In 2026 the guitar industry has never felt so saturated. Gear fatigue is real. For many observers the market is a merry-go round of familiar body shapes and styles, capable of inducing a dizzying deja vu. Fresh faces are few and far between.
At least, that’s the thinking at Guitar Center, whose CEO is on a mission to bring something fresh to the market with a new in-house instrument brand. But he’s not going about it the orthodox way – he’s asking players to help him design a guitar from the ground up.
