Yes I got the Lava Me 3 guitar. Before it's launched outside China.
But no, I'm not a die-hard Lava fan. In fact, I am a first-time Lava user.
As a purist, guitar equals wood. No wood equals not guitar.
But my bro Guitarbear hailed Me3 as groundbreaking. So there.
Opening up the box, I was greeted by a futuristic-looking (but rather clunky) case. Filled with excitement, I tugged the zip gingerly across the perimeter (zipper got stuck a few times) to reveal Me3 for the first time.
There was no wood fragrance but instead a new electronic gadget smell.
There was no gleaming gloss finish, no striking grains, no silks but a smooth lustre finish like those on the back of iPhones.
There were no bindings, no purflings, no rosette but seamless rounded edges.
And so I took the alien instrument out from it's pod and pressed the power button. The screen sprung to life with music blaring from it's internal speaker.
Connected it to wifi, downloaded Lava+ app and viola.. I was stuck.
To initiate the HILAVA system on the guitar, I needed to pair it with the app. But since its only launched for the Chinese market, the app required a China number (for OTP) to sign up
So I was stuck. I could only test out the raw unplugged sound. As a consolation, the unplugged sound is still guitar-like. No thunderous bass or meaty trebles but nice balanced and resonant tone.
Thankfully, with perseverance and some serious brain-cracking, I found a workaround to initiate the system the next day.
Hello HILAVA.
Everything about Me3 is so avant-garde. So much so that they had to put a name to each feature.
Like the predecessors, Me3 is built from carbon fiber composite. Not just any carbon fiber composite but the AirSonic Carbon Fiber composite that has been formulated to be light-weight with superior strength.
Me3 boasts a redesigned curved, 1-piece body (unibody) and selectively sculpted honeycomb structure beneath the soundboard which is touted to produce a louder sound with enhanced bass compared to Me 2.
The neck (called the FlyNeck+) has a unique design with varying curvatures up and down the neck to provide maximum comfort across the neck. They even doubled-down on the playability with a PLEK setup.
Plugged-in tone sounds.. well.. plugged-in.
Above all, the game-changing feature of Me3 would be HILAVA: the integrated touch-screen interface which controls apps like tuner, metronome, sound recorder, effects, practice modules and loop functions.
More features than I have time to test them out!
The L3 preamp attached to the back of the guitar serves as a speaker which amplifies the tone, mixes in the effects and even provides percussive loops. Unplugged!
Feels great to have percussion accompaniment right out of the "guitar"!
Like picking up an iPhone for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the slew of features on the HILAVA.
So I swiped.. and tapped.. and swiped.. and tapped. And I must admit, I developed an affection for the alien instrument.
I tried on the different effects; played to the different percussion mixes. And I found myself having loads of fun exploring the wonderland of HILAVA, doing things that were not previously possible on a normal guitar.
Unleashing the full power of Lava Me 3! Percussion + Effects + Direct line-in.
I think for purists like myself, the trick is to view Me3 as a gadget that plays like a guitar. Once we stop trying to compare or associate it with the guitar, it is easy to be awed at the technological marvel and affordances of Me3 .
In fact, I would strongly recommend Me3 to beginners for (1) the playability is insanely good and (2) the many practice modules installed in HILAVA from chord fingerings to ear training. Really incredible.
Some additional specs:
Size: 36”/ 38”
Top: Super AirSonic Carbon Fiber
Back and Sides: Airsonic 2.0 Carbon Fiber
Body shape/ bracing: curved honeycomb structure
Fingerboard: HPL (High Pressure Laminate)
Saddle: Tusq
Tuners: 18:1 diecast tuners (hidden screws for a cleaner appearance)
Strings: Elixir Nanoweb 12-53
User Interface: HILAVA
Memory: 32G
Pickup: L3
Battery: 8000Ah
Charging connection: USB-C
No comments :
Post a Comment