ONCE IN A blue moon, a design so radically progressive appears that it commands attention, spurs discussion and often leads to imitation. Lava Music's singular acoustic/ electric guitar is just such a phenomenon.
To offer one mind-expanding element would be a breakthrough; two would be revelatory, and three revolutionary. In Lava's case, the company nails the trifecta by delivering on the guitar itself, the HILava operating system and the Lava+ social media sharing app.
Carbon-fiber guitars have been here for a while, but Lava Music uses a unique unibody design that's just big enough to deliver booming bass, yet small enough be very travel friendly. The offset ovular soundhole and overall high-tech aesthetic nods more toward Apple and Tesla than Martin or Gibson. We've seen onboard resonancebased effects that turn an acoustic into its own amplifier, but this Chinese manufacturer has integrated a wild and wonderful collection into a top-side digital graphic interface that's packed with awesome apps, including onboard looping and recording, plus a practice program. All that pairs to the Lava+ app for iPhone or Android, allowing the user to store and share songs and riffs with other Lava players from around the globe instantly.
CEO Lu Zitian is the Elon Musk/Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg kind of visionary behind Lava Music's quickly advancing awareness in the market, but he doesn't have their need to attach his face or name to every press release. Zitian prefers that his products get the attention. He founded Lava Music in 2013 and introduced its unibody carbon-fiber design on the first ME (pronounced "me") model in 2017, followed by the ME 2 and Pro.
This story is from the November 2022 edition of Guitar Player.
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This story is from the November 2022 edition of Guitar Player.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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