The phone itself was, alas, not on display at CTIA in San Diego, a phone convention increasingly known for its lack of actual new phones. But in these studio shots, it looks really good. If it didn't have the Fender logo, I'd be like, "Hey, look at my sweet phone. Doesn't it kind of remind you of a guitar?" But emblazoned as it is, the bearer is forced to apologize for it, like, "Yeah, I really liked how it looked, even though I know how corny it is to have a phone with my guitar's logo on it. Will you forgive me?"

And the ghost of Les Paul played on... [T-Mobile]

During his long tenure on this planet, Les Paul was something like the Thomas Edison of music—he is responsible for such groundbreaking inventions as multitrack recording, overdubbing, delay effects and, of course, the solid-body electric guitar. His work eventually earned him induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.

Few names conjure up as much respect in an industry as Les Paul, and that doesn't appear likely to change anytime in the near future. Nearly all of the musicians and music lovers around today owe a tremendous debt to this man. [Yahoo]

If pretending to rock is so hard that you have to pretend to pretend to rock, you should just go and eat your way up to 800 pounds and give up on life. [eBay - Thanks Ben!]

The touch strip on the neck used to be analog but now it's completely digital, so Activision says it's now "100 percent accurate." The strum bar has also been redesigned internally, so it's way more durable. I didn't actually get to hit it to see if you can feel how much more solid it is. But hopefully the DJ Hero turntable is a pretty nice indication of the quality of hardware we should expect this generation. The whammy bar has been subtly redesigned as well, and now you've got some fake chrome tuners instead of fake plastic tuners.

I've always preferred the Guitar Hero guitars to Rock Band's since I think the latter's strum bar is too squishy. What were you hoping would change with the new guitars?

Do we want tens of plastic guitars, skateboards, drums, balance boards and light guns cluttering up our living room space? No, of course not. But ponder these simple questions.

1) Would you rather be pushing buttons in time to music with your Xbox 360 controller, or strumming along with your fake guitar and hitting a drum pad?
2) Would you rather be pushing buttons to make your character do a 720, or actually tilt your body on a skateboard?
3) Would you rather be pushing buttons and tilting a stick to shoot something on the screen, or point a gun at the screen and physically shoot the screen?

It's simple; most everyone would rather be simulating the act because it gets them closer to the experience of actually playing the game and mimicking what the character is doing on screen. And that's just the way we're headed. The first controllers had a joystick and one button, and technology's progressed along until we're actually getting 1:1 motion detection.

But where is this all going? The endpoint, in our minds, is something like the Holodeck from Star Trek. A room that, although finite in reality, has the mechanical and optical abilities to simulate just about anything you can program. But we're a long way from that. What we can do is take steps toward that goal, by simulating the experience with plastic instruments. But there are many steps between here and there, and hopefully the next one won't cause us to fall down because there's a plastic guitar in the way.

Music Radar says this £3300 guitar is the signature axe of Matthew Bellamy, frontman of the band Muse. It lets you run any plug-in you want for effects manipulation, and use it to make your shred sessions even more awesome. The video on Music Radar shows how the guitar fundamentally works—strumming out a chord, then hitting the MIDI pad with your fingers alters the sound of the guitar.

Pre-orders for the MB-1 will begin this summer, and the first units will ship in the fall. Also, it glows in a bunch of ADD-inducing colors. Oooooh. Shiny. [Manson Guitars via Music Radar via Engadget]

The app itself is very neat. You can play back synth guitar versions of popular songs by just tapping on chord buttons on your iPhone. What makes this video is the composition and the editing. It is AMAZING. Seriously, just watch it.

We think they should get your $3.99 just for making this video, with the fact that you get to play guitar or something on your iPhone as a bonus prize. [Amidio]

For about $250, designer Zivix will attempt to bridge the gap between these two warring factions by blending a real electric guitar with the button-mashing pseudo-music insanity that breaks out at my apartment after a few too many pints at the local pub. Ultimately, Zivix hopes that more than a few Guitar Hero/Rock Band masters will take the leap and actually make some real music with the Headliner.

No release date was given, but Zivix hopes to have this full size guitar on store shelves later this year. [Zivix via OhGizmo]

The bundle, which comes at $250, will include new instruments modeled after the real ones used by the band, which may or may not include that violin bass Paul used. Still, custom plastic instruments are custom plastic instruments, so we're excited. [Kotaku]

Turns out that Danny Johnson's record 973k score could actually have been higher if the blue button on his guitar hadn't broken when he was 3,558 notes into the 3,722 note song. Not only that, the Dan-ninator says he's wrecked 80 Guitar Hero guitars in his quest to be number one in the world.

What can we conclude from this? One, Danny's parents spent his college tuition on replacement guitars (sorry kid). Two, Activision's Guitar Hero guitars aren't designed for their hardest song, which is pretty BS, but only for those people who can actually play that song. And third, Danny's not getting laid until he's thirty, maybe working at that same Best Buy he set the record in (sorry again kid). [NY Times]

Because while guns aren't officially part of the Holy Trinity that is sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, just like leather jackets and the propensity to not wash one's hair, they do go hand-in-hand with the lifestyle.

Of course you don't need the Pistol Instrument Cable to rock. But if you find yourself standing on stage with an equally talented, equally drugged and equally attractive rocker, you'll be glad to have the boost. $25. [Core One via Nerd Approved]

Broken down into a few categories of changeable parts, main body included, the Zoybar itself is best described a series of standardized connectors. It'll be interesting to see what existing instruments can be created with the kit, but the weird, as of yet unrealized contraptions that artists create with the bevy of components have the potential to be amazing, or more realistically completely hilarious. The Zoybar should go on sale in January. [Zoybar via Crunchgear]

Think of it as the Robot plus the Moog synth guitar rolled into one. First and foremost, it's a guitarist's guitar, with three different kind of pickups—a humbucker, a single-coil and a bridge-mounted piezo acoustic—all capable of contributing their sound to an original, organic blend of totally real guitar noise.

Having anchored itself firmly in Gibson's traditions, it's also got some crazy new stuff. Like the Robot, it self-tunes (now up to 500 times on a single battery charge), and using the "Chameleon Tone Technology" it is capable of producing "every imaginable guitar sound," says Gibson.

The company is quite proud of the Master Control Knob—presumably with a bit of a Tron shoutout there—though I can only imagine that the "sophisticated full color matrix display featuring LEDs and high-tech light pipe technology" takes a little bit of a hike up the learning curve.

Those who know of Les Paul's guitar innovations will appreciate that Gibson is carrying on his tradition of complication as a necessary means for cooler guitar tech. Some of Les' personal guitars had tons of mostly unmarked switches on them, not to mention a few boxes off to the side.

Speaking of boxes, a lot of the digital mojo is facilitated by the guitar's interface, the Robot Interface Pack, which has jacks on the front for the guitar and headphones. On the rear there's a FireWire connector (hear that, new MacBook shoppers?) and a hex connector, which can be adapted for MIDI output. The good news for suckers who bought the first-gen Robot is that the upgrade will be available to them at a price close to cost. (My guess is they'll make the money on labor when you take your Robot in for the upgrade.)

Though Gibson won't promise "infinite sustain" like Moog, it does say that its body design makes "the Dark Fire one of the best-sustaining Les Pauls ever produced." Cool. [Gibson]

Drums:

Drum Kit Shirt: Sure, you could by a real drum kit—but that can be expensive. This drum kit shirt plays seven drum sounds when you tap different areas and it will only set you back $30. [Think Geek via Link]

Drum Table: Yup...it's a table with drums built-in. The way I see it, this would be a great way to score with the ladies when everyone is drinking at a party. I mean look at this dude, he seems well on his way to a foursome. Prices range from $800 to $2,900. [Musical Furnishings via Link]

DrumPants: By dismantling a MIDI keyboard and hooking it up to his pants with a couple of piezo transducers, Tyler Freeman was able to turn his legs into playable drums. If you throw the shirt on top of this, you would basically turn your entire body into a giant kit. [Link]

Guitars:

Angel Sword Guitar: Slay your fans with rock and slay your enemies with steel. Too bad this nerd axe is a one of a kind item. [Link]

Gibson's Robotic Guitar: If you are too lazy to manually tune your guitar, this Gibson will do it for you at the push of a button. Servos tune the guitar to one of seven presets with A440 as a default and the remaining six based on hit songs. Unfortunately, this limited edition instrument will set you back well over $2000 if you manage to find one. [Gibson via Link]

Moog Paul Vo Edition: Moog, a company known for their synthesizers, have branched out to the world of guitars with the Paul Vo Edition. What makes it worth $6500 you ask? Well, it sure as hell isn't looks. However, it does claim to have "infinite sustain." Sure, you can already achieve similar effects with pedals, but the Moog product site claims that it is "like no other sustainer; infinite sustain on every string, at every fret position and at any volume. You may have heard sustain before but not with this power (we call it "Vo Power") and clarity." [Moog via Link]

Synthesizers:

Beamz: The Beamz system uses a series of six lasers that play sounds from instruments like the guitar, violin and even the cowbell when the beam is broken with your hand. If it feels like a Sharper Image gadget to you, good call. Beamz was on sale there before the company went belly up. Don't let that deter you though. You can still get your hands on one from the Beamz website for $400. Oh, and this video is the most hysterically uncomfortable thing I have watched in a long time. [Beamz via Link]

Korg DS-10: Unlike Guitar Hero, you can actually use this game to make music. Basically, Korg took their famous MS-10 synthesizer and squeezed it onto a DS. It features a four-part drum machine, six-track (analog synth x 2, drum machine x 4) /16-step sequencer, delay, chorus and flanger sound effects and the ability to exchange sounds and songs and play multiple units wirelessly. Currently available in Japan for 4,800 yen ($48). [Korg DS-10 via Link]

Piano:

Mini Grand Piano: Have you priced grand pianos lately? Yeah, we are talking tens of thousands of dollars. The good news is that this version from Segatoys will only set you back $570. The bad news is that each one of the playable keys is only 4mm wide. It may be mini, but you can still play like mozart with a stylus. [Audiocubes]

"Alternative" Instruments:

Light Up Tambourine: Okay, maybe cool instruments aren't your thing. However, that doesn't mean you can't rock out. Hey, Davy Jones got lots of chicks playing one of these back in the day. Available for $15. [LB Toys]

Air Guitar (Bonus): So you are good at Guitar Hero but you lack actual musical ability. No worries—you always have air guitar. And if you are wondering how you can get groupies doing something so lame, check out the video of air guitar champion Ochi Dainoji Yosuke doing his thing. So the lesson here is that it's not what you play but where you play it. I'll bet groupies are into anyone performing on a stage. Available for around $4. [stuff4me]

[Image via CNET.au]