Gibson Dark Fire user reviews ( 7/10) - 3 user reviews

• 08/12/11

  King Loudness's review "Sigh..."

  Characteristics

  The Gibson Dark Fire is one of Gibson's truly outlandish attempts to make a guitar "for the ages." When it was released it had all kinds of hype surrounding it and Gibson touted it generally as the next generation of guitar. Whelp... here we go!
  
  
  
  The Gibson Dark Fire is based off of a Les Paul design, and most of the features are pretty true to a Les Paul. It has a mahogany body with a figured maple cap, a mahogany neck, an ebony fretboard with carbon fibre inlays, the infamous ROBOT tuning system, and some unique electronics that combine a P90, a Burstbucker, some complex switching systems and a piezo pickup to round things out. It features a typical tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tail piece and the GENERAL layout of a typical LP to round things out. They're made in the USA.. well, were anyway, before Gibson took sense and discontinued them.

  Utilization

  The guitar like many Les Pauls is a monster of a guitar. They're heavy clunkers generally, and the Dark Fire is no exception. Given all the electronics and other do-dads inside the guitar, I'm surprised it doesn't weigh a metric tonne. It's heavy and not a guitar I'd want to gig with for hours on end by any means. The upper fret access is decent on these guitars due to the satin neck finish that is used on the guitar's back and neck.
  
  
  
  Getting a good sound out of this guitar... well, if I could concentrate on getting a good tone or ya know... playing guitar, maybe I'd notice. However there are so many distractions whilst learning the intricacies of the ROBOT tuning system and all the different switching that it's almost difficult to sit down and play the thing! When I had it dialed in I could get some nice Les Paul tones or acoustic type tones with the piezo, but it took me a space odyssey to get there.

  Sounds

  I've tried the Dark Fire through a few different Fender and Mesa Boogie amps. Admittedly, the guitar doesn't sound all that terrible, it's just a bit of a pain to find a sound and stick with it. The P90 offers a cool warm sound that is close in nature to many of those classic '60s or '70s blues and rock tones, and the Burstbucker pickup takes things up to another level with some more raunch and filth applied... perfect for '70s hard rock right into the present day. Fortunately Gibson didn't throw the typical Les Paul tone out the window when they were designing sounds for this contraption, so all's not lost. There is such a myriad of switching that it's difficult to go into details about each specific mode. All I can say is that some sounds worked (the thicker Gibson esque tones) and some fell kind of short (the more jangly Fender type sounds).

  Overall Opinion

  All in all I think the Dark Fire is just utterly hilarious. When I first heard the name, I had to hold in a serious laugh... c'mon Gibson. It sounds like I'm 5 and going to battle with my Pokemon or something. Jokes aside, I'd say that the Dark Fire is basically just... misguided. It has some great features (like the P90/humbucker mix and the piezo) mixed with some weird ones (Robot tuners and all the fairly needless switching). If they had of made a simpler guitar with less FOR less (The Dark Fire sold new for about $3,700) I bet it might have really been the next generation of guitar. Gibson's not known for their product launches and after a while they just quietly removed most traces of this guitar... probably for the best.
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• 08/01/11

  Hatsubai's review "Lots of technology but not worth the price"

  Characteristics

  This is Gibson's way of stepping their foot into the future of what they think guitars will be. It has tons of features, but that's really about all it has going for it. The guitar features a mahogany body with a maple top, mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, trapezoid inlays, pickguard, binding, hard tail bridge with a piezo, one humbucker, one P90, a funky knob that can select various tunings/tones and a few other things here and there.

  Utilization

  This guitar has tons of technology built into it, but it seems all wrong to me. The guitar tunes itself, for one. However, I noticed that people online keep having issues with the high e snapping. I noticed that I couldn't get it into perfect tune with the tuning system it had when I put my strobe tuner against it. To me, it seems like a gimmick thing, and I'm hoping Gibson will realize that this kind of technology really isn't needed in guitars. We're more traditionalists that want a solid guitar instead of a computer. The fretwork was average, but the edges were a touch sharp. The finish looked cool, though.

  Sounds

  The guitar didn't sound that great, to be honest. First of all, the guitar was extremely light, and I found that it lacked the normal resonance that a normal Les Paul has. It had this kind of airy top end to it. The bridge pickup was decent, but that's about it. It didn't sound like the other Les Pauls I had in the shop. The P90 in the neck was pretty cool, but the technology that was thrown into this guitar is really what ruins everything, in my opinion. The piezo was fun to mess around with, but it's pretty limited as to what you can do with it because it sounds sterile when compared to a normally miked acoustic guitar.

  Overall Opinion

  I really don't recommend these at all. They're overpriced, lack the tone of a normal Les Paul and seem to be stuffed with tons of things a guitar player really doesn't need. Maybe I'm too stuck in the past, but I just found myself battling this guitar the entire time. Combine that with some of the issues I've read about on the web, and it's more of a guitar to avoid than a guitar to buy. Maybe I just had a dud. Who knows...
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• 02/23/12

  skempf9's review ( translated ) Improve this translation " T.Bonne versatile guitar, but fragile"

  Characteristics

  Les Paul type guitar, made in United States.
  
  Mahogany body, flamed maple table
  
  Mahogany neck, Ebony + carbon fiber inlays.
  
  Pickups: Burstbucker P90 + + piezo
  
  Robot tuning (automatic tuning) + modeling of electronic sounds by mixing sounds of three microphones
  
  Rechargeable battery incorporated (no batteries), can recharge during play
  
  High-end finishes, delivered in the name box of the guitar.

  Utilization

  The guitar is very enjoyable to play, easy access to acute, sensitive and responsive touch. It is light enough for an LP.
  
  
  
  There are a multitude of possible sounds settings, which mix finely and electronic signals from the three types of microphones present on the guitar. These settings are accessed via a dial on the electronic guitar, configurable using a computer and a dedicated firewire interface.
  
  
  
  Simulates the guitar sound of dozens of types of guitars by switching the selector, very quickly.
  
  
  
  It should however be an adjustment period large enough to discover all the subtleties / possibilities of this guitar.
  
  
  
  Gadget that will not please purists, but that suits me well: automatic tuning ... I have not bought this guitar for that, but I got taste pretty quickly ... the guitar fits in 3 seconds, and you can choose between many different tunings ... Live too cool, it lets you play a piece of stones and just 3 seconds after rembrayer on a classic tune without 2 guitars ... SUPERCOOL, especially in small cafés or was not much room to put full of gear.

  Sounds

  We obtain virtually all types of sounds with this guitar, acoustic to death metal, playing with the switch, making it an extremely versatile guitar. Like all LP, mahogany and ebony fingerboard gives sustain madness, and flamed maple top brings a warmth characteristic of LP that users are familiar.
  
  
  
  I play with a VOX VT100 modeling, which allows me to be perfect all-rounder also output. I was considering buying a MesaBoogie LoneStar Special to get a better crunch and clear sound (already tr! S good with vox, note ...)
  
  
  
  Sounds the least friendly are those from the piezo logically, clearly not at an acoustic electric guitar, or even models like the series hybrid electric LGXT Godin, whose acoustic sound is much more accurate ... Moreover, there is no setting on the preamp with Darkfire (basic / medium / treble / volume) as the Godins, but a single volume pot, much less flexible to use. In short, I do not is almost at hand to record a quick acoustic riff for a component without going all the stuff making its ...

  Overall Opinion

  I use the guitar for 6/8 months, and my opinion is shared:
  
  
  
  -On the visual appearance, functionality and sound I would say the guitar is very successful.
  
  On-the ergonomics, and connectivity computer I'd say it's way: the system is far from intuitive, and it must bone up the manual to understand how it works. Provide a LOT of time, eager to retreat.
  
  -On reliability, I'd say the guitar is VERY fragile ... I had a lot of problems with bad contacts, particularly at the stereo output of which a portion of the signal was cut. generally unacceptable for a product in this range.
  
  On-the price, I would say it is high, but for a Gibson LP United States is in the range ... One might almost say that for the same price, you have a LP standard, without the functionality of the DF, so why deny it?
  
  
  
  Note: the firmware (the firmware for friends ...) of the DF is rotten. It is upgradeable to the following model of the range of robotic guitars, the DuskTiger ... I did the upgrade in the first hours of use because the interface is much better in this version of firmware, I recommend it to all ... Moreover, Gibson tolerate the practice, and the same documents ... Not affect the Service.
  
  
  
  To conclude, it is a good guitar-road, with a good grain, easy to play, and with features that allow it to shine on stage and in studio, it suits me well.
  
  
  
  Voilou!
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