Music

Travel-friendly smart guitar rocks built-in sound system, onboard FX and Bluetooth

Travel-friendly smart guitar rocks built-in sound system, onboard FX and Bluetooth
The Nexg smart guitar from Enya Music weighs in at just 6.8 lb, including all of the electronics and battery
The Nexg smart guitar from Enya Music weighs in at just 6.8 lb, including all of the electronics and battery
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The Nexg smart guitar from Enya Music weighs in at just 6.8 lb, including all of the electronics and battery
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The Nexg smart guitar from Enya Music weighs in at just 6.8 lb, including all of the electronics and battery
The Nexg smart guitar is fashioned from carbon fiber and can be broken down into components for between-use travel
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The Nexg smart guitar is fashioned from carbon fiber and can be broken down into components for between-use travel
The Nexg smart guitar is powered by Enya Music's D2 processor and integrated sound card, which support digital output, silence mode and streaming applications
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The Nexg smart guitar is powered by Enya Music's D2 processor and integrated sound card, which support digital output, silence mode and streaming applications
The lower section of the Nexg smart guitar is home to a 50-W sound system comprising a woofer and two tweeters
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The lower section of the Nexg smart guitar is home to a 50-W sound system comprising a woofer and two tweeters
The Nexg smart guitar can be optioned with a charging stand for topping up the built-in battery
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The Nexg smart guitar can be optioned with a charging stand for topping up the built-in battery
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Travel guitars are a great way to maintain your calluses while on the road, but some designs can lack modern features. That's certainly not true of the Nexg smart guitar from Enya Music out of Houston, Texas, which packs a built-in preamp, integrated sound card, Bluetooth speaker, mobile app integration and onboard effects into a carbon fiber smart guitar that tips the scales at under 7 pounds.

Enya describes the Nexg as the world's first smart audio guitar, though only last month we covered a Kickstarter for the Mogabi, as well as the Lava Me 3 before it and the awesome Fusion Guitar before that. Still, the Nexg is a different beast, and comes with an impressive feature set.

Its carbon fiber body and neck help toward an all-in weight of just 6.8 lb (3 kg), and it can be pulled apart and packed down for easier between-venue transport. That 23.75-inch scale neck rocks a 16-inch radius and zero-fret design for playing comfort, though 20 fret positions are marked out on the carbon fiber fingerboard.

Up top, an OLED display panel serves as the guitar's control hub. There are five effects to dial in at launch, which can be tweaked via a companion iOS/Android mobile app, with more functions and effects on the way. And there's a built-in tuner to help keep you pitch perfect.

The lower section of the Nexg smart guitar is home to a 50-W sound system comprising a woofer and two tweeters
The lower section of the Nexg smart guitar is home to a 50-W sound system comprising a woofer and two tweeters

Players can opt for quiet practice in silent mode or go bananas through the included 30-W woofer and two 10-W tweeters. Bluetooth 5.1 is cooked in for jamming along to favorite tunes, and the smart guitar can even remove the vocals from streamed songs to provide instant backing tracks. Or you can just use it as a fancy wireless speaker.

The Nexg comes with a sizable 10,400-mAh battery, and though no per-charge usage figures have been shared the instrument can be optioned with a funky wireless charging stand.

The Nexg is available for pre-order now for a list price of US$899.99, though there's currently a promotion running that shaves a hundred bucks off. The video below has more.

Enya NEXG 1 Smart Audio Guitar

Product page: Enya Nexg

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2 comments
2 comments
windykites
And now for a sound demo: That is disappointing! This is very expensive. What is the target market? New players? Experienced players?
Ray
Article states scale length of 23.75". Fender Jaguar is 24", Gibson Les Paul is 24.75" while Fender Stratocaster is 25.5". Thanks but no thanks!