Macworld: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar ...

Up to Discussions in Story Discussion

42 Replies Last post: Feb 7, 2008 7:25 PM by garthabrindoid Go to original post 1 2 3 Previous Next

LeoO

192 posts since
Sep 1, 2004

30. Jan 24, 2005 8:43 PM

in response to: jmincey

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

Hmm well said.

LeoO

192 posts since
Sep 1, 2004

31. Jan 24, 2005 8:45 PM

in response to: cbh

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

It's a dichotomy that struck me that's all - "I don't want your newfangled digital hoojimawhatsit -- a regular old electric guitar was good enough for my grandfather, and it's good enough for me -- oh, and I'm a wild rebel!" I'm just needling a bit and amused, not being mean.

Nobody

58,347 posts since
Oct 18, 2007

32. Jan 24, 2005 8:51 PM

in response to: jmincey

Wow, Great Comment!

-NM-

minderbinder

1,094 posts since
Aug 30, 2004

33. Jan 25, 2005 6:37 AM

in response to: LeoO

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

"It's funny how so many electric guitarists, who are supposed to be wild, young, and hip, are so conservative, clinging to 1930s technology."

Well, if it ain't broke...

I don't know if they're being conservative or if they (like me) just can't figure out what they're getting for that extra money.

"given that so much current music is completely lacking in feeling, soul, ...... human 'warmth', that another 'tool' for this kind of artifice, especially on a gibson gtr, is.....icky."

Artifice? What about this guitar makes the sound fake? As far as I understand, this doesn't synthesize the sound or anything like that. What about this makes it less warm, soulful, lacking in feeling, etc? (I also don't see what about my post was contradictory)

HumanJHawkins

541 posts since
Jan 22, 2003

34. Jan 25, 2005 11:39 AM

in response to: jmincey

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

In reply to:<hr />
<CUT>First, eleven years in the making? Eleven? An entire operating system can be developed in less time than that. Second, like the previous poster I see no point in a digital guitar if the ultimate output device is to be analog anyway. <CUT> Third, why an Ethernet interface? Why not instead Firewire or at least USB? Fourth, why is it necessary to replace the entire digital pick-up board merely in order to upgrade one's computer when a simple firmware update should suffice?

<hr />

1st: This just means that they started taking a stab at it 11 years ago. They probably periodically had R&D people dropping various digital pieces into guitars for that long, but never added sufficient value intil recently... They probably started working hard and focused on this one to three years ago. (Plus, integrating a digital interface into a hollow bodied electric withough screwing up the sound is not at all trivial)

2nd: Me too. I suspect there are other options, but that they just didn't get covered well... Could be wrong, but I bet there is direct digital output already in it.

3rd: This is a first generation thing... Ethernet is a perfectly suitable way of doing this in a controlled environment. I would guess that 802.11g or a 108Mbps variant will be in the next generation for live work, perhaps with Firewire for studio work.

4th: He didn't say you would have to replace everything to upgrade. He said you will be able to replace everything. When the guitar itself is worth $2000 and never depreciates, it is kind of important to let people know that the digital stuff in it which will be worthless and obsolete in a few years can be replaced with the best new thing. I am sure firmware upgrades will also be available for regular fixes and such.

I'll add my own fifth question though... If this is just a regular high end hollow bodied electric guitar with a digital converter in it, why not just put a digital converter bwtween the guitar and the amp? What's the benefit of miniaturizing it and putting it in the guitar body?

Thanks!

HumanJHawkins

541 posts since
Jan 22, 2003

35. Jan 25, 2005 11:46 AM

in response to: jmincey

Re: Hey, Minco. . .

In reply to:<hr />
I did click on the link and noticed straightaway that the opening page is not supported on Safari<CUT>...developed only for IE for Windows. I don't support such web sites.

<hr />

Or, it could just be a bug... Developing a W3C Compliant web site that works on all major browsers is tough sometimes, because the browsers themselves are not W3C compliant. (But if most of your clients use them, you have to support them anyway)

adobephile's site is made on a Mac and served by Mac OS X, so I doubt this was intentional.

Did you report the issue to their webmaster?

minderbinder

1,094 posts since
Aug 30, 2004

36. Jan 25, 2005 12:44 PM

in response to: HumanJHawkins

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

"why not just put a digital converter bwtween the guitar and the amp?"

From what I can tell, the main selling point is that it has a special pickup and is able to output each of the six strings individually. Besides being a digital output, it's a six channel one.

jmincey

4,002 posts since
Aug 27, 2004

37. Jan 25, 2005 3:32 PM

in response to: HumanJHawkins

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

" If this is just a regular high end hollow bodied electric guitar with a digital converter in it, why not just put a digital converter bwtween the guitar and the amp?"

The Les Paul has traditionally been a solid body guitar, and I assume the same is true of the digital version. Gibson does make hollow body electrics under different names however.

HumanJHawkins

541 posts since
Jan 22, 2003

38. Jan 25, 2005 4:36 PM

in response to: jmincey

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

In reply to:<hr />
The Les Paul has traditionally been a solid body guitar

<hr />

Funny how I kept writing "hollow bodied" when it is irrelivant to my points!

I thought the "Les Paul" model was the hollow body one, and the "Paul Gibson" was the solid body one like Robbie Kreiger played? It's been too long since I followed this though.

Still, I wonder why it was so important to put the electronics into the guitar as opposed to external... I saw the post about how each string gets it's own digital channel. Well, yeah, but that isn't exactly rocket science. I guess it is easier to output over ethernet vs. a bunch of cables.

viclen

16 posts since
Jan 26, 2005

39. Jan 26, 2005 2:33 AM

in response to: minderbinder

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

Roland first produced a hex-based pickup back in the 1970s - the GR500. They followed this with the GR202/505/808 with GR300 floor unit, G707/GR700 floor unit, GM70 rackmount and more recently, the GK2 and GK3 retro-fitted or internal pickups. Godin guitars use the LR Baggs X-Bridge (tremolo unit with piezo pickups in the saddles); RMC make a similar unit.

The latter Roland pickups, X-Bridge and RMC bridge usually have circuitry that exit in a Roland 13-pin plug for connection to a Roland guitar synth unit. This then has a MIDI out (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) for connection to any synth. A GK2 or 3 pickup can be mounted externally on a current Les Paul and drive a synth setup.

So what's the big deal about another hex-based pickup? Not sure. The fact it has an ethernet connector and can drive a long cable length is also hardly cutting edge; MIDI offers this via line drivers.

I'm missing something here. An electric guitar has no sound as such; it depends on the amplifier you plug into or the modelling hardware/software you use. Nothing I have ever tried (line 6, Behringer, etc) comes close to a classic valve amp although they are easier to record with in a small studio and lighter/quicker to cart around and set up for live use.

I'm prepared to bet that when Gibson finally releases a commercial product it will bear very little resemblance to what we see here.

DogHouseDub

45 posts since
Jan 26, 2005

40. Jan 26, 2005 7:06 AM

in response to: miketh

Direct guitar?

As a musician who spends a lot of time in the studio, I don't think software to recreate great guitar sounds exists...yet. You could run a guitar direct to the board now, just through a preamp for power, but no one does it. Not even home recording guys. That's because so much of the 'tone and feel' for a rig comes from the amp. The sound straight out of the guitar is cold and thin, even if it is a Les Paul.

And if you want an electronic guitar, why not just get one of the existing MIDI guitars. Then you can tweak the signal all you want and then some:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/512810/

wheat

35 posts since
Sep 1, 2004

41. Jan 26, 2005 10:51 AM

in response to: MW Forums

Brian Moore Guitars has a better design

brianmooreguitars.com

They have a new guitar coming out that is quite inexpensive and provides both Roland 13-pin output for MIDI conversion AND digital audio output via a USB cable.

They also have a longstanding relationship with Apple.

They've been in the "digital guitar" market for a decade, and their entry-level models, which are made in Korea, are far more accessible than Gibson's. What worries me about Gibson's design is that it's only going to be available on extremely expensive high-end guitars, to begin with.

I don't work for them but I do own one of their older models.

garthabrindoid

3 posts since
Oct 16, 2007

42. Feb 7, 2008 7:25 PM

in response to: MW Forums

Re: Gibson CEO unveils digital guitar

What does this have to do with Apple or Macs?

Go to original post 1 2 3 Previous Next

Go to original post

Name	City

Address 1	State	Zip

Address 2	E-mail (optional)

Actions

More Like This