LAVA MUSIC unveils the BLUE LAVA Original, a travel-friendly acoustic with a weather-resistant build and onboard effects
Made from custom-engineered recyclable HPL, the compact acoustic arrives in a two-tone Walnut/Frost White colourway and has FreeBoost technology to amplify it without an amp
LAVA MUSIC has expanded its range of HPL acoustic electric guitars with the BLUE LAVA Original, a compact six-string that has the proportions of a travel guitar but the features to equip it for the stage.
With a 36” body and weighing just 3.7 lbs, the BLUE LAVA Original is no trouble to carry around with you. As the photo at the top of the page suggests, why not take it out on your morning dog walk? Nothing will jog a dawdling golden retriever along like an open G chord strummed with gusto.
But then, compact acoustics have also proved their worth on the sofa, onstage, and the studio, and the BLUE LAVA Original is very much of a piece with that trend – it is a take anywhere guitar.
Unlike the common or garden travel six-string, however, this has a build of recyclable HPL (high-pressure laminate), which LAVA MUSIC says will see it withstand temperature changes, all kinds of humidity, and even the occasional splash – helpful should it rain when mid-strum.
The guitar features LAVA MUSIC’s 4-MASS technology, which is describes as “a parametric structure engineered by simulating the vibration dynamics of the top, body, neck, and internal air, making them resonate in perfect unison to produce a full, bright tone”.
Now, this engineering could be interpreted as some new form of bracing, but then LAVA MUSIC takes the acoustic engineering a little further with its FreeBoost technology that allows players to effectively play amplified without an acoustic guitar amp. The FreeBoost tech uses the guitar’s back as a speaker, with the L2 preamp offering chorus, delay and reverb at the touch of a button.
Other design features include a precision engineered neck, a sculpted heel to aid upper-fret access, a magnetic truss rod cover for making easy-access adjustments, and a Frost White/Walnut two-tone colourway that aesthetically blurs the line between 21st-century home audio product and traditional acoustic luthiery.
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The BLUE LAVA Original models ship with a 2.3mm string height, and they are shipping now, priced $479. For more information, head over to LAVA MUSIC. And to hear it in action, check out the video below.
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
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