Monday May 3, 2004
The Guardian
It may not exactly be music to the ears of the great axemen of rock'n'roll.
Hold the riffs and the distortion: the guitar is going digital.
Nearly 40 years after Dylan caused a storm of protest by plugging in his
instrument, the launch of the first digital guitar may equally ruffle the
rock aristocracy.
Billed as a traditional electric guitar "on steroids", the US instrument
maker Gibson is launching its new model promising to cut out unwanted
distortion.
Rather like the spoof rock group Spinal Tap inventing an amplifier with a
volume con trol that went up to 11, Gibson claims its digital guitar will
enable the gods of rock to reach a new level of licks.
"It opens a whole new palette of possibilities," said Henry Juszkiewicz, the
chief executive of Gibson.
For 70 years, guitarists have used their electric instruments to translate
string vibrations into a noisy electrical signal fed to an amplifier. The
new digital guitar uses an in-built microprocessor to clean up the signal.
Analog sounds from each of the six strings are converted into a digital file
and transmitted from the guitar.
Players will be able to control the sound of each string, giving low strings
the crunch of heavy metal or ensuring high strings transmit a clean sound.
Some in the notoriously finicky world of rock are already converted. "You'll
be able to record all these different sounds and textures," said Dave
Cleveland, a Nashville session guitarist. "It's going to revolutionise the
whole recording part of guitar playing."
But many rock purists greet the digital machine with all the derision Dylan
experienced when he went electric. "I don't see it taking over the world,"
said George Gruhn, of US-based Gruhn Guitars. "People want an electric
guitar for soul."
Mr Juszkiewicz hopes the guitar will be accepted into the rock family tree
alongside the iPod. But teenagers may have to wait a while before they can
lay their hands on one: only the aristocrats of rock - and Tony Blair - will
be able to afford the $2,800 (£1,580) price tag
