Domo Arigato, Gibson

After walking the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center all day yesterday, checking out the speaker demos and gabbing about home entertainment technology, I decided to treat myself to a visit to Gibson’s tent outside the Convention Center to get my first peek at the company’s new Dark Fire Robot Guitar. And I really wish I hadn’t, because now I want one.

The Dark Fire is built on the framework of last year’s questionably successful Robot—a self-tuning Les Paul Studio Model that was hindered by a hety price tag and finishes that were… well, let’s just say less than inspiring for those of us who like our guitars to look like they’re made of wood. Blue silverburst? No thank you.

But the Dark Fire, while maintaining the self-tuning capabilities of the Robot, also manages to look like an actual guitar, not a sparkly reject from a Winger video.  Its limited edition Dark Fire finish is dowright drool-worthy in person. Pictures just don't do it justice.

The guitar also boasts fantastic sounding pickups: a sweet, spanky P-90H in the neck position, a really throaty Burstbucker 3 at the bridge, and an acoustic-style piezo pickup in the bridge that can be blended beautifully with the two electric pickups.

I flipped to the P-90 and noodle on some blues riffs in E, which sounded even clearer and bluesier with a good bit of the acoustic piezo pickup added to the mix. Then I flipped to the Burstbucker just long enough to figure out that it really needed a great big cranked stack to really strut its stuff. But the tones were fantastic, even without distortion or effects, and the guitar’s sustain would make even Nigel Tufnel blush.

If you’re looking to take a break from rocking your home theater to do a bit of rocking yourself, give the Dark Fire a look (if you can find one!). Its automatic tuning makes it great for (wealthy) beginners, and its wicked pickups and incomparable digital tone-shaping controls are versatile enough to satisfy nearly everyone, from the gritty bluesman to the big-haired stadium rocker in us all.

Contact: Gibson.com