Intel/Fender Telecaster Concept Guitar
April 11th, 2006
I know this is a few months old but Popagadget has a post about the new digital internet enabled guitar by Fender and Intel.
Fender and Intel have partnered to create a concept of an internet-enabled super guitar. The new revisited Fender Telecaster will incorporate Intel Centrino mobile technology to allow Internet access on the go. The TELECASTER guitar contains a Hewlett Packard TC1100 tablet laptop with 1.25ghz RAM and an Echo Indigo I/O soundcard.
With the new Fender every musician will be able to download music directly on their “super-guitar”, record new ideas on it and email them directly to whoever they want. It is supposed to even incorporate a webcam, so you can stream yourself rocking onstage to the whole Internet world.
The guitar has a full computer in it with the LCD screen in the back of the body. Watch out for those belt buckles, cause that’s right where the display is.
It sounds like an interesting enough idea to me, but I don’t think it is really innovative enough to sell. I am much more interested in the Gibson digital guitar.
Here is a link to the Intel/Fender Telecaster Concept Guitar on Fender’s website.
tagged fender guitar, guitar and guitar gear
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April 12th, 2006 05:19
So i’ll have to update the software to sound better? I wouldn’t buy this, no matter how much i like computers.
Have you seen the competition? Where there’s fender, there’s gibson, and viceversa.
http://www.gibsondigital.com/
April 12th, 2006 06:33
Hahaha, yeah, your guitar will get a virus that blows your amp.
April 12th, 2006 06:56
Just seems too gimmicy to me, the Fender that is. It will take someone far more innovative than me to make this thing seem like a good idea.
I mean, all the things they’re talking about doing, I could do with a separate guitar and laptop. Well, and a Line 6 thingy or something like that. But my point is, who would want a guitar and a laptop together? I just don’t get it.
As for the Les Paul, isn’t that the same concept as the Variax? I like that they keep the “regular” guitar and add the hex pickup funtionality unlike the Variax’s all-or-nothing approach.
April 12th, 2006 09:03
I don’t understand why they had to ruin two classic designs such as the Telecaster and the Les Paul in order to do this. They guys behind the Variax at least used their own designs - and i’ve heard some good opinions about those guitars. If i want a Tele, i get a Tele, if a want a Les Paul i get a Les Paul. And if i want something totally different i’d probably try the Variax or…
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~handiono/techpage/laserguitar/laserguitar.html
Or i could get a laptop and stick it to the back of the guitar.
April 12th, 2006 12:47
Optical pickup systems are old. Bass players have been using them for some time.
April 12th, 2006 12:52
Disregard my above comment. Next time I’ll pay a little bit closer attention to what you’re linking to, Serg.
April 12th, 2006 13:06
I agree, it is more of a gimmick than a practical guitar and I like how the digital Gibson provides both an analog and digital output.
I can’t see either catching on very quickly though, especially with the veteran players. I think this is just another area they are trying to cash in on the myth that digital is always better.
I think the guitar companies would be much better off to head a direction like Line 6 with their Pod hardware. Work with computer manufacturers to develop innovative ways for the entry level player to connect existing guitars to computers.
May 5th, 2008 07:29
I think it’ll sell a few but at the end of the day people with guitars just wanna rock out and won’t be bothered stopping that mid-show to poke at the LSD screen on their guitars waiting for it to load.