The Mother Of All Computer Gadgets
December 10, 2008I 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.
I have a special USB patch cord that, for $100, came with a tonne of software that lets me do the same thing. It’s pretty neato.
I’ve looked at that on the Behringer site before and I’ve wondered the same thing. The guitar looks like one of those Wal-Mart starter guitars. Sounds like that chord Steve mentions would be the better solution. I have a lot of Behringer gear because it’s super cheap. You don’t quite “get what you pay for” because it’s really surprisingly good for the price. But sometimes it’s better to pay 100% more for 50-66% better gear.
I was looking at those USB patch cords at a music store today. It’s called Lightsnake or something like that. There was also a USB guitar interface for about $50. It’s all very fascinating. I was shopping for a mixer, and the one I’m going to go with is a Behringer. Well, there you go™
We’ve actually recorded some pretty decent demos with the patch and a program (dammit can’t remember) that emulates different classic amp sounds. And it works with Garage Band, too.
When we went into the real studio, I was struggling to get a certain tone and didn’t the tech pull up the same program and try to convince me to use it instead of my amp.
I haven’t used an amp to record in years. I use a lot of Zoom products.