Switch Innovo IV MIDI

This is an update from my earlier review below. I've had this guitar for 4 years now.

The features haven't changed...

I still like the sound. However, after replacing the caps in my Gibson, the Gibson sounds quite a lot better. The Switch is still more aggressive, though. Depending on the sound you want you might have to change the pickups, but it's a personal thing. I happen to like it.

I did have to change a washer on one of the tuners. When I went to change the strings the first time, my new bass string wouldn't feed through the hole in the tuner. I had to unscrew the tuner and replace the washer with a thinner one. Now it's fine.

I found over the next few years that the neck changed slightly over time. Every several months for the first year I would have to straighten the neck a tiny bit more. Eventually this stopped happening and the guitar's geometry has been stable ever since. I live in Florida, so it gets very hot here in the summers. I suspect that didn't help the situation. It did completely stop, though. It now stays in tune for a really long time. After playing, I rub down the strings with RIG gun lubricant which keeps the strings playable without corroding for literally months even with heavy playing. Now, after a few weeks of sitting idle I will pick up the guitar and it is still perfectly in tune. So, if you get one of these Switch guitars and notice the neck changing - it does go away after a while. If you don't keep the guitar for long it would be easy to believe that the guitar just won't hold a tune for long, but it is a short term problem only. If it's fresh from the factory it may move a tiny bit for a while. It's well worth putting up with this slight nuisance for the quality of guitar you are getting. It really does play great.

The metal flake paint is fragile. It will chip if you bang it on things. You aren't going to hurt the guitar's playability, but the finish is vulnerable. Otherwise, everything has held up very well.

See below...

For the money these go for - they are fabulous value. They do not hold their value that well in the used market, but they are super to play. I now have three guitars I really enjoy. The Switch, my Gibson V and a newly acquired Fender HM Strat. All three are really excellent guitars. But, if you want to use the midi the Switch is the only one that is set up for it.

As far as I know this is a 2005 guitar. The Innovo IV MIDI is made of the patented Vibracell resin developed by Switch for their guitars. The advertising at their site describes the thinking behind this in detail. They have attempted to recreate the density and resonance of very fine wood. I think they have succeeded amazingly well. The fret board is rosewood. 22 frets. Two of their Red Hot Humbucker pickups and the Roland GK2A hex midi pickup neatly mounted. There are three heavy chrome knurled knobs. The top is volume for both humbuckers. The middle is tone for both humbuckers. The bottom is the midi volume for the Roland pickup. There is a toggle switch for the humbuckers 1/1&2/2. Another toggle switch controls the mix of the output between the humbuckers and the midi. You can have midi only or both or humbuckers only. Finally there are the two up and down buttons which can have different functions depending on your midi synth/converter's setup. The tremolo is a Wilkinson. I've never played a Wilkinson tremolo, but I like the action. My other guitar is a custom Gibson V 1983 with a Kahler tremolo. The Kahler is smooth as silk, but very soft so you have to be real careful not to overdo things. The Wilkinson has a lot more stiffness, though I question whether it has the bend range of the Kahler. Haven't tried to max it out... But, it feels very nice. The tuners are Grovers and are very smooth and stay put where you set them. The guitar comes with a very nice gig bag and a wide strap which is quite comfortable. All in all, this is one very nice guitar for the money. I honestly think the sound of the pickups smokes my Gibson, though you can't set the pickup volumes separately, which is a bit annoying, but hey, it has a lot of stuff packed in there. The strings are through body and supposedly the Vibracell gives the guitar excellent sustain. I bought it sight unseen for the midi capability and got this great guitar along with the deal. For what I paid - excellent value. I'd recommend this guitar to anybody.

I love the sound. I had it for about 2 months without a midi converter, so I've been playing it straight a bit. Sounds amazing. I play through a Digitech gfx-1 twin Tube, into a Roland GP-8 (awesome box), and then into a Digitech GSP5. That goes into a Yamaha G50-112II. I play classical and rock/alternative. These pickups are very hot and clear. No muddiness at all. I'd say it has a real full sound. It has more punch than the Gibson. I also have an old Peavey T-60 which has a totally different sound. It's more in your face than either of these other guitars. The tone and volume knob seriously limits your ability to blend the pickups - like it is equal or nothing. Still, the range of the sound is amazingly good given that limitation. When you add the midi capability - WOW! Unbelievable sound. I'm running the midi into a Yamaha G50 midi converter and then into a substantial synth rig I've built over the past 10 years. I'm just now starting to explore with the midi guitar synth but I can already tell this is going to be a hell of a lot of fun. I've been playing this thing ever since I got it. I'm thinking of selling the Gibson. The guitar midi synth is just addictive... Quite possibly the best money I've ever put into a guitar. Should have bought one ages ago, but just never got around to it. Just too cool for words. You have to hear it.

The box the guitar came in had a crushed section and I was really worried to see what I had in there, but it came through without a scratch. The finish is excellent. I got the Blue Firemist. Very flashy glitter finish. Sculpted body. The setup was a disaster for me. After playing that Gibson V with such a tight action I was way less than pleased with the way the guitar arrived, but it was corrected within an hour of its arrival. The neck had too much bend in it and the tremolo was set way too high. However, the guitar came with three hex wrenches so I set to work. It now plays very close to the Gibson as far as action and feel, though the frets are substantially larger than the Gibson. The frets are much more like the ones on my Peavey. The guitar was spotless from a manufacturing standpoint. The Wilkinson Tremolo can be dropped with the hex nuts very easily, so once I straightened the neck a bit and dropped the trem, the rest was just the usual trial and error. I set the saddles to roughly match the curve of the Roland midi pickup, which is a bit more curved than I'm used to, but those things are known to be very pesky. You want to make sure there is no fret buzz or you'll get all kinds of bad noise from your synths as the system thinks it is getting other notes. At this point it plays like a dream. The G50 tracks extremely well after my setup, and having all the controls right there is fantastic. I had heard some bad things about the Yamaha G50, but I suspect the people who had problems had fret buzz they weren't aware of. It works great for me. Better than I expected it to after playing with some Rolands. Now I just have to learn how to program the thing and figure out the little tricks of midi playing style.

The Innovo looks very durable. It's plastic after all. Shouldn't be affected by humidity at all. The rosewood neck seemed a bit dry when I got it, but who knows how long it had been in the box. I baby all my guitars, so can't say about how much abuse it would stand. I personally think abusing guitars is just barbaric. Instruments should be respected, if they are good ones. The strap buttons seem solid as a rock. The top one is mounted under the top horn of the body, which I've never seen before, but it sure doesn't ever want to come loose, so I am quite happy about this. Everything about this guitar is intelligently done. I'm guessing on this category, but I think it is quite durable, from what I have seen so far.

Wrote the company an email because I didn't get anything with the guitar to tell me what the various knobs and buttons did. They emailed me back within a couple of days and set me straight. They warranty the thing forever to the original purchaser. Within reason of course...

I've been playing for 26 years. I have a bunch of synths and several guitars. I'm kind of a music junky I guess... Always trying to mess with tone. I've never been happy with the keyboards simply because I'm a lousy pianist. But, I can handle a guitar a bit better, so this is a godsend. I'm sold on this guitar. Excellent instrument by people who are obviously cutting edge and serious. You can't go wrong with this guitar. If you can't set up a guitar yourself, spend the 50$ and have a professional do it for you. No guitar will be set up perfectly unless somebody takes some time and skill. Most people on a factory line don't have the time or inclination to do that. So, I don't fault the company for the setup. I'd definitely try to replace it if it were stolen. I'm not about to lose a guitar... I've never met anybody who has... I chose this guitar for the midi and the price. I'd have had to pay a grand to get a Brian Moore with these capabilities. The Brian Moores are prettier, but probably not as durable. Maybe the piezos are better; I wouldn't know. I played a midi ready Fender and hated it. This plays VERY nicely. The better the sustain in a guitar the better it will work with the midi, so the Vibracell makes excellent sense in this application. I can't think of any reason you would hate this guitar unless you just can't stand the design. If you get a chance for a good deal on one of these take it. You won't be sorry.