Back in October 2015, Melbourne-based designer Dave Auld secured production funding from over 1,300 Indiegogo backers to bring his remarkable Fusion guitar project to life. We got to see and hear the digital/analog hybrid for ourselves mid-campaign and were suitably impressed. Almost 2 years on and, from today, the instrument will go on sale in the US.
The Fusion guitar rocks its own built-in 20 W Class-D amplifier and two 25 W Tymphany Peerless full range speakers, plus an upward-firing 10-watt tweeter for sounds on the move. The design includes a floating speaker box that places the speakers on rubber mounts to reduce vibration between audio throwers and body, which is promised to help cut feedback while increasing volume potential.
There's an integrated iPhone dock to the top with a 24-bit/96 kHz interface (up from 48 kHz in the 2015 prototype), and interchangeable docks are supplied so that the instrument is compatible with iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 5, 5S, iPod Touch Gen 5. The iPhone can be loaded up with music production apps and the guitar taps into those for effects, recording and mixing magic. Street performers or beach party players could even set backing tracks running and jam over the top, and learners can watch video tutorials on the smartphone docked in the Fusion.
Despite its travel-friendly size of 33 x 11.4 x 3.2 in (83.8 x 28.9 x 8.1 cm), the Fusion guitar has a full scale maple neck as standard, topped by either a rosewood or maple fingerboard. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the bridge tuning system of old has gone, replaced by 3+3 tuners on a Vox-like head and a stop bridge. The injection molded black polymer body with neck-thru-body construction is home to a hot-rail humbucker at the bridge position that can be used in parallel or series with the a traditional pole humbucker at the neck.
Rounding out its attractive spec list is a rechargeable Li-ion battery that's reported to give mobile musicians 4 to 6 hours of noodling between charges (down from the 12 hours average touted during the Indiegogo campaign). There's an instrument output jack to run the Fusion guitar's signal to an external amp, PA or mixing desk, and a 3.5 mm audio out jack for headphone listening or cabled connection to a powered speaker system.
The Fusion guitar is available now for US$1,399. There's no option for left-handers at the moment, but that may change in the future. Have a look at the promo video below for a taste of the Fusion experience.
Source: Fusion Guitar