I tried this Carbon Fiber 'Smart' Guitar so you don't have to

➤ Massive thanks to @LAVAMUSICOFFICIAL for sponsoring today's video!

➤ Signal Chain/Get the Gear

➤ Time Stamps
» 0:00 Background, Specs & Features of the LAVA ME 3
» 1:30 First Impressions, Exploring the "Smart" Features & Writing a Demo Track
» 7:08 Demo in a Produced Mix
» 8:32 Final Thoughts (Who is this for?)

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Why is everyone buying this "Smart" Guitar??

#lavamusic #lavame3 #lavaguitar

[mccloud]

"I'm not much of an acoustic player" he says, pumping out a dope demo track and forgetting he has 4 playlists of acoustic covers

[TylerJohnstonGuitar]

A Positive Grid Spark and an acoustic guitar had a baby and this is what popped out.

[oversword]

Great demo vid!! I bought an ME3 and I too am no acoustic player but since I got it, it takes up most of my noodle time. This guitar truly plays well and one thing I haven't seen mentioned in any reviews is that it actually is louder than most acoustics and brighter. I have jammed on the ME3 along with people playing a classical Spanish guitar, a nice Epiphone acoustic, and a very nice Martin and each time my ME3 actually is brighter and louder. More than half the time I play it I don't even bother to turn it on. My main concern is that the electronics will give out years before the rest of the guitar but will cross that bridge when I come to it.

[zachpeterson]

Looks like I'm first lol. Did you see Ola shouted you out recently?

[SoCalGuitarist]

I own one. Honestly, kinda meh. As a parlor guitar it’s comfortable, and plays nice. As a Smart Guitar, it’s pretty sub par. The effects sound kinda poo from the onboard speaker, and you can only use one effect at a time. I mostly use the onboard smart app for tuning, then typically just turn it off again. Honestly, save your money and get an external effects plug from mooer or fender or something and get yourself a decent low end Taylor or Martin instead. It’s a nice guitar, but a meh “smart” guitar.

[WattchomanBrandySavage]

Kinda wish It had a truss rod (just in case) and a bridge that allows you to play with the action.. Otherwise It's pretty cool. We're pretty spoiled these days and it's nice that manufacturers are still looking for unique ways to innovate and present new ideas.

[andybungert]

HUNTER WE NEED THE NEW VALIANT JUPITER DEBI 🤘

[MashaT]

I am really disappointed that you failed to remind people that this guitar originally arrived with a smashed soundboard. It would have been a great opportunity to educate people that this guitar is an injection molded composite made of ground up CF and resin. It's not a tank by far, as it's not made of bidirectional carbon fiber material (the same type used to build planes and spaceships). It upsets me that these import brands aren't specific to distinguish that they're using a form of composite that is really not any stronger than most wood. It will resist temperature changes, but people who need a durable guitar would be better off buying a really strong wood guitar or a bidirectional like those from KLOS.

Is it a bad sounding guitar? It's okay, but not great for that price point. There are other guitars like the HyVibe with on board effects that are MUCH better sounding -- and the electronics can be swapped because they sell kits that can be easily installed into ANY guitar (not just their own brands models) by any guitar tech or people who know how to install pickups.

Then there's also the issue of the fact that there's no way to repair the Lava guitar if it gets damaged or there's an electronics issue. And while the OS can be updated, we all know that hardware eventually cannot support the latest updates -- and they've made no way to swap electronics in the future via an upgrade kit. So this sort of guitar will likely end up in garbages after they become outdated. That's sad for the environment and is a huge waste of money for a guitar at it's price point.

Anyway, I hope people will go back and look at the unboxing video from about 2-3 months ago where he showed his Lava arriving with a smashed soundboard. If you bump it or it gets knocked over once, you won't have any way to fix it. If you really want a CF guitar that has a lifetime warranty against defects (not wear and tear), go to KLOS. They sell the most affordable bidirectional instruments -- acoustic and electric guitars, basses, ukes, and more! They have sales, b stock, and are willing to cut deals too. I have had a KLOS full sized hybrid acoustic deluxe since 2018, and it's truly an instrument for life.

[vwharman]

I don’t need an acoustic, but since I saw the lava me2, I’ve been super interested in what these things do. Really intriguing.!

[fastelder]

I've had the guitar for about two months. I bought it myself, so I wasn't as biased as some reviewers that were given guitars. If you're interested here's my pros & Cons:

Pros:
Guitar does sound great. it is a decent electric/acoustic, but really shines in being able to get on board effects without amplification

The guitar has nice finish & feel, however I'm used to playing a well set-up Taylor 614 so the action is just a smidge high for my taste. I may shave the bridge a bit eventually.
FX are great. Playing un-amped they add a good flavor. Forget about the distortion setting unless you're running through an amp.

Case is nice and solid and protects the guitar well. More on the case below.

Charger cradles the guitar snuggly and automatically charges the guitar. It's USB-C and doesn't come with a charger, so you may need an adapter for the cable.

Other than that, most reviews give a far better report on the capabilities of the instrument, so check them out like I did.

Cons. These are things no reviewer seems to be addressing:
My lava has a nice blue metallic finish. Looks very cool. While the guitar is made of carbon fiber, I'm not sure how well the finish will hold up. I'm pretty careful with all my guitars and most I've owned for decades and they still look almost showroom. My lava has a couple of minor scratches already that I have no idea where they came from.

ELECTRONICS. The touch screen is very sensitive and at the same time has a bit more of a lag than you would be used to on a smart phone. Most notable is the absence of any home button. You'll have to page back to get there. Additionally, due to the rounded shape, I have a tendency to lean over the body when I'm sitting and playing and my chest triggers the screen. I can tell when that happens, because the most annoying loud click accompanies any changes. If you're playing out, be prepared to settle on a set sound or template for the whole song. Shifting to another one is not as easy as hitting a button on a pedal.

I mentioned my chest activating the touch screen. Usually that would not be a problem. What is a problem is the Lava uses a nice machined strap peg THAT DOESN'T FIT ANY STRAP. If you like any kind of strap lock, forget about using it. Dimensionally the strap pegs are larger than the throat of any standard peg. I would have bought the Lava strap, but they have been out of stock. I use d'Addario straps with locking ends and it would take major modifications. So I broke down and bought a ice leather strap which I now have to ream out the hole to make it fit. I'm not sure if you could even swap out the stap pegs as they have no screw and I'm not ready to twist them off and create another problem.

CASE: It's amazing that you can drop a thousand bucks on a guitar and have to pay extra for a proprietary case, but hey, I'm made of money so I went for it. Case fits very well and is form fitting. It doesn't leave room for a strap (If I finally get one to fit) The case has nice padded shoulder pads, and looks like the type that a Japanese school girl would have. I personally don't care to strap a guitar on my back unless I'm trail hiking. The straps do not come off so love them or live with them. The case has a nice soft handle, but is nowhere near the center of balance and like a Gibson SG, suffers from severe neck dive. Seriously walk with this case for twenty steps and you'll opt for the school girl straps.

MOST DISSAPOINTING FEATURE: Support, period. Guitar came with no instructions other than to turn it on. The web site is absolutely no help. As I mentioned, being intrigued by the novelty of the guitar, I had to rely on reviewers, most of which were given the guitar. I do wonder what will happen when the rechargable battery goes south, or worse the electonic module. As far as I can see there's no parts support on the website.

CONCLUSION:With all this, I bought the guitar for the FX novelty and more importantly for the Carbon Fiber construction. I bought it so that I could have a guitar I could leave out in my studio and grab as I needed to practice or work out asome inspiration. My studio is in my basement and although it's dry, the winter requires me to fill a 5 gallon humidifier to keep optimum moisture levels. So it's a guitar that is not subject to temperature and humidity. That said, I'll keep it for what I intended. I doubt it will ever play out unless it's a barbeque or around a camp fire.

[wintlock]

does the guitar have a 1/4" output for the pickup and effects? with how toy-ish the effects sound through the onboard speaker i cant see them being useful for any kind of recording/live where you could do the same in post or with effect pedals on another guitar with a piezo or otherwise

[pyromaniaxe]

I know this doesn't really relate to this video but I wanted to ask, do you know if Harley Benton might make versions of the EX and the Victory that are reminiscent of the 70s Gibson explorer and Flying V? I mean the ones that were all white, maybe cream, had the white pickguards, and a stop tail on the V. Or maybe even something like Hetfield's Electra flying V.

[piplup]

The reverse delay was sick, I like that. I’d pick one of these up 👀

[samfrenchguitar]

I demoed one of these for the brand during Covid and while it was a cool sounding guitar and easy to play, half the electronics fell apart after a few months. A cool guitar, but overpriced

[Scottsyearbook]

I’m interested in this guitar as a travel guitar that will spend a great deal of time on a sailboat floating in saltwater. The klos carbon fiber guitar is also on my radar. However I can’t seem to put my hands on either. Can’t seem to pull the trigger on either without testing the feel/tone. Do you actually use the guitar regularly? Would you recommend it to someone that doesn’t have 1k to spend on gimmicky junk? Many thanks, great content.

[aldenwilkins]

Digging the demo. A little Days of the New/Tantric vibe.

[WhatsUPwithDJ]

Great video thank you for explaining how to adjust the action because that was one of my biggest problems with it coming out. Question for you that I can't seem to find answer to anywhere. When you set up a template or if you did set up a template how did you get it to work? Every time I set a template it seems like I highlight one of the effects in the template and that's the only effect it plays I don't understand how to get the entire template to play. Am I missing something? Or did you even attempt to work at that? Great video and thanks again

[michaelconner]

Wanted to say, I appreciate all your advice found me a epiphone matt heafy (white one for 800 with case. Take care. Appreciate it bro.

[seahuntersammy]

Demo track was awesome man! like well deserved!

[nmbrslayer]

I bought one simply as a fun toy to play around with...it will never match a great acoustic, but it's not meant to be. For what it is, it's very cool and I enjoy using it to write music I would later use other guitars to play.