Firebird X limited edition - - - - (go on take a peek)

equalsql

Wow that looks just... awful. 

Bogwhoppit

digitalscream said:

Bogwhoppit said:

Guitars have to evolve, and the traditionalist in us finds it hard to accept radical changes in guitar design.

They don't have to evolve,

In hindsight, I did make a rather sweeping statement there. Perhaps I should have said the evolution of musical instruments through time has been slow to change, and although technological additions have been tried on so many levels over the years, I cant help feeling that one day they will become accepted into mainstream guitar design. Perhaps some of these designs are still ahead of its core users acceptance.

Finding that balance between the touch screen and the Austin Allegro square steering wheel is a fine line. There have been too many square steering wheel designs in guitar innovation.

n3p

Jesus, that looks crap!

Bogwhoppit

n3p said:

Jesus, that looks crap!

God: What does son ?

Handsome_Chris

I must admit that I'm fairy immune to the latest guitar tech, in that it does not bother me. What really niggles me is the endless stream of strat, Les Paul and telecaster variants that seem to come out all too frequently for my tastes.

I know I've said this before, but I like Gibson's attitude to trying something new. I know it probably isn't savvy business sense for them, but I believe that these concept guitars are priced at a level to cover costs.

photek

I contacted Gibson about this and asked if they had done any market research asking guitarists what the want in a new guitar design. I also added that I really don't know anyone that wants built in effects (I know this is just personal experience but needed to add it to my question). They responded saying they had contact many professional musicians and session guitarists and they all wanted built in effects.

I feel pretty confident that this wont sell in any useful numbers and that the professional musicians that are given it by gibson will use it for the promo shots then stick it on ebay.

paulk

Absolutely hideous thing. It's the swamp donkey of the guitar world.

Sporky

I do admire Gibson's massive "FUCK YOU!" to the world in naming their digital signal processor the "pure analog". If you're going to fib, fib big.

Parker

I have to say that I find the whole design thing around guitars amusing. Can you imagine Ford selling a Mk1 Fiesta still as a current model, but you can pay more to have some dings and rust added!! I know certain vehicles buck the trend (VW campers etc) but as a consensus, we’d all be up in arms if Ford didn’t innovate and improve the safety and design of their cars. Yet guitars, we all want the oldest model possible – for god sake don’t modernise it! J This will always be the case, but some people want innovation. If they didn’t, we woudn’t have the Floyd Rose, the E-Bow, the digital Variaxes, locking machine heads, active pickups, effects pedals and the list goes on!

What Gibson are doing is being completely conceptual and pushing the boundaries of tradition – not designing a guitar appealing to the masses. It will be a fly-by-night product that might be collectable in 20 years, but more importantly it will help with the R&D for future models to keep them ahead of the game. Its commendable coming from a company that is often criticised for being stagnant. Think about the Firebird, Vee, Explorer and what the forums might have said when they were released. Keep up the good work Gibson!

 

Handsome_Chris

For all the fans of olde guitars, here are a couple of others to grumble about.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac233/elastitude/ScreenShot2013-09-27at224102_zps110d7c12.png

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac233/elastitude/ScreenShot2013-09-27at224634_zps5882946c.png

monquixote

You don't have to be a luddite to not like the Firebird X

I don't dislike it's looks because they are unfamiliar, but because it's proportions are poor and it looks visually inconsistent and messy. 

The Parker Fly was a complete ground up re-imagining of what a guitar could be and it looks great. 

The control scheme also looks cluttered and if anything not radical enough. If you are going to fundamentally change what a guitar can do you need to completely reevaluate the control scheme as Manson have done with their touchpad MB guitars. 

Bucket

photek said:

They responded saying they had contact many professional musicians and session guitarists and they all wanted built in effects.

Tbh, what they probably asked said musicians was "if we could build effects into a guitar, would you be interested in giving it a go?" rather than the musicians saying, straight off the bat "I've always wanted something with built-in effects that are just a bit worse than what I could get from the stompboxes I've been using for the past ten years".

[Deleted User]

For a company with so many bona fide classics to their name, it seems to me that Gibson have a remarkably bad track record of bringing out guitars which no one wants. This truly is today's RD Artist....

OilCityPickups

I don't mind new stuff if it's not as pig ugly as an alligators bellend. Style and pleasing design have passed by the Firewood and ... it seems ... those Mansons too.

Handsome_Chris

@TheGuitarWeasel, don't those Mansons look Telecaster enough for you?

John_P

I don't mind the look of it -  though I'd prefer a trem.

I'm not sure about having effects built in - I'd rather chose what I want to add to the guitar but it's interesting to read about it being a compact unit and implies that it could be available seperately.

Sporky

Most of the Mansons I've seen have been grotesquely misproportioned. It's not that they're not the same shape as a proper tele (or whatever), just that they're not cohesive.

Also what Monquixote said - the Parker Fly is a gloriously well proportioned instrument. The newer versions that Washburn have put out have managed to lose that entirely.

OilCityPickups

Handsome_Chris said:

@TheGuitarWeasel, don't those Mansons look Telecaster enough for you?

I had two Manson Eagles back in the eighties ... gorgeous instruments, they were well thought out and quite pretty ... those things are as much like a real Tele as watching Alan Carr is like being entertained.

Handsome_Chris

Obviously they aren't real Telecasters, they don't have the crap bridge?

ICBM

Sporky said:

the Parker Fly is a gloriously well proportioned instrument.

I thought it was needlessly ugly and uncomfortable to play, due to that stupid upper horn which dug into my sternum. A friend of mine of the female persuasion had an even worse opinion of it...

I like the idea of new tech - but not when it interferes with basic good design sense. If they'd done the lightweight exoskeleton concept but applied it to an ergonomic body shape it might have had something.

They also sounded horrible though.