The Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar is a sleek-looking solid-body electric that offers all the great tone one would expect from its Mahogany body with two humbuckers, but it’s got much more. It is the first MIDI Guitar Controller equipped with MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE), the newest MIDI standard that gives players greater individual note control and expression. It’s really two uniquely expressive instruments in one - record analog audio, transcribe digital MIDI data, or do both simultaneously.
A uniquely expressive guitarist and music educator in his own right, Jimmy Franklin is the perfect tour guide for the broad range of features offered with the Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar. Franklin takes this guitar through its paces, including how easy it is for guitarists to start using its MIDI options for music production and easy ways to setup the included plug-in software for recording into a DAW. He also proves that the Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar is an instrument for serious electric guitarists.
“It’s a traditional killer guitar,” remarks Franklin before he shreds and taps some burning musical lines in the above demo video. “With two humbuckers and a split-coil feature, it’s great for all kinds of players, but that’s where the old school ends and the new school begins.”
Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar is a six-string, 24-fret headless guitar with 24 frets and 25.5” scale length, 32.5" tall guitar body. The guitar body is about 3/4 the size of a standard electric—an ultra-convenient size for the studio or easily transporting to the gig.
Traditional electric guitarists will appreciate the guitar’s Mahogany body, c-shape Maple neck, and Rosewood fretboard. It’s currently available in a Black, White, Blue, or Orange Matte finishes.
In addition to the analog electronics, including two Humbucker pickups, coil tap switch, three-way switch, and traditional 1/4" output for using amps, interfaces, and pedals, MIDI out options include USB C, 3.5mm TRS & Bluetooth. The Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar’s MPE implementation means that it is going to be incredibly accurate mapping analog guitar parts you play to digital MIDI.
MPE even allows you to assign each string of the guitar to independent MIDI channels, giving each string its own line of communication with your DAW.
In the demo video, Franklin calls out the guitar’s headless design as beneficial for both MIDI and analog guitar playing. “I love headless guitars for their tuning stability,” he says, “and for a MIDI guitar especially you need tuning stability…I’m super excited about that element of this guitar.”
Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar comes bundled with Jamstik Creator Software that works as a standalone application for Mac and PC, and as a VST3 or AUv3 plugin for use within a DAW. The software allows users to change MIDI modes (Single-Channel, Multi-Channel, or MPE), adjust string sensitivity for your playing style, and adjust tuning parameters to optimize the tracking performance (in case you play in alternate tunings).
Franklin dives right into the MIDI setup showing us some easy ways to set up the Jamstik Creator Software. “One of the things I really love about this is how quickly you can get your creative ideas out,” he says.
For working musicians and music educators, Franklin gives us an example of how the Jamstik Creator Software’s more advanced Transcription Mode can be used to transcribe a playing session into tablature or sheet music. “This is so much easier than writing out parts by hand,“ he remarks. “This setup is a dream come true for the modern guitarist or teacher.”
You can order directly at jamstik.com or find an official retailer in your area at jamstik.com/storelocator.