NAMM 2018: There have been modelling guitars in the past (namely Line 6’s Variax), but the XT-1 from Italian company Sim1 is the first pedal to transform any guitar into any other electric or acoustic guitar.
12 guitars are preloaded, from Strats and Les Pauls to 335s, ’64 Telecasters and acoustics such as the Martin D-35 and Gibson J-200.
According to the company, there’s no MIDI or sampling involved; rather, it involves Sim1’s patented Smart Tone Shaping, which promises to emulate the tone of any guitar with no latency or digital artefacts.
Similar in concept to the Kemper Profiler, the XT-1 requires players to connect their guitar to the pedal and create a guitar profile by playing a “special chromatic scale”.
This profile allows access to preset sounds, and users can upload their own profiles to download via the XT-1’s iOS and Android app or the onboard USB port.
There’s no word on price or availability just yet, but we’ll be sure to find out more come NAMM time.
