Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

[Snake Aces]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I would definitely have to put Schecter on here. Although I have not owned one yet, I know a few peeps who do. I've played on plenty of them and they rival some Gibsons in quality. They have some old-school inspired designs and some unique originals. They play nice, look good and last a long time. Also, the woods used are usually very good.

I'm actually looking into getting one of their acoustics and if I like it I might pick up one of their electrics.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

The thing I wonder about is longevity - Parker is one of those designs that has sticking power but Steinberger has kinda fallen by the wayside a bit. .

The first company had loads of internal financial problems...now, being owned by Gibson, they are taking a backseat to all of the Gibson advertising, although you see their 'Transcale' guitars advertised a lot.

Honestly, they were the first company to throw the rule book out of the window, and revolutionized new ideas for every aspect of the electric guitar.
How about their cool 12 string bridge? 40:1 tuning ratio? Using double ball strings?
Yeah, most guitarists will never go for them, but Ive always liked em.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

Oh yeah, another top choice:

Ernie Ball/Music Man.

I don't know much about how their guitars are, but when Music Man introduced the Stingray Bass in the 70's it forever changed the bass guitar.

Now we have some pretty good options available for basses, but it's hard to find one that's as bad as the Music Man (even in the Ernie Ball era).

 

[big_black]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I would definitely have to put Schecter on here. Although I have not owned one yet, I know a few peeps who do. I've played on plenty of them and they rival some Gibsons in quality. They have some old-school inspired designs and some unique originals. They play nice, look good and last a long time. Also, the woods used are usually very good.

I'm actually looking into getting one of their acoustics and if I like it I might pick up one of their electrics.

I don't think I'd call Schecter innovative. They take original ideas from a whole bunch of different companies (Fender, Gibson, PRS) and just make things affordable. I don't see any original ideas though.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I don't think I'd call Schecter innovative. They take original ideas from a whole bunch of different companies (Fender, Gibson, PRS) and just make things affordable. I don't see any original ideas though.

I guess I was looking at the overall picture. They take a lot of other ideas, but not only do they make them affordable, they put a good twist on them. Everything from the tuning machines to the types of woods used are carefully chosen. They inspect and properly set-up every guitar from the factory. I've heard their customer service is second to none.

Maybe it's more of their business model that's innovative. The bottom line is they make it possible for anybody to pick up a guitar and discover how sweet it can be. They do have a few originals as well, but nothing too special. I will agree with you on that.

 

[GuitarSandwich]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I think we're missing the point. It's not innovation if somebody else did it first.

Van Halen may have popularized the super strat, but he didn't do it first. He didn't invent tapping or dive-bombing or harmonics. These things were around before he was born. He's also not a guitar company. He was a great player, no doubt about that.

PRS didn't invent the compensated nut, or the 25" scale or the maple topped guitar. ESP is/was basically a copy-cat company.

Even Steinberger didn't invent the headless guitar.

I think that you need to look at the small builders who push the envelope over the years, only to have the "big boys" steal their ideas and make them popular. Even Fender borrowed their headstock from Bigsby and their bolt-on idea as well.

Sometimes small guys "borrow" their stuff from bigger firms and get famous for that too. Example: D'Angelico borrowed Gibson designs in the 1930s much like Hamer refined Gibson's designs in the 1970s. Then PRS modified Hamer's ideas in the 1980s and now everybody makes a PRS/Hamer/Gibson design.

You've got to dig deeper to find the origins of things, or you can go through life thinking that SRV invented blues.

GS

 

[Jeroen]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

My vote would go to Rickenbacker
They're believed to be THE solidbody pioneers.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

Does the one I made in my workshop count?

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

Parker, Line6, Steinberger, Melancon, and Composite Acoustics.

 

[PMT Music Products]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

We developed this device and displayed it at NAMM in 2007. Shortly after that, Drew Montel at Ernie Ball requested a prototype Music Man with the device installed for them to "evaluate". A few years later, they "invented" the Game Changer that was awarded "Best New Product" So who who the innovators actually are in many cases is subjective.

 

[Securb]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I'm going to say Taylor guitars. Bob Taylor is to Martin as Leo Fender was to Gibson.

Bill

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

A nod to Travis Bean for his use of aluminum necks that were deep set. The bridge and pickups were attached to the neck, the neck was epoxied to a wooden body. His company folded after only 5 years because of his refusal to compromise build quality to fit price.

Appropriate contribution from a guy named Mr Big Black from Chicago

 

[RorySquier]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I never played a Parker Fly but they are supposed to be the ultimate in guitar ergonomics and play-ability. The necks on them are supposed to be super strong and I don't think they have truss-rods. They also look great IMHO.

;>)/

 

[Mincer]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

Parkers are wonderful. But there is a whole world out there of 'ergonomic guitars'. Some of them barely look like instruments, but I bet they are a blast to play.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

Run, don’t walk, to your local Gibason dealer!

 

[oilpit]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I think we're missing the point. It's not innovation if somebody else did it first.

Van Halen may have popularized the super strat, but he didn't do it first. He didn't invent tapping or dive-bombing or harmonics. These things were around before he was born. He's also not a guitar company. He was a great player, no doubt about that.

PRS didn't invent the compensated nut, or the 25" scale or the maple topped guitar. ESP is/was basically a copy-cat company.

Even Steinberger didn't invent the headless guitar.

I think that you need to look at the small builders who push the envelope over the years, only to have the "big boys" steal their ideas and make them popular. Even Fender borrowed their headstock from Bigsby and their bolt-on idea as well.

Sometimes small guys "borrow" their stuff from bigger firms and get famous for that too. Example: D'Angelico borrowed Gibson designs in the 1930s much like Hamer refined Gibson's designs in the 1970s. Then PRS modified Hamer's ideas in the 1980s and now everybody makes a PRS/Hamer/Gibson design.

You've got to dig deeper to find the origins of things, or you can go through life thinking that SRV invented blues.

GS

Sources on all of these wild claims you just produced from your hindquarters?

Because at least two are flat out incorrect and the rest require you to give wayyyyyyyy too much credit to those that "had their ideas stolen from the big boys".

And who the hell claimed that PRS invented the maple cap? This post is so all over the place lmao

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

+5 on the parker... Carbon fiber, steel frets superb whammy the quality is amazing... The fly has to have the lowest weight to quality tone, ever... You owe it to yourself to try one, recognizing that those who have them tend to hold them forever...

I have the original Nitefly and its a rather heavy slab of maple... But it has that same incredible neck and you only have to tune it once a year or so And once I Seymourized the pups, it is the most versital guitar I have every played... From good piezo to ridiculous sustain.

Read an article about why they didn't make it and the story said they we're just too good for the pricepoint and couldn't make a profit.

But I like to imagine that someone with deep pockets will bring them back and if they keep the quality, they could charge a lot more this go around.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

I'm gonna kind of cheat, and combine two companies into one answer, because I view them as basically the same thing, with a shift in which company was doing the innovation along the way: Leo-era Music-Man + G&L (under Leo and beyond).

Hybrid amplifier designs, onboard pre-amp designs, stock "hot rod" switching schemes, excellent pickup designs that have stood the test of time (e.g. MFDs), excellent vibrato and bridge designs, and so on, not to mention the establishment of two companies that exist to this day as some of the biggest, most successful, and consistently highest quality electric instrument companies other than Fender and Gibson. Some of this wasn't strictly innovative. Active electronics existed. Hybrid amps existed, for example. But the way it was implemented was very good, and it did do a lot to bring it to the mainstream, as opposed to it existing largely in the high end and aftermarket arenas.

 

[justFred]

Re: Besides Gibason and Fender who was the most innovative?

Vox did some great stuff...