Gibson has premiered The Firebird X digital guitar, a new recover that claims to take a instrument to new heights of functionality and usability for a veteran actor and a determined enthusiast. Using technologies that did not exist even a few years ago, Gibson has extended an already cutting-edge instrument to new opening and artistic heights. The enhancements hold any aspect of a instrument, from regulating softened production technologies to a latest electronics.
The Firebird X facilities a lightweight physique done from hand-sorted engulf ash, with a stone maple neck and curly maple fingerboard. This construction claims to concede a guitar to grasp well-developed means and tonal range. Firebird X is able of really low-pitched and acoustic-like voicing. The guitar is a bit some-more than 6 pounds in sum weight. Special low-pitched chambers not usually diminution sum weight, though also concede acoustic-like tones and increasing altogether sustain. The guitar is louder than a customary plain physique with estimable tinge from lowest drum note to top three-way note. To get some-more depth, we use a complicated bottom sign of fibre with E being about “10″ and low E about a “52″ with a tradition sign insuring even, frail tones for all 6 strings.
Features:
» Audio Quality: Integrating a effects vigilance trail within a guitar allows for ideal impedance and spin relating to a pickups, ensuing in distant reduce sound than outboard effects – a energetic operation exceeds 100dB. Even with high-gain exaggeration and compression, Firebird X is astonishingly quiet.
» Pickup Design: Either curl in any of a 3 mini-humbuckers can be off, on or retreat polarity, and can be switched into singular curl modes as good array and parallel.
» GoldTone Switching Technology: Thanks to carefully-selected pickup curl switching choices, Firebird X emulates iconic guitar tones with analog record — not digital modeling. Over 2,000 pickup combinations are possible, any with a possess singular sound.
» Pure Analog Updateable Audio Engine: Based on a Freescale multi-processor (the latest era of a chip family used in Pro Tools TDM systems), a audio engine has a energy and fortitude indispensable to emanate sounds with a loyal analog feel. The engine hardware is not usually updateable, though user-replaceable to accommodate advances in hardware technology.
» Patch Morphing: Two tog-pots — that demeanour like customary pickup selectors, though have a control built into a rotatable toggle missile — let we morph uniformly from unprocessed to processed sounds, and anywhere in between.
» Acoustic Guitar Sounds: A third tog-pot blends acoustic sounds from a piezo pickup along with a electric pickups, or even acoustic sounds only. Optimized to emanate sounds like Gibson’s acclaimed J-45 acoustic guitar and others, a simple acoustic guitar sound is probably uncelebrated from an acoustic guitar’s electric output.
» Hex Output Structure: The overpass piezo pickup includes conjuration outputs (each fibre can yield a apart outlay for mechanism or live opening setups), that allows for totally new guitar sounds — from purify exaggeration and synth-like timbres to groundbreaking approximate possibilities. Firebird X’s new conjuration pickup pattern means aloft outlay and larger fibre subdivision than ever.
» Open Architecture: 3rd-party developers can rise new and sparkling applications (sold by Gibson’s app store) for a Pure Analog audio engine. And users can emanate and share their possess patches, as good as download additional rags from Gibson’s Firebird X microsite.
» Battery Life: Thanks to advances in low-power circuitry, larger Robo-Tuner efficiency, and powersaving techniques subsequent from laptop computers, a inner battery lasts for good over dual hours of heavy, continual use — and should a energy run out, a battery can be substituted out in underneath 10 seconds with ordinarily available, inexpensive camcorder batteries.
» Blue Lightning Compatible Footpedals and Footswitch Unit: Tired of confusion and cables on stage? So are we. Firebird X communicates with a dual (included) pedals and footswitch territory regulating Bluetooth record optimized for low-pitched applications.
» Effects Software: Although a heart of a exaggeration options within Firebird X use McDSP’s critically-acclaimed Chrome Tone plug-in, Gibson’s engineers have enclosed mixed modulation, delay, and reverberation effects — including new effects like energetic delay, and aged favorites like open reverb, analog chorus/delay, and a 10-second looper.
» Pedal Interconnections: Forget cables, a pedals and footswitch snap together for a secure automatic and electrical connection, as good as a ability to emanate vast pedalboard setups. And daisy-chaining a control vigilance saves energy and optimizes wireless performance.
» Computer Interface: The enclosed cross-platform 48k 24bit G-node interface not usually provides pro audio-level interfacing for cutting-edge program though connects a guitar digitally for firmware updates.
Low-Impedance Active Output: While a thought of regulating a low-impedance outlay to safety tone, expostulate prolonged cables, and even feed a PA or mixer directly isn’t new (thank you, Les Paul), Firebird X’s doing is new — this is a many transparent-sounding audio you’ve ever listened from a guitar output.
» Direct Digital Output: A loyal ADAT visual approach digital outlay from Firebird X is accessible for approach digital interfacing to ADAT visual concordant gear, Hex mode, piezos and magnetics can be transmitted digitally over a light pipe.
» Digital Varitone Tone Control: Turn a tinge control wholly counterclockwise and you’ll hear a normal high-end rolloff; spin it clockwise for a full guitar tone. But in between those dual settings are 6 additional tinge options that supplement subtle, low-pitched variations.
» Real-Time Control: Do we like tortuous over and reaching down to a pedalboard to change a setting? We don’t either. So, Firebird X includes 6 color-coded sliders that let we morph settings, and even switch into opposite effects entirely, with a crack of a finger.
» Live Performance Modes: When we only wish to call adult one of a 55 onboard rags and wail, select Preset mode — this thatch out all onboard controls so we can’t change a sound accidentally. To switch into live mode and change your sounds in real-time, only pull on a tinge pot twice.
» Robo-Tuners: The initial era of Robot Tuning record combined a possess revolution, creation swap tunings unsentimental during last, as good as tuning mixed strings simultaneously. The fourth-generation Robo-Tuners — smaller, lighter, some-more durable and faster — change Robot Tuning again.
» Case Technology: To strengthen this finely-crafted instrument, Gibson has grown a singular box that can tarry a tumble from a six-story building. If we ever have to check Firebird X as container with a airlines, rest easy.
The demeanour builds on a Firebird’s and Gibson’s history. The timber pellet is accentuated, so it “pops” with dirty technique. The fingerboard is curly maple. The neck inlays are dark slanted parallelograms. The headstock has a classical Gibson pacifist wing shape, and a Firebird-style constrict rod cover. The guitar has a really classical excellent seat demeanour with marquetry, superb curves and well-spoken rounds. It is really appealing to a guitar actor and non-guitar actor alike. The neck has a skinny “C” done form with a smooth, non-stick satin finish. A volute during a bulb allows a palm to fast find a initial position and improves sum means and strength. The neck corner is uniformly blended from neck to physique with only a slight roundness, permitting limit entrance to high register strings. The reduce cut divided cuts deeper, affording well-developed entrance to a high register. The fingerboard has low-profile frets and a rarely discriminating curly maple surface. This allows fretting to have roughly no impact on representation (higher frets means a slight representation change when a finger depresses a string). Finally, a fretboard is extended to 23 frets, permitting a actor to grasp a full, two-octave operation with a bend. The maple neck is hand-sorted and is unusually stable, permitting formerly unachievable tolerances on a bureau set adult and progressing this good set adult over time.
The Firebird X product uses 3 mini-humbuckers and a vastly softened hexaphonic piezo overpass pickup with an softened low noise, high dynamic-range preamplifier, creation this a wholly active guitar. The pickups are formed on normal Firebird designs, though have been significantly softened to yield some-more tonal operation and to compare a studio-grade preamplifier section. The outcome is that a vigilance energetic analog energetic operation exceeds a selection of a high-end electronics. Each curl of a electro-magnetic pickup is away tranquil in array or parallel, permitting any curl to be on, off, or on-reverse polarity. The guitar’s presets use a best combinations to reconstruct a world’s best tones and some good new tones. New combinations can be done regulating a Firebird X editor, giving we an total sonic palette. The piezo pickup has a new, honeyed acoustic-like tone, permitting a guitar to replicate a loyal acoustic instrument.
This guitar continues on a tradition of carrying electronic tuners, and a fourth era of ancillary hardware and software. What this means is that a guitar can change tunings even some-more fast and accurately, with an even easier approach to get to mixed tunings. The tuners can be used manually and have been extended to be some-more strong with a improved feel when used manually.
The Gibson Firebird X Digital Guitar costs $5570 and has only been released.
Article source: http://futuremusic.com/blog/2011/10/03/gibson-unleashes-the-firebird-x-digital-guitar/
