Gibson Firebird X

psyx · 2011-11-08T17:53:52+00:00

I'm sure most of you guys have heard about this guitar and it was discussed briefly some time ago in another topic: http://www.guitarforum.co.za/general-discussion/just-when-you-thought-it-couldn%27t-get-uglier/ Now, I obviously don't own one of these guitars, but from the demo videos I've seen on youtube it looks as though its terrible! Its stacked up with a ton of effects and a computer management system that would make even a software engineer shudder... It looks overly complicated , ugly and it doesn't sound very impressive. It costs $5500 , which is a small fortune ,so you have to ask yourself: do I buy a Mesa Boogie Rectifier and an entry level strat or do I buy a guitar that comes with a list of "computer system requirements"? Maybe I'm wrong , because lets face it, when Gibson launched the first Flying V's in 1958 ,they weren't much of a hit and today their quite sought after... A possible argument can be that it's just ahead of it's time... Check out this demo vid: =

Jack-Flash-Jr

Keira... to extend your analogy... the Failbird X appears to be the Keytar of it's day.
+1 Singe.

psyx

singemonkey wrote
Guitars are wonderfully portable instruments. But electric solid-bodies need bulky amps. There's the problem (to a greater or lesser extent for people) and that's what's being solved. I predict that in 20 years people will still be using guitars that look and behave very much like the ones we use today. But it'll be rare to see a 15kg+ amplifier on the stage with them.

Tube pre-amps built into the guitar might not be a bad idea... The only problem is tubes' fragility... keep it simple and I'm sure it will catch on. If you have a tube pre-amp in your guitar you can easily plug into the club's sound and rock away (sadly without effects)...
This could be an old-school alternative

Tokai-SA

psyx wrote
singemonkey wrote
Guitars are wonderfully portable instruments. But electric solid-bodies need bulky amps. There's the problem (to a greater or lesser extent for people) and that's what's being solved. I predict that in 20 years people will still be using guitars that look and behave very much like the ones we use today. But it'll be rare to see a 15kg+ amplifier on the stage with them.
Tube pre-amps built into the guitar might not be a bad idea... The only problem is tubes' fragility... keep it simple and I'm sure it will catch on. If you have a tube pre-amp in your guitar you can easily plug into the club's sound and rock away (sadly without effects)...
This could be an old-school alternative

Why tube pre-amps, why anything in the actual guitar?
Singe is correct, guitars don't have to change, they're fine as is, it's the 65lbs amp on stage that's going to change...in fact it's already changed.

ezietsman

Tokai SA wrote
psyx wrote
singemonkey wrote
Guitars are wonderfully portable instruments. But electric solid-bodies need bulky amps. There's the problem (to a greater or lesser extent for people) and that's what's being solved. I predict that in 20 years people will still be using guitars that look and behave very much like the ones we use today. But it'll be rare to see a 15kg+ amplifier on the stage with them.
Tube pre-amps built into the guitar might not be a bad idea... The only problem is tubes' fragility... keep it simple and I'm sure it will catch on. If you have a tube pre-amp in your guitar you can easily plug into the club's sound and rock away (sadly without effects)...
This could be an old-school alternative
Why tube pre-amps, why anything in the actual guitar?
Singe is correct, guitars don't have to change, they're fine as is, it's the 65lbs amp on stage that's going to change...in fact it's already changed.

Not yet. At most gigs I've been to in the last year even the guitar players with modellers had amps to make noise instead of using the desk. Not all gigging venues have big enough PAs to handle the entire band.

Real amps (Tm) ain't dead yet and I don't think they will die out until the day there aren't any more valves available. I'n guessing this will be for a good while because people like me buy them ?

singemonkey

Well no. they'll never die out (within the context of guitar playing) because someone will always like the idea of using hot bottles even if it gives them no real advantage. In the same way as some artists still record to tape.

Modelling is improving, and maybe Lance's product is so little different from a tube amp as makes no difference. Eventually modellers of that calibre will be available as tiny units (building digital tech into your guitar is insane because digital rapidly becomes obsolete no matter how good it is - and there's no sense in your guitar becoming obsolete just because your digital tech is) and it'll require a lot of dedication to carry on hauling a tube amp. At that point, the people with tube amps will be carrying little tube amps that don't dramatically increase their burden compared to the chuckling modellers.

But essentially, at that point, playing guitar at any volume becomes as easy as hauling your acoustic around. The essential guitar tech problem "How do I get my guitar loud enough to play in a satisfactory manner within a big band context?" - that was initially solved by pickups, amps, solid-body guitars, bigger amps, then smaller amps through the PA - has then been solved. You're back to where you started - picking up your guitar and going to the gig.

Keira-WitherKay

i must say i don't think the guitar is by any means the perfect instrument ..........and i do think it will evolve more ....it's only been 50 yrs since the 60's so that generation is still clinging to it's roots......

but for me guitars can improve by being made out of some composite material that is impervious( how do you spell that ) to humidity , like some of the composites hitting the market ........also with that will come stability in a neck that won't warp or flex under years of tension ......then that very fact ...the strings themselves are bound to change eventually to something that won't change it's tone with age or break ........ and tuners (as in the gibson model ) are always giving guitars tuning issues and just getting a guitar to stay in tune is a mission if you bend a lot ....... and then weight will be dealt with ..we'll get light weight guitars with great tone........ and lastly the idea that a guitar can only play one sound is limiting in many ways ...and yes midi /modelling guitars are happening but are still in the "getting it right" stage ....

so yes the guitar is by no means perfect ...... and i'm sure we will see development ......... maybe not now but it's coming .brace yourselves

oh and i so agree with the tube amp thing of technology giving us the tone we need in a box ..like the kemper amp and eventually yes that box will be pedal sized then fit on a chip in your guitar as some have mentioned.......

i've always wanted a 300W PA system to fit into a cigarette box and thats the speaker too ? can you imagine .........

but my point is really i don't think the guitar is perfect as it stands ..... lots of room to improve ........

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