Guitarist Stevic MacKay of Twelve Foot Ninja teamed up with Line 6 to bring an absolute monster of innovation and technology to NAMM 2017: his signature Shuriken Variax. In short, it’s a guitar that can sound like 60 other guitars; it can even do “hybrids” and sound like a couple of different guitars simultaneously. This is all controlled with what would normally be a guitar’s volume/tone knob.
For Stevic, the Shuriken has
…created a new way of looking [at] performance and composing…It’s not like the guitar dictates what you have to do, you dictate to the guitar what you want it to do. (emphasis added)
Bear with me for a moment, because it doesn’t end there. You can change tunings by simply turning a knob as well. Just like that, on the fly. Even the volume of each individual string is customizable. Like, when I first heard the Helix, I thought that was about as crazy as shit could get. The Shuriken is undoubtedly the most advanced guitar tech out there right now. Heckin’ bamboozlin’, it is. Check out Stevic’s quick rundown below:
For a thorough explanation and demonstration of what this beast is capable of, watch Stevic put it through its paces:
Immense. It can literally do anything. I’m surprised it doesn’t play itself.
