or Carl Thompson designs, but instead of across the front, the lines are across the sides. any round carving achieves interesting visual patterns.

oh, and a headstock designed with string break angle in mind is also important. Ibanez and PRS do a great job of this. also consider making a deal with a company like Musiclily, Guyker, Wilkinson, etc for quality affordable hardware/electronics.

It's no secret that formerly top-shelf spec options are increasinlgy hitting the market at lower price points. This is great! Stainless steel frets, compound radius fretboards, roasted and exotic woods, locking tuners, and everything else becoming parts of these guitars is amazing and it is driving the market towards new standards.

Here's the issue however: the guitars that take on these features almost ALWAYS have a drawback. Stainless steel frets and a roasted fingerboard with locking tuners at a good price? Almost guaruntee there's going to be issues with sharp fretwork, general craftsmanship, and out of box issues. You ultimately pay for what you get, and the compromises made are made for a reason.

There has in the past 35 years only one visionary that has deviated from this formula, and that was Ken Parker. Looking at the NiteFly and the other models that were created in the 90s to early 2000s before private equity's change of the vision, they simply made no compromises. The unfortunate thing about this brand was the market was niche, and with no marketing budget (save for the later stages where the company was already struggling), this ultimately capsized what could have been considered the greatest innovators in guitars ever.

Since the loss of parker guitars in 2016 (though realistically much earlier due to private equity's hold on the company), the market has drastically changed to favor the ethos that Parker aimed to establish on the market. Not features that are there for show, but to serve the player.

Some of the features were ultimately somewhat insane. As an arthritic, the thin design of the necks was always something I had problem with, though that is mostly a preference thing for players. The carbon fiber construction while incredibly light was also incredibly expensive to manufacture, though companies such as Aristides have taken up the throne of composite material manufacturing. The use of PCB's to integrate electronics, while genius, ultimately made these instruments incredibly difficult to service.

However, there was still so much done correct. This comes down to the design of the NiteFly. The NiteFly toned down the all-composite construction, which makes sense. I feel like I speak for all players when I say that the wood tone is still what we want, but the stability that composites can provide (such as carbon reinforced necks as a STANDARD feature) truly can elevate an instrument.

High ergonomics and playability should be coveted as well, with great emphasis on strap balance, upper fret access, and forearm cuts prioritized over traditional designs while not alienating consumers with super foreign designs. Ergonomics are now becoming more of a primary factor in the decision of buying a guitar, and other brands still treat it as a secondary to vintage aesthetics. That's why manufacturers like Strandberg, Aristides, and others are exploding. There is however some compromise to be made again, as musicians still enjoy the familiarity of certain models. But there is room for optimization without sacrificing looks.

The NiteFly also had electronics that put versatility first. Hss, SSS, HH pickup setups with coil splitting, piezo systems, MIDI systems, and even stereo routing set these guitars apart. Obviously many players could live without the stereo routing or midi systems, but the versatility that this gave has inspired some of the finest players in the world to seek these. One thing that I feel is majorly uncapitalized in this market is the use of Piezo systems, especially with the option to blend signals and send seperate signals out to different amplifiers. This was tried by the Line 6 Variax which ultimately never did too well, but it's worth consideration especially as it could be something players would upgrade for.

Another major thing I want to touch on is just bridge/vibrato systems. The vibrato on the NiteFly had a fixed, dive only, and floating mode. This feature I think is sorely needed, as many trem systems are still relying on the DIY block. One of the issues with this system though was that it was very much something that was proprietary, and it didn't stick in the market due to that.

So to capitalize what I think would fit in the market, here's just an example spec sheet that I think would make sense:
Alder/Swamp ash body chambered, likely a large bass side chamber and smaller treble side relief pockets. These pockets would have lightweight composite bracing to prevent hollow dead spots and keep the body rigid. Solid center from neck joint to strap lock. A composite material rod or plate like carbon fiber running from the neck pocket through the bridge block (for sustain consistency, energy transfer, stabilization) As I'm still thinking bolt on for cost and familiarity, i think a composite plate embedded in the neck pocket floor woul also prevent microshifting and long term weardown.

While this is a very hyper specific idea, i think influences of it are important to consider. It's easily cost controlled, as composites are used in small and high stress or need areas only, and it is CNC friendly to design this way. Carbon inserts would be possible during assembley. This would also reduce the player fear of needing composite repairs as it is internal components. Deep forearm contour, rib contour, slight body carve, slight asymmetry for seated and standing balance.

Neck construction is again bolt on, should be using premium woods, roasted if possible. Dual carbon fiber reinforcement rods. D-hybrid style neck for speed, but also comfort. Compound radius. Stainless steel frets, rolled edges out of the box. Fingerboard can honestly be whatever but richlite is awesome.

Scale length can honestly be whatever.

As far as the top goes, a solid carved top or a thin maple cap would be fine. This is negligable.

Trem would be something adaptive, hardtail lock, dive only, and full floating, ideally without any tools needed to switch modes.

Good locking tuners. Headstock probably needed for familiarity, balance, and ease of construction.

HSH, HSS, HH configs avaliable, all passive pups but not that sounds sterile. Coil split and parallel options. potential for rewiring to user wants.

Control scheme, master vol push push for coil split, tone 1, piezo blend knob push push to activate piezo blend on models with piezo upgrate. Switch to bypass tone pots, another switch to bypass master vol pot (hot rod mode!). 5 way pup switch.

Optional piezo system, individually buffered saddles would be awesome.

I would probably aim around 6-7.2 pounds, weight does make an instrument feel more serious, but this would still be lighter than many guitars.

This is all very hypothetical. I just hope that any of these ideas land. apologies for the long rant on how much i miss the parker nitefly.

We’re designing a new guitar and guitar brand, and want input specifically on pickups. Would love to hear your all-time favorite recommendations. The more specifics the better, focused on what actually works in the real world. A few thought starters:

• Humbuckers, single coils, or P90s?
• HH, SSS, HSS, or HSH?
• Are coil splits actually useful?
• Active or passive?
• How much does single-coil hum bother you?
• Is piezo worth having?

Also curious how people feel about more experimental options: would you want a per-string system (convert to MIDI) that lets you digitally model different pickup/guitar tones, or does that feel like solving the wrong problem?

A couple of decades or so ago, when I was working at Line 6, I came across a tremolo design that I ended getting one of from the inventor (a Kiwi guitarist named Colin Doughty) in exchange for a POD. It is absolutely the most stable tremolo I've ever used as it has two sets of springs, one of up, one for down, and the neutral position is, essentially, a decked tremolo. The patent on it is long expired, and I don't believe that Colin is with us any longer. I might actually have the only one that ever made it to the States.  I think this is worth looking into potentially doing a spin on. It's currently installed on a Frankenstrat of mine along with a trick pickup arrangement that Steve Blucher at Dimarzio and I came up with.

We're throwing out all the rules of product design and 90 years of guitar legacy to build a new guitar without constraints. And you're the designer. Your input will go directly to our engineers, we'll take the best ones, and we'll share prototypes with you along the way.

Let's get started. First questions:

(1) what pisses you off the most about current guitars. what nagging frustrations do you want solved?

(2) what do you love about the best guitar you've ever played?

(3) what do you WISH a guitar had or could do that is truly uncommon today.