In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Francisco Cresp, co-founder and CPO at Neural DSP, about his founder journey, how the company approaches product development and inside stories from one of the leading names in digital modeling for guitar and other instruments.

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About the company:

We’re a group of pedal makers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam. Our first pedal, Warped Vinyl, was an analog vibrato with a digital brain. The idea was to match the quality and character of analog processing with the anything-goes flexibility of digital control. We make digital circuits now too, but the approach is the same: Offer new and deeply personal ways to interact with effects.

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In this episode:

In this episode, host Adam Wakeling speaks with Analog Mike Piera, founder of Analog.man, about his approach to product development, the infamous waitlist for the King of Tone, the state of the guitar and pedal market and what the future looks like for the company.

To learn more, visit: https://www.analogman.com/

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About the company:

We’re a group of pedal makers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam. Our first pedal, Warped Vinyl, was an analog vibrato with a digital brain. The idea was to match the quality and character of analog processing with the anything-goes flexibility of digital control. We make digital circuits now too, but the approach is the same: Offer new and deeply personal ways to interact with effects.

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In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Tosin Abasi, CEO, and Ivan Chopik, COO, of Abasi Concepts, about their founder journeys; approach to product development of extended-range instruments and pedals; and the current state of the guitar and pedal market.

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About the company:

We’re a group of pedal makers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam. Our first pedal, Warped Vinyl, was an analog vibrato with a digital brain. The idea was to match the quality and character of analog processing with the anything-goes flexibility of digital control. We make digital circuits now too, but the approach is the same: Offer new and deeply personal ways to interact with effects.

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In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Jamie Stillman, Founder of EarthQuaker Devices about the impact of tariffs on small US businesses; why Jamie is not concerned about the current generation of digital modelers like the Quad Cortex and Helix, as well as how EarthQuaker Devices approaches product development at the company.

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Many thanks to this episode’s sponsors:

About the company:

We’re a group of pedal makers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam. Our first pedal, Warped Vinyl, was an analog vibrato with a digital brain. The idea was to match the quality and character of analog processing with the anything-goes flexibility of digital control. We make digital circuits now too, but the approach is the same: Offer new and deeply personal ways to interact with effects.

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In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Joel Korte, founder of Chase Bliss, about his founder journey, the ‘chase bliss way’ of product development, as well as his successes, failures and effects pedal market insights.

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In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Dave Friedman, founder of Friedman Amplification, about his approach to product development at the company; the analog versus digital debate; and what the future of boutique amps looks like.

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In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Brian Wampler, Founder of Wampler Pedals. From the humble beginnings of modding pedals in his garage to producing some of the most sought-after boutique pedals in the industry, Brian Wampler’s journey is one of passion, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of the perfect guitar tone.

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In this episode:

🟠 Product strategy insights for developing music hardware
🟠 Inside stories from Fender and Universal Audio
🟠 Tips on progressing in Product Management

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Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Rob Chapman, Founder of Chapman Guitars.

In this episode:

🟠 The origin story of Chapman Guitars

🟠 How YouTube became pivotal for growth

🟠 Staying agile while manufacturing physical products

🟠 Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and founders

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Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Daniel Steinhardt, Founder of GigRig, about his 20-year journey building the company to be one of the market leaders in in guitar pedal power and switching technology. Dan has also co-built a successful YouTube channel with over 420,000 subscribers.

In this episode:

🟠 The inspiration for Dan to build a new product from scratch

🟠 How YouTube became pivotal for early product growth

🟠 Navigating the challenges of manufacturing physical products

🟠 Practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and founders

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In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Tommy Stalknecht, co-founder and CEO of Single, the direct-to-fan platform for Shopify. Since its inception in 2018, Single has transformed the way artists engage with their audiences by empowering them to sell music, merch, video and memberships directly to fans.

Under Tommy's leadership, Single has facilitated the sale of over 5 million digital albums, reported 16 million albums to Billboard, and hosted livestream events for millions of viewers worldwide.

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This year’s event saw a number of new launches, iterations and product reissues, and brought the whole industry together under one roof to share new product innovations.

At the show, MQA Labs released a suite of tools for engineers called QRONO that focuses on overcoming the “flatness” often present in digital recordings.

The problem, according to the company, is related to the fact that we can perceive distinct auditory signals as close together as 7 microseconds [1-3] (see image below).

“This precision was critical for early humanity’s survival,” the company states in its Whitepaper. “As it applies to music perception, it provides the fine texture, clear delineation and spatial impression of musical instruments. Audio processing that fails to preserve these time details will blur sounds together. For decades, digital audio technologies and systems overlooked the critical importance of this level of accuracy. Armed with this new knowledge, it’s imperative to double-down on efforts to improve and fix this aspect of digital audio.”

Their solution is to design DAC filters that do not exhibit pre-ringing and stop ringing fast enough to not blur events that can be discerned by our hearing. “QRONO d2a uses proven engineering practice combined with thoughtful and creative solutions to create a breakthrough in digital audio reproduction.”

Keep in down

Elsewhere, Celestion launched Peacekeeper, a low-sensitivity, dual voice coil, attenuating 12in speaker for guitarists and other amplified musicians.

The innovation here is in its unique dual voice coil design, which the company claims can enable musicians to get the “sweet spot” of sound without needing volume to get there, something no other speaker has yet achieved. The reduced input sensitivity allows it to be driven harder, thus acting as a natural attenuator for guitar amps, which previously required musicians to use a separate attenuating device to achieve.

There were also a number of iconic instruments being ported into the software world this year, namely Novation’s collaboration with GForce Software on its Bass Station and Roland bringing its Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus “officially” to DAWs.

The Bass Station, loved by the electronic music world since its launch in the early 1990s, delivers 16-voice polyphony and unison mode in its software version and has an in-built arpeggiator and sequencer.

The JC-120 Jazz Chorus guitar amplifier, meanwhile, was celebrating its 50th birthday this year. The new official software version will be compatible with VST3, AU, and AAX plug-in formats and includes extended parameters for modern production environments.

In the instrument space, Nord unveiled its new Piano 6, which brings advanced layering capabilities and greater flexibility for performance. Players are able to combine two independent sample-based synth layers and piano layers.

Some of the keyboard’s noteworthy effects include: dedicated effects section per layer; modulation effects with rate and amount; global Reverb with send per layer, pre-delay, chorale and bright/dark mode, among others.

Coming together

A surprising development at this year’s show was the announcement of Native Instruments’ Native Kontrol Standard (NKS) Hardware Partner Program.

In its release, it stated that industry leaders Akai Professional, Novation, Nektar, Korg, and M-Audio are adopting the NKS ecosystem to power seamless integration with Native Instruments software. This connects music makers to over 2,000 NKS-compatible instruments and effects from more than 250 brands.

“This expansion highlights the impact of collaboration,” said Simon Cross, Chief Product Officer at Native Instruments. “It marks an important milestone in our mission to provide musicians with an open, connected platform, making professional-grade tools, instruments, and technology more accessible to creators everywhere.”

Classics reimagined

In the guitar world Marshall teased “a new take on a classic” amplifier and a “stomping new line-up” of FX pedals ahead of the event.

At the show the company presented five new compact overdrive pedals modelled from its classic range of amplifiers, following the recent product trend towards making things smaller and lighter.

However, the company still focused on its traditional market at the show, announcing new modified valve amps (1959, JCM800) as well as a a new JCM 900 Studio model.

The modified versions have taken the classic design and modernised them with mid-shift functionality, two overdrives and a ‘tight sound’ switch to produce a tighter, snappier low end.

All talk, no show

NAMM 2025 was a stronger showing compared to its post-covid 2024 edition that returned to its regular January slot. However, times have changed and heavyweights such as Fender did not have a booth to display its vast array of guitars, but just personnel to meet the dealers.

The guitar company’s CEO, Andy Mooney, told Guitar World: “I think we really missed the personal interaction with the dealer base. That, I think, is the single biggest thing.”

“Even though we’re going back, what I felt had happened at NAMM – which is what had happened in my two previous lives at Nike and Disney – is that trade shows take on a life of their own […] It becomes Booth Wars – ‘My booth has to be bigger than your booth’ – and you end up spending tons of money for a very short period of time. We were kind of thinking, ‘Is this the right way to go forward?’”

He continued: “For Covid, we were compelled to do something differently and what we found during Covid when we did the online events, we were able to do them at much less cost but reach deeper into the organisation.”

Time will tell if other large manufacturers will follow this approach for next year’s event.

As a home-studio musician and podcaster, I’ve encountered my share of audio challenges. High ceilings, ambient noise and room echo have all been persistent issues, disrupting the clarity of my recordings.

I’ve experimented with all sorts of fixes, from EQ adjustments to hanging a large bed sheet over my desk to dampen sound. Needless to say, these solutions were far from ideal. So, I started researching software options that could help mitigate my studio’s environmental impact on recordings. That’s when I came across the Waves Clarity VX DeReverb plugin.

Here is how Waves Audio describes the plugin:

Got great vocal recordings ruined by unwanted background noise—air conditioner, room rumble, rain, traffic, airplane flyovers, background talking, etc.? Solve these issues with Clarity™ Vx, whose advanced Neural Networks (the same engine as in the larger Clarity™ Vx Pro) are trained to recognize vocals, and separate them from noise.

The plugin is simple and intuitive, featuring just five main controls. You can select a neural network, adjust the imaging, tweak vocal presence to maintain clarity and use the large “DeReverb” dial to achieve in the right amount of noise reduction. Within about 30 seconds, my vocal recordings—previously full of unwanted room echo—sounded significantly clearer and more focused, as if I’d recorded in a semi-treated studio.

I recently did a video demo of the plugin alongside the Universal Audio C-Suite C-Vox de-noise plugin, which is a good complement to this plugin.

Hear the plugin in action:

I did push the DeReverb dial to see how much further I could go, but, as mentioned in the video above, turning it too high caused my voice to sound muddy and muted. The plugin works best with moderate settings, so finding that “sweet spot” is key.

Overall, the Clarity VX DeReverb is straightforward and effective. It’s a minimalist tool that conceals its technical complexity, leaving users with only a few controls to fine-tune.

The only drawback is that it doesn’t remove ambient noise during vocal passages—only reverb and echo, and if you are faced with a really bad echo, it is not going to work miracles. To handle background noise, you’d need to extend your plugin chain with a separate de-noise tool. The full Clarity VX suite includes this feature, though at a higher price (I personally use the C-Vox C-Suite for noise reduction). For these reasons I’d rate the standalone Clarity VX DeReverb plugin four stars.

One tip: consider picking up the plugin during a sale, as it’s frequently discounted.

TL;DR Verdict: The Waves Clarity VX DeReverb is an intuitive and effective plugin for tackling room echo and reverb in vocal recordings, though it doesn’t remove ambient noise while speaking. Ideal for home-studio setups with echo issues. Best purchased on sale.

This review was not sponsored, nor contains any affiliate links.

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Founded in 1946, the company pioneered designs that have influenced countless genres, from rock and blues to punk and grunge. Yet, as with any legacy brand, Fender has faced the ongoing challenge of balancing its iconic, and somewhat traditional, status with the need for innovation.

This article explores the guitar company’s evolution through the lens of product development, tracing key milestones and examining how the brand has balanced heritage with the need for continuous innovation to escape the red ocean of guitar market saturation.

The early years: foundational innovations (1946-1958)

In 1946, Leo Fender founded Fender Musical Instruments in Fullerton, California. His company’s first big breakthrough came with the release of the Telecaster in 1951, the world’s first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar. Unlike hollow-body guitars that struggled with acoustic feedback at higher volumes, the Telecaster’s solid-body design offered a sound and was better suited for amplified music and without the issues of feedback. It quickly became a favourite among country musicians and blues players who embraced its bright, punchy tone.

A 1951 Fender Telecaster in action. (Source: Normans Rare Guitars)

One of the Telecaster’s defining features was its innovative bridge and pickup design. The bridge pickup was angled to enhance treble response, giving the Telecaster a bright, cutting tone that made it stand out in live settings, where lack of certain treble and bass frequencies can easily bury the sound of an electric guitar. Additionally, the pickup was wound to create a unique, punchy sound that set the guitar apart from its competitors.

A 1954 Fender Telecaster, highlighting the angled bridge pickup configuration. (Original image source: Fender)

The instrument’s tone circuitry included a three-way selector switch, allowing players to choose between a mellow, bass-heavy sound, a bright, high-end tone, or a blend of both. This versatility was uncommon in early electric guitars.

Fender’s focus on user-friendly design also extended to the guitar’s construction. Unlike previous guitars that had glued-in necks and required complex maintenance, the Telecaster introduced a bolt-on neck.

This new production innovation was a key moment in the brand’s unique approach to product development, and this has remained a core feature across all its electric guitar ranges since.

The bolt-on neck construction provided a number of benefits, both for Fender and end users. For the company, it brought down cost of manufacture (potentially increasing potential margins at the time too) and enabled the guitars’ price points to be lower, opening up quality electric guitars to a broader market segment.

For the end users, any future repairs on the guitar’s neck were easier and far more affordable. There is also a general consensus that bolt-on necks provide a ‘snappiness’ in tone compared to their glued-in counterparts.

On the low end

In 1951, Fender also introduced the Precision Bass, an instrument that would forever change the role of bass players in a band. Before this model, bassists typically played the upright double bass, a cumbersome and quiet instrument on stage. This new instrument provided a compact, electrified option that allowed bass players to play louder and with greater ‘precision’, hence the name.

Defining the Sound: The Stratocaster and Beyond (1954-1969)

In 1954, Fender unveiled the Stratocaster, a guitar that would become one of the most iconic designs in music history. With its contoured body, three-pickup configuration, and new tremolo system, the Stratocaster was more comfortable and versatile than any guitar that had come before it.

Musicians like Buddy Holly, who performed with a Stratocaster on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” helped the instrument gain visibility, while artists like Jimi Hendrix later used it to explore new sonic landscapes in blues and rock. Hendrix’s performance at Woodstock in 1969, where he played “The Star-Spangled Banner” on a Stratocaster, is still one of the most memorable moments in rock history.

An original 1954 Stratocaster being played. (Source: Premier Guitars)

The Stratocaster introduced an innovative tremolo (or “vibrato”) bridge system, often referred to as the “synchronised tremolo.” This mechanism allowed guitarists to bend notes and create vibrato effects by manipulating the bridge with an arm (or “whammy bar”), giving them an entirely new way to interact with their instrument.

Unlike previous tremolo systems, which were prone to tuning instability, Fender’s synchronised tremolo was designed to return the strings to pitch more reliably after use, thanks to its balanced spring system in the back of the guitar. This allowed players like Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy to achieve dramatic pitch shifts without constantly retuning.

The guitar’s impact wasn’t just aesthetic or ergonomic—it offered musicians a new range of tonal options, making it ideal for the evolving rock genre. By the 1960s, Fender guitars were closely associated with the sounds of rock and roll, blues, and pop, becoming the go-to instruments for an expanding roster of famous musicians.

Jazzing it up

In the late 1950s, the Jazzmaster had also joined Fender’s line up. The new model was meant to appeal to jazz players, but in Fender’s own words:

As it turned out, the instrument appealed most to Surf Rock artists (much later Indie Rock) due to its sonic capabilities and particular appearance. This is one example of not identifying correctly in product discovery what a target’s underserved needs actually are and meeting them with the feature set. It just so happened that the guitar’s feature set addresses underserved needs in a different market segment.

The original Jazzmaster introduced a unique floating bridge and anchored tailpiece design, along with a floating vibrato system that included a tremolo-locking feature. It was the first Fender guitar to feature two separate tone circuits, controlled by a small slider switch on the upper horn that allowed players to toggle between "lead" and "rhythm" modes.

An original 1958 Jazzmaster being demoed. (Source: Carter Vintage Guitars)

In the former mode, the Jazzmaster used a familiar control layout, with master volume and tone knobs on the lower bout and a three-position pickup selector. The "rhythm" mode, however, deactivated these controls, using only the neck pickup with dedicated volume and tone wheels located on the upper horn. This mode produced a darker, warmer tone than the lead circuit, due to differences in the potentiometer values.

Adapting to changing musical landscapes (1970s-1990s)

By the mid-1970s, punk rock had come onto the scene, and many of the leading bands of the genre, from the Ramones to the Sex Pistols, were touting Fender guitars, despite their contemporary association with disco, the ‘antithesis of punk’.

In the 1980s, with the launch of MTV and the rise of visually driven music culture, Fender needed to adapt further. Recognising a market demand for unique, custom-built guitars, the company opened the Fender Custom Shop in 1987, offering artists the ability to design instruments that reflected their personalities and specific requirements. Fender also began creating artist signature models, honouring players who had helped shape its legacy. Musicians like Eric Clapton and Yngwie Malmsteen received their own custom models, blending Fender’s classic designs with features tailored to these artists’ specific needs.

As the 1990s arrived, it marked the rise of grunge, a gritty, unpolished genre pushing out the glam of the 80s. Fender instruments, including Jaguars and Mustangs, became a staple in this genre, famously wielded by artists like Kurt Cobain.

Embracing tech: Fender in the digital age (2000s-Present)

As the 2000s came, digital transformation was beginning to be seen across many industries.

In 2001, Fender released the Cyber-Twin amplifier, one of the first digital modelling amps to offer customisable sounds and effects. This amplifier allowed guitarists to replicate the tones of multiple classic amplifiers in one unit, catering to musicians who needed versatility in a single package. It was a bold move, signalling Fender’s willingness to experiment with digital innovation without abandoning its analogue roots.

Side note: The analogue versus digital debate remains prevalent today. There is a booming market for products in both spheres, but many companies have recognised that they must accommodate both sides, either offering products in both camps, or innovating around hybrid approaches, mixing analogue components with digital chips and other tech. Many analogue purists still exist however. It is the younger demographics that have been first to embrace digital-only amplification and effects rigs.

Another product development and positioning milestone in Fender’s digital journey came in 2017 with the launch of Fender Play, an online platform designed to teach beginners how to play guitar, bass and ukulele.

Fender recognised that many of today’s aspiring musicians prefer learning online and adapted accordingly, leveraging its unfair advantage of having an established customer base and a close collaboration with artists. Fender Play provides structured lessons, interactive features and access to a library of songs, helping players of all skill levels engage with their instruments. This approach utilising high-quality video production was one area where it could help differentiate itself from non-direct competitors, such as YouTube.

The addition of education to its product suite reflects a wider product development shift in recent years of getting users into a closed ecosystem and supporting the next-generation of musicians. ‘End-to-end’ has become a buzz phrase in many industries, but if executed well can dominate a market.

This approach has continued more recently with its expansion of guitar pedal range, including the Tone Master Pro digital modeller and various stomp boxes.

Fender’s Tone Master Pro digital modeller being demoed. (Source: Fender)

The hybrid model

A more contentious product release that sought to blend tradition with technology was Fender’s Acoustasonic range of acoustic/electric guitars. This range allowed players to switch between different acoustic and electric sounds seamlessly.

The Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster. (Source: Fender)

However, in the case of the Acoustasonic, many have been left a bit confused, as it has been positioned by the market (not Fender) as a compromise on both sides. It is not as tonally rich as an acoustic guitar, and it does not have all the qualities of the electric guitar. Perhaps an example of innovation for the sake of innovation? Or an another example of solving a problem that didn’t exist?

Market positioning: Fender vs Gibson

At this stage, it is worth bringing in the wider competitive landscape into view. Gibson has historically been Fender’s largest competitor in the electric guitar industry, and they have taken contrasting approaches to product development.

Fender, as illustrated in this article embraced a design philosophy rooted in simplicity, modularity and ease of production: bolt-on necks; minimalistic aesthetics; ease of repair and customisation.

This practical approach made Fender guitars highly accessible, both in terms of price and playability, appealing to a broad range of musicians. Fender’s modular designs also encouraged players to experiment with parts and modifications, fuelling a DIY culture around their guitars that added to their appeal in genres like rock, punk and blues.

In contrast, Gibson, with its origins dating back to 1902, focused on craftsmanship and luxury, favouring set-neck construction and rich finishes that reflected its roots in high-end, handcrafted instruments. Models like the Les Paul and ES-335 were often more ornate, featuring carved tops, set necks, high-gloss burst finishes and intricate inlays.

Over the years, these differing approaches have contributed to Fender’s reputation as the “working musician’s guitar” and Gibson’s image as a high-end, prestige brand.

Fender has carved out their own unique market segments and blue oceans, and its continuity in design principles (with a couple of exceptions) has been one part of being able to sustain the company for over 75 years.

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