Someone big (I can't really remember exactly who, but I just know he was really BIG) once said that the invention of the electric guitar was the most revolutionizing contraption man could make up in the history of music.

Not that I am a guitarist myself, but I tend to say that guy was right: nothing has had a greater impact on music during the 20th century - not the synthesizers, not the actual all-digital technology. It was just the fact the guitar went electric - this was the trigger for music evolution; and I am not speaking about rock only... of course in the beginning it was jazz and rock'n'roll (later rock and metal) and only then did god create actual (crappy-glamour) pop and r'n'b and stuff...




OK, so good-so far, I guess you all have figured out I am a metalhead, ha-ha! Well, electric guitars have always meant serious music be it jazz, blues, r'n'r, death metal or worship rock; and this won't change as long as humans and electric guitars will exist!

Once technology has entered the inmost hidden corners of our lives it was just a matter of time until it set a strong foot in the guitar's world. Beyond digital effect-pedals or floor-processors, studio racks and all the software in the world, there was one place the digital had never been: inside the guitar itself!

And so some people sat and thought and the first USB guitar was born. It looks like Fender Strat (the same 3 single coil-setup, slant jack and 5-pos switch, vol-tone-tone knobs and vintage tremolo bar) but it has something more: direct output for headphones and a USB socket. Why, could you wonder: because it is set to redefine the way guitars are amped and even played.

The iAxe 393 (see, I told you that "i" will take over the world!), when connected to a PC will let you produce a massive sound (so say the producers, I haven't tested yet) without the need to spend all your money (and some extra as well) on expensive gear such as floor/rack processors or countless pedals and of course, the heavyweight pocket-wrecker, the guitar amp!

This means you'll connect your axe to a PC via the USB cable and rock on using the presets and user-defined programs in a guitar software (coming on a CD with the iAxe 393) and shake the walls with the digitally-created tones there. Of course you will need an amp or a monitor should your decide to go and play on a stage but maybe you'll pick something that's already there... or in the worst case go DI - end of story.

Producers also claim that the software coming with this USB guitar is idiot-proof (I profoundly doubt such things ever exist) but it will allow users to jam along their fav tracks, slow them down as if for sleazy blues or speed'em up to shred the ceiling off. As for the rest of the sound, being provided with cabinets and amps from Native Instruments it should do almost anything you wanted for the beginner level.

The iAxe is definitely one cool tool and a very useful one for a beginner or even an intermediate guitar rockstar wannabe: it will avoid the fight with the neighbours as the your star will feel like leveling the house with a speedy and grinding thrash riff (instead he/she will rock at jet airplane-volumes in the headphones); it will provide a all-in-one training-facility for the new kid on the block - amps, effects (combo sounds, from tube to solid state, soft to distorted, warm to edgy), multi-track recording and playback, even audio editing tools (for the creative urges). What more could you want for 99GBP?

Finally, one last word on what Firebox say about the guitar itself: "This revolutionary instrument might look like a top-notch electric guitar featuring a maple neck, solid body, single-coil pickups with 5-way switching, chrome machine heads and a vintage whammy bar - and that's because it is." Well, I really am looking forward to see what's this axe made of and how does it feel... not that I'd expect a Christian Olde Wolbers Jackson for this money... I am just curios to feel and play this big boy toy!





















I'll end with another Firebox quote: "For those about to rock, we salute you!" (I told you it's about rock and metal, didn't I?)



Photos from Firebox. Fun by me. iAxe by Behringer.