DEMO - The USB Guitar

This post is for Jackson, Tony Alva, Chrispy, Tom Watson, and all the other guitar players who read this blog. Forgive me if I left you out of that list.  It wasn't intentional.

The USB guitar is here.

It's called iGuitar.

In addition to providing a direct link to your PC based recording software, it also is a I/O device which can control the software in lieu of a mouse or keyboard.

It wasn't a Gibson Flying V, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

They said it will retail for about $750 when it comes out later this year and they intend to license the technology to all the guitar manufacturers who want to offer this functionality.

I'll let the guitar players weigh in on whether this is cool or not.

Comments

[Adam]

I dunno -- there's something about jacking a Les Paul into a Marshall stack -- that hum, that tone, that feeling. Not something that can be matched through computer simulators.

Will be interesting to see how this does for the home recording buffs.

[charlie crystle]

Fred,

It's cool and not cool. From a sound quality perspective, it's not that cool. I really like analog tones, and the digital world still hasn't replicated the warmth of a strat direct into a fender pro reverb turned up to 7 yet.

That said, it's cool from a utility point of view. analog to digital conversion has come a long way, to the point that it's a commodity and names like Apogee only command big bucks because of the brand, not any huge leap in quality of conversion. in the case of this guitar, the conversion happens at the guitar, not at the computer, and if the converters are at least industry standard, the representation will be pretty good, clean, quiet. Taking it further, you can apply and control a ton of effects at either the guitar side or the computer side, leaving a lot of room for shaping the sound either live or in mixdown. Sweet.

BTW--we presented at Demo last year--it's a blast!

[jackson]

I'm waiting for Robert Fripp to weigh in on this one. I'm really not qualified.

I believe Chevorkas plays guitar.

If he doesn't I'm gonna sell all my Dylan records.

[brad]

Kinda apprehensive about USB guitars. I think taking all the quirks and inconsistencies out of the signal path removes the character also. ...who knows...

I also had a quick question about your "Mantra".
When you say there is "There is no absolute truth"; are you absolutely sure that is true?

;)

[Chrispy]

Interesting.

Whether or not it's cool depends on what it's actually doing. Is it just an analog to digital convertor? If so, there are already plenty out there at much lower prices. Line 6 makes a whole group of A to D convertors specifically for guitar that come with their (quite good) amp modeling software. You plug your guitar in... instant tone.

Is it actually part of the guitar? If it is offered as an option on new instruments I can see it appealing to a niche market - people who would only use it as a means to get the raw guitar tone into the computer. But is it compatible with the major audio platforms? In what form is the audio once it's in the machine? Of course, anyone who has spent a bundle on digital audio software will probably need more than a convertor strictly for guitar.

Can guitars be retrofitted with the device? If it requires modifications to the instrument it's no good. No one wants to drill holes in their Gold Top Les Paul.

The most important part, though, is whether it reacts like an amp, since the amplifier is an integral part of the electric guitar sound. In fact, the amps are instruments as much as the guitars are. If it doesn't "feel" like an amp (and this "feel" is a very real thing indeed) it won't be used.

All in all, it seems like a long way to go to get sound that you could get by plugging a guitar straight into an amp. A to D convertors have gotten cheap, and all you need is an $80 Shure SM57 mic and you're good to go. Digital modeling has gotten quite good and it has its place (it's saved many a session). But records with guitar tones that are strictly digital are just not the same. I doubt that many of your favorite records were done without amps...

[Bennett Zucker]

For half the price I can plug my Custom Shop Strat into a Digitech GNX3 Workstation and get more than 120 tones plus drum machine and bass modeler, record multiple tracks into its built in 8-track recorder and mixdown easily on my PC, if needed. The workstation plugs into your amp, too, so no need to be tethered to a computer. I suspect most musicians - as opposed to gadget hounds - will choose their favorite axe and find the technology that supports what they're trying to do, rather than buy something like this, UNLESS it's also a good and versatile guitar.

[ADK]

Does the success of something like this depend on what musicians think is "high quality"? Or on what the average joe finds easy and useful?

[Tony Alva]

Not much to add since Chrispy pretty much nailed it all as he usually does. He is absolutely right about retro fitting. I've know many a player who foolishly modified a vintage axe during their crazy heavy metal days and now live with the regret and guilt of ruining such beautiful instruments.

[Ken Berger]

Super cool, but old (ancient?) news. Firewire and USB guitars have been available for a while now, bunch of software vendors also tapping into this concept because it really extends to a different realm what a guitar can do. Lots of these products were seen at the AES show in NY last October and in previous years.

Gibson guitars has offered top-end Les Pauls for the last few years w/ ethernet jacks built right in.

I've been consulting to a project that's really going to take innovation here out to this whole realm: http://nicta.com.au/director/research/projects/dante.cfm
Take the entire onstage band, monitors, etc, and turn them into a LAN, audio over digital rather than the old-school 1/4" guitar cables we see even on the Grammys last night. Lots of innovation still needs to be done to get dependable latency down to <10ms in live environments.

-Ken

[Charlie Crystle]

i think you're missing one of the cooler features--each string is treated as a separate channel and can drive computer-based sounds in real time. Gives a ton of flexibility.

I like my Pensa straight into one of my 67 pro reverbs, no pedals, close-mic'd with a neumann KMS 105 and near-mic'd with a TLM 103 or even an MXL just for kicks, into the A-16 creamware with only light limiting on the way in. If I want tape saturation, I bump out to a reel to reel and back in.

That said, this is a cool guitar with a ton of applications.

[Brian murphy]

iGuitar USB: Guitar players want to plug in and play. I do not want to deal with drivers and another box. This looks cool.

I have been using midi guitar for over 10 years. This looks like it will utilmate solution for recording and maybe live(?)

Let my software control all the tones. Software has come along way and simulating amps is close. Check out Guitar Rig by Native instruments. One advantage I see is that I can record my guitar and THEN change the sounds with any software I want. If I record with a Line 6 box , etc and I do not like the final result or it doesn't work in the mix I have to re-record the track.

It also controls the software instruments!
I can play samples, software instruments and send audio down one USB cable.

I see the computer being more flexible, ability to update sounds and use various plugins,programs etc.
And it still has 1/4 jack so I can still use my amps and pedals. It seems has all the options covered. We would have to wait and see the final product release.

I still play my Strat or G&L but my G&L also has the Roland pickup on it. The iGuitar USB would become my dedicated computer input device.

A Custom Shop strat and effects box etc. cost more than $750.
and you are not using 100% use of your software( no midi)

There might be some people in the world who still listen to vinyl records. Not many. Cd's ipods,etc.. a Billion songs downloaded from iTunes!

I believe this is the only usb guitar that is commerically available.
I haven't seen the Gibson in a store yet or any other USB guitar. Brian Moore currently does one with just USB audio or with the Roland 13 pin jack and it is in stores.

Brian

[brian murphy]

http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2-6036354.html

[guitar software]

this is a good guitar software:

http://www.shareware123.com/home-education/music/aguitar_pro_45556.htm