Back in 2013, a company called Zivix launched a successful Indiegogo for an ultra-portable MIDI guitar for iPhone for noodling on the move. Then six years later the Jamstik was joined by a 24-fret headless bigger brother called the Studio. Now a S-type model rocking a headstock has launched.
"We're thrilled to be expanding the Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar series with this classic headstock design," said Zivix CEO, Ed Cannon. "This new release answers customer requests to put our proprietary technology into a more traditional guitar, rounding out our product line with another great option for guitarists looking for MIDI guitar technology. We can't wait for musicians to get their hands on it."
The 22-fret tone machine features a Strat-shaped alder body in a black or cream finish that's bolted to a 25.5-inch scale roasted maple neck with a C profile and roasted maple fretboard with a 12-inch radius and black inlays. It also rolls with a KD humbucker and two KD single-coil pickups selected by a five-way toggle, two tone controls and a volume knob, a hardtail bridge and locking tuners.
The standard instrument output can be plugged straight into a pedalboard or amp and the new Studio model used like a regular electric guitar, or the player can tap into its digital side courtesy of a hex pickup and cooked-in processing for algorithm-based pitch analysis and MIDI conversion.
The system is reported capable of detecting playing nuances like slides, polyphonic bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs, tapping techniques and string muting, and can convert pitch to MIDI over USB or TRS with a latency of just six to 15 milliseconds. Players can also connect wirelessly to a device over Bluetooth. And the digital magic is all powered by a Li-ion battery that's reckoned good for more than eight hours of play per charge.
Zivix also notes that its Jamstiks are the only MIDI guitars available with support for MIDI Polyphonic Expression – or MPE – to accurately map vibrato, track the note decay of a string, and assign each string its own independent MIDI channel.
The company has launched a new Jamstik Control app for iOS as well, which allows users to "adjust settings on the fly, tune their Studio MIDI guitar, play a variety of sounds in-app, and select from a large variety of scale and chord overlays to sharpen their skills and fretboard knowledge."
The headstock edition is up for pre-order now with a US$899.99 price tag. Shipping is expected to start from March 17. If you want to try before you buy, the team will be at the NAMM Show in Anaheim from April 13 to 16.
Product page: Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar