DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

The retro designs, digital innovations and misfit toys that defined guitar gear and technology in the Nineties

- Chris Gill

ELECTRIC GUITAR TECHNOLOGY progressed at a steady pace for four decades from the Fifties through the Eighties, but by the Nineties many guitarists seemed ready for a break. The sudden shift of the dominance of "hair metal" to grunge was partially responsible for the revolution against evolution that took place, as the renewed interest in guitars and effects from the past that developed seemed to be inspired more by a desire to challenge the status quo than nostalgia. Another factor was the ever-increasing prices of super Strats, rack effects and high-gain multi-channel amps, which helped cash-strapped musicians realize that many unpopular guitar models and low-tech classic stomp boxes maybe weren't as crappy as they previously were led to believe.

Although retro spirit dominated the Nineties, technology still progressed onward even as players were discovering the new-found joys of lipstick-tube pickups and germanium transistors. The digital revolution was starting to gain steam, making crystal-clean multitrack recording affordable and accessible to home studios and providing credible duplications of desirable amps and effects through advanced modeling technology. And while high-gain multi-channel amps remained relatively expensive, amp designers continued to push the envelope to provide features and tones that guitarists still desired.

Retro/future arguments aside, perhaps the most exciting development for the musical instrument industry was how level the playing field had started to become. The boutique builder phenomenon gained a strong foothold that paralleled the success of independent record labels at the time, and soon even a small company with good products was able to thrive as players became more open and accepting of instruments and effects that were uncommon and unusual.