I had no idea things like this even existed.
This is the Behringer iAxe USB guitar. Look at it. This is something else. For one thing, it looks like my long-lost cream 1972 Strat, but if it was made of plastic, I guess. According to Steve’s, a wicked cool Toronto music store, it has a maple neck and actual pickups … this might be a real guitar. At first, I thought it was one of those Guitar Rock Band Hero video game things, but it isn’t.
It comes with special software that I think lets you just plug into your computer and play right to the drive, adding pedal effects, filters, etc. on the fly. This might be fun. And Behringer is a trustworthy name when it comes to USB audio tech.
What else? It has a built-in headphone jack, and you can load the guitar with MP3 files and jam along with them. I would have loved this as a teenager, when I was hashing out Cult riffs on an old Yamaha acoustic …
My only concern is the price: $130 new. That’s a bit on the low end for something new. I wouldn’t pay that little for an actual guitar, let alone one that has all kinds of high tech in it. Still, the next time I’m in Toronto I may try it out, just to see.
