Guitars are undoubtedly one of the fascinating musical instruments in the world and almost every kid dreams of being able to play one when they grow up. Kids dream about tuning your guitar to the perfect frequency and shredding in front of thousands of people. However, not everyone is any good at it though there are folks who can make angels cry with the notes they can get a guitar to hit. For professionals and amateur musicians alike, money is no object in their quest to find the guitar that can give them just the sound they want. The NAMM organized in California recently gave guitar lovers a fabulous opportunity to have a look at some of the finest axes in the business with each guitar producing a sound finer than the last. With newly incorporated technologies and innovative designs, some of the instruments showcased by major instrument manufacturers that came to the event showed how the tiniest tweak can make a huge difference in your guitar sound. Here is our pick of the top seven guitar designs that would be available through the course of the year.
Vox Apache II Travel Guitar
The new Apache II Travel Guitar is seductive, packed with unique features and returns back to the classic VOX guitar shapes in its design. Using the classic VOX Phantom body style, the Apache II comes with two 3″ VOX speakers with built-in amplifiers. With tempo and level controls, the guitar has around 66 onboard rhythm patterns as well as a handy e-string tuner. Apart from the standard gain, tone and volume controls, the Vox Apache II Travel Guitar also has an overdrive switch as well as an output, aux input and a headphone output. With sealed vintage style tuners, the Vox Apache II Travel Guitar features a single-coil pickup. The elegant design of the guitar also boasts of a rosewood fingerboard, a maple neck and basswood body with four color finishes on offer for the model.
Peavey AT-200
The creator of world renowned Auto-Tune pitch-correction technology Antares Audio Technologies collaborated with audio and music innovator Peavey Electronics to create the Peavey AT-200 guitar. Ushering in the new guitar revolution, the Peavey AT-200 intonates continuously and electronically self tunes as you play. The new musical instrument features Auto-Tune for Guitar which allows guitar players to create music in perfect tune and pitch with the simple push of a button which means that players don’t have to stop to re-tune during live performances. The Peavey AT-200 comes with built-in software upgrade capability which lets musicians use dedicated Auto-Tune control software on iPad or iPhone devices to control the guitar via MIDI foot switch controllers or any MIDI source and easily load new features from Antares as well.
D & H Guitars Stainless Steel Electric Guitar
The only guitar with a body and neck constructed in unified stainless steel, the Stainless Steel V from D & H Guitars boasts of a U.S. Patent Pending that gives this high precision guitar many advantages over typical guitar construction. With greater resonance and sustenance, the Stainless Steel V allows for a more precise setup of the guitar thanks to a stiffer, straighter neck. The finish of the Stainless Steel V will never fade, rust, peel, chip or crack since highly polished stainless steel is used to create every part of the guitar apart from the ebony fretboard.
Fender G5 VG Stratocaster
A twist of a knob and the flick of a switch can alter the feel, tuning and tone of the Fender G5 VG Stratocaster guitar which comes fitted with Roland’s COSM (composite object sound modeling) technology. Both nylon string and steel acoustic sounds are offered in the same guitar and it can be tuned to sound like a sitar or offer warm jazz tones and even sound like a hollow body. At its heart, the Fender G5 VG Stratocaster is still a Stratocaster though it can offer an untouched, single coil Stratocaster sound or mix and match tones to your heart’s content by manipulating all tunings on a separate knob.
PRS P22
Fresh on the 2012 lineup, the PRS P22 is Paul Reed Smith Guitars’ first piezo-equipped solidbody guitar. The redesigned PRS/LR Baggs piezo system stands out on the 22 fret rosewood fingerboard on the mahogany neck which is complimented by a mahogany back and a figured maple top. To give the P22 the same real world practicality and tonal authenticity as PRS hollowbody guitars, the new system retains the existing system’s circuit design. Uncovered 53/10 pickups help define the P22’s voice and round out this guitar’s specs. To allow it to comfortably be featured on a solidbody guitar, the original PRS/LR Baggs system has been reduced to more than 60 percent of the original in redesign of the board. The P22 guitar will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2012 after nearly a year of work from concept to completion.
Rick Toone Blur 8-string Guitar
The Rick Toone Blur 8-string guitar features a patent design that offers an almost unlimited finger access to negative fret registers. The guitar neck is fashioned from machined Exoskeleton 7075 alloy aluminum. Competing surfaces create tension between the hand forged components and machined hardware and the very deliberate contrast can be seen on the 8-string extended range fretboard that features note split staggered string slots. With an aggressive organic edge and fingertip access for the three dimensional controls, playing the Rick Toone Blur 8-string guitar is a treat for all your sensors.
Reverend Sensei RA
The Sensei RA was revealed by Reverend Guitars at the Winter NAMM 2012. With neck pickups and the latest Chisel Bridge by Railhammer, this new instrument features pole pieces under the plain strings and has rails under the wound strings. Joe Naylor designed the new, patent-pending pickups for the Reverend Sensei RA and an ebony fretboard and a satin finish round off the drop dead gorgeous guitar.