Remember the Squier '51, the Epi Valve Jr and the Vox Valvetronix amps? I thought the Epi Valve Jr sounded terrible, so I never got one. The other two I had though.

Those are three examples I can think of regarding "hot gear" in the past, at least on TheFret.Net. Many purchased these things, and many probably still have them. I still regret selling my Squier '51.

What other "hot items" can we recall? Maybe the Crate Powerblock? Squier Vintage Modified, but that's a whole series of guitars.

So what are the current hot items on the scene? I was expecting the VHT Special 6 to be the next hot thing, but I don't think it really took off for some reason.

I have been waiting for more software-based solutions to become popular, but that doesn't seem to be happening. The Kemper Profiling Amp is a killer solution, no doubt. I loved it when I tried it, but it's too expensive for most people.