Who is the Leo Fender of today?

Who has radically changed the way we create music with our guitars? I'll also go with Cliff. I can do things, with minimal fuss, that I either couldn't do before or couldn't afford to do before. Cliff's inventions have been game changers and that contention is supported by their popularity among pros and amateurs alike.
 
No, that guy was Mitch Cumstein, my roommate. He's a good guy. Don't be obsessed with your desires, Danny. The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. And a donut with no hole, is a danish'. Funny guy.
 
I'd have to say that non-musicians Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning (co-founders of Napster) have changed contemporary music more than anyone. They were pioneers in technology allowing the global theft of intellectual property, specifically music. They ushered in the millennial generation of free everything and entitlement.
 
steadystate said:
I'd have to say that non-musicians Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning (co-founders of Napster) have changed contemporary music more than anyone. They were pioneers in technology allowing the global theft of intellectual property, specifically music. They ushered in the millennial generation of free everything and entitlement.
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"Sad but True" ..........





(FYI - Purchased Legally on CD) ;)
 
Digitial is the next big step across the whole planet from Amazon to self-driving cars (yuk). Inasmuch, Ray Kurzweil changed keyboards (as did Moog, but more so with digital sampling vs. analog wave transformations). Leo electrified a guitar and someone turned up an amp too loud. ;)

I have to say digital guitar modelling appears right now as the next big step in our world (see FAS Modern 1 where no real life example sounds like it - yet it's a stellar sound.) and Cliff is certainly a leader in this community of real time digital guitar amp and cab modelling.

Yes, sharing digital (music) files easily and without compensation has changed our world; I'm pretty sure the toothpaste won't go back in the tube, but it's simply shifted focus to live shows and much more access to recording and distribution to the little guy ... no longer is recording and distribution of music the domain of large producers and labels. (I don't blame the changes we see in society on this however ... that's simply complacency and apathy towards a hard-won democracy and meritocracy which folks don't value as much anymore now they've figured out how to vote themselves OP$.)

I don't expect to see the guitar fundamentally change unless strings and fret boards go away. Pianos have been around for hundreds of years and don't require "improvement" or evolution (other than they now can sound like any other instrument with Ray's foundational work in digital sampling-based synthesis).

Therefore I too would suggest that Cliff is onto something remarkable, and may lead us into new frontiers beyond amps and cabs, effects ... or not; we will have to see.

It's the journey, not the end which is important; have fun playing your rig :cool:
 
Think about how digital tech and its declining price of entry has removed so many barriers musicians used to face getting their stuff heard. It seems there have been a many Leos on many fronts. I could record something this evening from the comfort of my living room (by myself, mind you), upload it for the world to hear, and it would have cost me a fraction in time/money of what it would have 50 years ago. One could argue that the ease of creation is one of the largest factors in musical innovation. It's also a factor in why we hear lots of similar things...
 
Looking at my rig, Cliff is it! Now, if Cliff takes on guitar modeling and can make the bridge between the guitar strings as the oscillators for remodeling sampled sounds in a fluid way, that would knock him past Leo!
 
Did anyone else actually read the article I linked? Because in it, Cliff is one of three guys being praised as modern Leos.. the other two being Tatsuya Takahashi of Korg and Gerhard Behles of Ableton.

I found it interesting because this recognition is coming from an outsider, bigger-picture music industry view.. not just one of the usual fanboys like us on the forum here :)

Give it a read.. https://reverb.com/news/who-is-the-leo-fender-of-today
 
In that regard, yes, neat article. Also good advert for AxeFX listings they have posted :p However, you won't see mine posted up there!
 
∞Fractals said:
Digitial is the next big step across the whole planet from Amazon to self-driving cars (yuk). Inasmuch, Ray Kurzweil changed keyboards (as did Moog, but more so with digital sampling vs. analog wave transformations). Leo electrified a guitar and someone turned up an amp too loud. ;)

I have to say digital guitar modelling appears right now as the next big step in our world (see FAS Modern 1 where no real life example sounds like it - yet it's a stellar sound.) and Cliff is certainly a leader in this community of real time digital guitar amp and cab modelling.

Yes, sharing digital (music) files easily and without compensation has changed our world; I'm pretty sure the toothpaste won't go back in the tube, but it's simply shifted focus to live shows and much more access to recording and distribution to the little guy ... no longer is recording and distribution of music the domain of large producers and labels. (I don't blame the changes we see in society on this however ... that's simply complacency and apathy towards a hard-won democracy and meritocracy which folks don't value as much anymore now they've figured out how to vote themselves OP$.)

I don't expect to see the guitar fundamentally change unless strings and fret boards go away. Pianos have been around for hundreds of years and don't require "improvement" or evolution (other than they now can sound like any other instrument with Ray's foundational work in digital sampling-based synthesis).

Therefore I too would suggest that Cliff is onto something remarkable, and may lead us into new frontiers beyond amps and cabs, effects ... or not; we will have to see.

It's the journey, not the end which is important; have fun playing your rig :cool:
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I believe Bill & Ted use a futuristic version of the Axe Fx in the band, Wyld Stallyns.
 
I would say no one right now.

Leo was at the birth of electric guitar music.

Right now we are in an evolution not the birth of something.

Albeit it is a kick ass evolution, it is an evolution none the less.
 
Even though the article did mention Cliff, you did ask. I vote for Cliff. There have always been innovators, so what they invent and develop is what matters more than who they are. Cliff has done more to change the voice of the guitar than anyone in recent times. No Cliff, no Fractal. The Fractal is the most amazing piece of gear I ever bought. I am the Geeze. I bought a lot of gear over a lot of years. Nothing compares to the Fractal. Nothing.
 
You could really make the case for Leo having a similar "grand vision" of what was possible and a similar disrespect for the traditional way of doing things. The Telecaster was a radical re-imagining of a guitar at the time. Leo had no luthiery experience, so he stripped the electric guitar down to it's most basic functions and built one with no regard for the "proper" way to do so. It needs a body, so I'll just cut a plank of wood into a "guitar" shape. We need to attach the neck - I'll use screws. Screws are reliable, and you can even unscrew them if you need to! I'll make the neck out of maple, because maple's strong.

Cliff has similar approach to amp and effects, in terms of find the most basic idea of "what does this thing do"? and then building a computer model of the that behavior.
 
Do you think anyone will be using what is essentially the same AxeFX in the year 2090? Will people be paying crazy prices for 2016 AxeFXs as they created a inimitable sound? Leo Fender had a great advantage in that the most enduring of music was played on the instruments he created.
 
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