The Lava Me 3 Smartguitar

The Lava Me 3 Smartguitar

Who Is Lava Music Inc?

The name “LAVA” is used to describe continuous passion and love.

Before the company started their own instruments, they would sell for other guitar brands.

Founders Louis Lu, Kayeung So, and Shin Tang from the Musicians Institute, Hollywood, were disheartened by the lack of innovation in the industry and wanted to push the boundaries of the market.

Beginnings

The new music & technology company started designing its own products in 2013 and formally introduced its first acoustic in 2015, called the Lava Guitar.

In 2017 the original LAVA ME was launched and was the world’s first of its kind, which included new technologies such as…

• An injection-moulded process creating the first award-winning unibody carbon fibre material
• Unique acoustic and mechanic structures not done to the acoustic guitar previously

Followed by the Lava Me 2, Pro, and Lava U (Ukulele) in 2018/19, later becoming the best-selling carbon fibre guitar in the world.

First Smart Guitar

In 2021, the company launched its first to connect to the internet acoustic-electric smart guitar. The Lava Me 3 is the first guitar with a multi-touch display and operating system replacing the traditional acoustic-electric control knobs.

Accolades

The company has received more awards and positive reviews in North American publications such as Guitar World, describing its latest model as…

“A forward-thinking instrument that promises to reinvent the way you make music“

The company continues to make new strides in their innovative smart acoustic-electric models and looks to have a firm grip on the market.

AirSonic Carbon Fibre

Well-suited For Acoustic Guitar Construction

Looking to find different types of material from wood, LAVA Inc. began working with one of the largest material manufacturers in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, to develop a new kind of carbon fibre composite material that is lightweight, durable and has excellent acoustic performance.

The material was named “AirSonic.”

AirSonic is a 4-Mass carbon fibre composite material used in the technology for one-piece injection moulding.

This guitar-making material allows for a brighter tone and resonance. It is thin, highly durable and robust (usually stronger than regular steel or aluminum) and well-suited for acoustic builds, with no need for traditional bracing affecting the soundboard and tone of the instrument.

What Is Bracing?

A traditional acoustic guitar has an arrangement of wood struts or braces added to the inside of the guitar’s top and back, providing support, reinforcement and strength. (See Image)

And can be arranged in various configurations. (See Image)

New Material Benefits

Guitars with Carbon Fibre builds can adapt to extreme temperatures and humidity, not affecting playability.

Unlike wood, this material will not expand, contract or warp to environmental changes, leaving you with a stable and consistent guitar.

Sonically, they sound just as good as their wooden counterparts, with often very minimal differences between the two.

The All In One Guitar

3rd Gen Design & New Era

With the smart technology growing, The Lava Me 3 features a progressive, distinctive, comfortable rectangular body with an oval sound port in 2 sizes, 36 & 38 inches, is weatherproof and reported to be 30% more shock resistant than the previous generation.

The guitar’s entire single-piece build design allows vibrations to travel from the Body through to the neck & head, along with its multitouch OS System, APPs, Wifi/ Bluetooth, cross-device syncing and cloud connectivity. (More on this later)

All of the apps and sonic tools are built into the guitar, so you can use it anywhere, even without a mobile app connection or external amp, making it an ‘All in one guitar.” (See Image)

Travel Friendly

Is This Classified As A Travel Guitar?

With no need for additional equipment, the instrument nearly incorporates everything into its onboard software; beginners and experienced players can benefit from its all-in-one lightweight design, making it portable/convenient and Travel-Friendly.

But to classify it as a Travel Guitar, it would need to feature some specific design elements that make them ideal for travelling, like the ability to be taken apart when not in use for space configurations and still have a Full-scale playing experience.

FreeBoost Technology 2.0

No Amps Needed

Like the previous model, the FreeBoost Tech uses the back of the guitar as an integrated amp and speaker to power its built-in effects actuator and has been upgraded to a new, improved 2.0 version.

A unique soundboard structure with a speaker box and driver mounted to the inside of the back, the FreeBoost 2.0 gives a 20% deeper bass and 30% longer sustain with no external amp required.

Tech Specs

Body

• Body Material – One-piece AirSonic 2.0 injection-moulded lightweight carbon fibre construction.
• Body Shape – Contoured rectangular
• Body Size Options – 36″ / 38″
• Weight – 4.59 lb- 2081 g /4.98 lb –2258 g 
• Product Dimensions – 36.85 x 12.66 x 4.59 inches (936 x 321.5 x 116.5mm)/38 x 4.8 x 14.1 inches(965.9 x 357.2 x 122.7 mm)
• Finishes  – Soft Gold, White, Pink, Blue, Red, and Space Grey matte.
• Left-Handed Configurations – yes
• Country of Manufactured Product – China

Neck

• Neck – AirSonic 2.0 carbon fibre
• Neck Finish – Matte
• Neck Profile – “C” shape(1-12) to “U” shape (12-)
• Neck Width at the Nut – 1.69/2.11″
• Neck Width at the 12th fret – 1.73/2.07″
• Neck Depth – 20mm at the first fret, 22mm at the 9th fret
• Fretboard Material – High-pressure laminate (HPL)
• Fretboard Radius – 12″ / 15.75″
• Fretboard Radius at 12 fret – 2.11″ / 2.07 “
• Fret Material– Copper-nickel alloy
• Frets Size– 0.05″ height/0.1″ width
• Number of Frets –  18 PLEK’d Frets

Plek’d Frets

PLEK Pro is an advance Fret cutting machine with a tolerance of 0.01mm that ensures proper string action and maximum vibration.

• Nut – Fiber composite, 1.73” wide
• Scale Length – 23.5″ / 23.98″
• String Spacing –  0.09-0.1 “
• Truss Rod – No

What Is A Truss Rod?

Sitting just under the fretboard and accessed through a small hole usually behind the nut (on most guitars), a Truss rod is a thin metal shaft that runs the length of the neck from the nut to the heel (where the neck joins the Body)

Hardware

• Bridge – Adjustable high-performance fibre composite
• Saddle Width – 2.8″
• Saddle Radius – 15.14″
• Tuners – 18:1 ratio screw-less tuners /Lava-designed Proprietary ultra-light aluminum. (See Image)
• Proprietary clip-on Strap Buttons

Controls

Inside Sound Port

Reach inside the sound port to find a physical Master Volume wheel and the on/off/sleep/wake button.

Everything else is indicated by graphics on the operating screen facing up at the player from the top side. (See Image)

• Guitar Pickup /Preamp Configuration – L3 Smart Preamp with FreeBoost 2.0 Technology

The HILAVA Operating System

The 3.5-inch multi-touch colour touchscreen called the (HI = Human Interface) LAVA system provides the player with various integrated applications for player-to-guitar interactivity, 4G memory, and 32G storage.

Onboard Apps

• Tuner- With options for alternate tuning
• Metronome – For keeping a rhythm, with BPM, including scrolling or tap-tempo, and up to 4 different click sounds.
• Onboard Recording  – Edit and adjust sound levels of up to 4 tracks (3 added tracks on top of the original loop) you record along with auto-syncing abilities into the Lava+ via LavaCloud.
• Loops App -100+ built-in adjustable grooves from various usable music genres with an added Loops Library via the LAVA +app.
• Practice App: –  “Sound recognition technology” is a beginner’s dream that gives you training support w/5  different practice modules, chord-changing exercises, strumming, scale, ear and note training, along with getting real-time feedback and detailed reports after every practice session, letting you analyze your progress.

Effects

Standard Effects

This guitar comes with (50+) standard and customizable effects, ie…reverb, delay, auto-wah, chorus, flanger, distortion etc., and like the previous apps above, can be adjusted using parameters to accommodate your ear.

Presets

These are done-for-you presets by the LAVA Music Engineers with colourful names to represent their filtered sonic voices and are a combination of different effects (i.e. Reverb and Flanger) that you can access with one click.

Like the Standard Effects, the ready-made ones are also adjustable and with the parameter function, you can change the presets to suit your needs and add them as favourite templates. (See image)

Lava + Mobile App

The Mobile App (iOS and Android) not only keeps track of your work from your favourite effects, grooves and practice sessions, but it’s also an app that will continue to update with sounds and features.

Get Social

As an option, Lava+ is an online music community or social media platform where you can connect with creators worldwide, get inspiration, view other people’s music or share your own. 

Future

As of 2022, more than 20K people have activated the guitar in over 75 countries, spending over 100K minutes a month on the instrument and more than 10K pieces of music being posted on its social platform.

Power Station

The 8,000mAh/3.8V lithium-ion battery has an optimized battery life of 2+ weeks on standby and up to 9 hours for playing on a single charge.

Charging Options

Charging can be done via USB-C (provided) or a custom Space Charging dock, an optional add-on wireless charging station that doubles as a stand.

Video

Final Thoughts

First, Made In China guitars are not new; most major brands have manufacturing in Asia.

Also, this instrument may have the most advanced smart system we’ve seen, but is this guitar for a “Player”?

Based on this design with…

• No cutaway
• Lack of adjustment options 
• Non-time tested electronics
• The hefty price tag of approximately $949, starting

I would say NO, so with these factors alone, it’s already a work in progress.

Beginner Machine

It’s a start-to-mid instrument that combines the application of a smartphone operating system, sound modes, onboard training support, some recording capability and an online community to keep you engaged, but this is not a player guitar.

It stresses the need for no additional equipment like peddles etc. Still, this tech has no accurate track record, and what happens if your operating system malfunctions or stops beyond the warranty?

My peddle board has been operating for years in real-life situations, along with the added recording software that gives me any combination of sounds a player can want.

To adjust the action on the instrument for better playability, I suggest manually removing the bridge and shaving down the underside of the saddle with heavy sandpaper until you get the action to where you want.

Should You Get One For Your Collection

No/Maybe

No, for it is pricy and does not come across as a series contender for the price tag associated.

Maybe, if you have the budget and someone toying with the idea of maybe starting to play guitar, this type of design might keep them interested.

Check out my review of the Enya Nova Go Guitar SP1 Acoustic Electric

Also…

Leave your comments in the section below if you want me to review a favourite guitar.

As always, stay the course and keep playing.

Feature image of Lava Me 3 (Black) courtesy of Amazon

Group image of Lava Me 3 Guitars in Feature image courtesy of johnsmusic.in

1st Image of guitar bracing is courtesy of Wikimedia Artist – Pedro Fuentes – and is licensed under the  Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

2nd Image of guitar bracing is courtesy of Wikimedia- Artist-  Johann Anton Stauffer – and is licensed under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

The Lava-designed Proprietary ultra-light aluminum Tuner Image courtesy of lavamusic.com

CTA image courtesy of digitaltrends.com