Gibson Les Paul Dark Fire Electric Guitar
Combines upgraded Les Paul form with computer age functionality.
Analog or digital, the Gibson Dark Fire Electric Guitar gives you an infinite number of tonal possibilities to let you change the tone of the Dark Fire to match your environment. And it begins with a guitar's most basic element—the pickups. The Gibson Dark Fire combines two of Gibson's most popular pickups—the P-90H in the neck position and a BurstBucker 3 in the bridge position. Both are capped with carbon fiber-like pickup covers, impeccably designed to match the Dark Fire's advanced fade. Acoustic Capability.
The Dark Fire also gives you the ability to adjust and blend the acoustic sound from the piezo bridge pickup with the sound from the guitar's traditional pickups. It does this by utilizing a revolutionary rotary potentiometer which is part of the pickup selector toggle switch. By twisting the switch's head clockwise or counterclockwise, you can blend the piezo acoustic sound from zero percent acoustic sound (100 percent traditional pickups) to 100 percent acoustic sound (no traditional pickups).
BurstBucker 3.
The BurstBucker 3 arrived on the scene in 1990, and—like the BurstBucker 1 and 2—represents Gibson's drive to capture and recreate the characteristics of the vintage Patent Applied For humbuckers of the late 1950s. On the shop floor of the original Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the earliest Gibson PAF humbuckers were wound using imprecise machines, resulting in pickups with varying degrees of output and tone. The BurstBucker line represents those variations, but with some modern appointments. The BurstBucker 3 provides historically accurate PAF tone with two slightly overwound coils, creating a raw, airy tone packed with enough punch to cut through any mix.
Gibson's P-90H Pickup
The P-90H black soapbar pickup is another example of Gibson's drive to stay one step ahead. This pickup offers all of the soulful, classic tone of Gibson's prized P-90 single-coil pickup, but with none of the 60-cycle hum that usually plagues traditional single-coil pickups. Gibson's pioneering engineers were then able to secure all of the P-90's vintage sonic characteristics, and deliver the same high output and sweet treble response that still makes the P-90 a highly sought-after pickup.
Piezo Bridge Pickup.
The Gibson Dark Fire also features a revolutionary Gibson-designed piezo bridge pickup that actually consists of six individual piezo pickups—one for each saddle/string. These piezo pickups go through a studio-quality active amplifier that allows for a stronger and more natural acoustic guitar sound. Combined, the two classic electromagnetic pickups and the piezo bridge pickup are wired in such a way to allow each individual coil to be used in a switching matrix, giving you over 20 separate combinations of tone and an incredible array of tonal possibilities.
Tone Potentiometer and CPA.
The Dark Fire guitar's tone potentiometer and CPA have also been redesigned so that turning the tone knob allows a very intuitive and significant change in tone, thus giving you even more ability to dial in your desired tone. This pioneering Gibson circuitry is studio quality with very little noise and/or signal loss, which delivers as much of the guitar's authentic tone as possible.
PerfectSetup by PLEK.
Also part of the Dark Fire package is a super fast and comfortable asymmetrical neck design that is rendered to optimum playability with a PerfectSetup by the revolutionary, computer-controlled PLEK system, which has been acknowledged as the most precise guitar set-up technology in the world today.
And, It Gets Better...
Additionally, the Dark Fire features improved locking tuners, a Teflon-based frictionless nut, a bridge that locks to the studs and a chambering system that gives each one near-perfect tone, balance and weight. It also makes the Dark Fire one of the best-sustaining Les Pauls ever produced.
Chameleon Tone Technology.
The original Robot Guitar took the guitar world by storm when it was first introduced in December '07, but the Dark Fire from Gibson is simply the most advanced guitar system ever developed. In fact, many of the technological advances on the Dark Fire were virtually inconceivable just a few years ago; the Powerhead tuners, the tuning brain, the battery function and the sonic capabilities of a fully digital guitar make the Dark Fire electric guitar a virtual upgrade in every respect. Perhaps most impressive is Gibson's Chameleon Tone Technology, which allows you to change your guitar's tone to match countless environments and to recreate any guitar sound you ever lusted after. The Dark Fire is guaranteed to give you a new, stunning level of tonal and functional freedom. Release your creative potential with this exciting Gibson guitar.
Master Control Knob.
The key to controlling the powerful functions of the Dark Fire is the Master Control Knob (MCK), which has been completely redesigned with much improved ergonomics and a sophisticated full color matrix display featuring LEDs and high-tech light pipe technology, all to deliver a more powerful and easier to see visual display under any light condition. In addition to the MCK's top mounted display, LED-lit symbols now adorn its outer edge, which blend with the color of the knob so that they're only visible when lit. The Dark Fire's MCK also controls the ability to change pickups and coils, allowing you the ability to adjust tone and tunings automatically and simultaneously, even several times during the same song.
500 Tunings from a Single Battery Charge.
The Dark Fire's battery system and power circuit have also been significantly improved to last nearly twice as long, even with the guitar's enhanced performance. You can now expect nearly 500 tunings from a single charge. Additionally, you can play the Dark Fire while the battery system is being charged. ALso, there's a 12-volt DC connector for the Robot Interface Pack's power supply, which both powers the RIP itself and recharges the Dark Fire's battery when required.
Let it RIP.
While the heart of the Gibson Dark Fire's abilities lie within the guitar itself, the compact Robot Interface Pack (RIP) interface can connect this versatile guitar to Windows or Mac computers to release Dark Fire's ultimate tonal versatility—live or in the studio. In fact, the RIP lets you realize the full potential of Gibson's Chameleon Tone Technology. RIP connects to your computer with a single FireWire cable: There's no need to open up the computer, and you can easily move RIP from desktop to laptop or any other computer. The computer gives you instant access to countless recording applications and software effects processors, including Ableton Live 7 Gibson Studio Edition and Native Instruments' Guitar Rig 3, both of which come with every Dark Fire guitar. Use these programs to record your latest ideas, access hundreds of different guitar effects and amplifiers, create backing tracks and much more.
