A Gold Award for Lâg HyVibe from Guitar Word.

Guitar World is an American monthly music magazine for guitarists, published since July 1980. The magazine claimed that the HyVibe guitar system is one of the most fascinating recent developments for acoustic guitar since the “Golden Era” of the Thirties. The HyVibe guitar system is exclusively available on several models offered by France's Lâg Guitars.

The HyVibe system provides multi-effects processing and looping functions that are amplified via vibration technology.

This vibration technology even allows the guitar to function as a Bluetooth speaker. The HyVibe system can also be controlled via a free mobile app. This technology is paired with three different Lâg dreadnought cutaway models, which provide guitarists with affordable access to this technology without sacrificing quality and playability.

LÂG Tramontane
HyVibe THV10DCE

LÂG Tramontane
HyVibe THV20DCE

LÂG Tramontane
HyVibe THV30DCE

Guitar World dedicates the Award to the most affordable model, the LÂG Tramontane HyVibe THV10DCE.

FEATURES

The THV1ODCE guitar's con­struction details include a solid red cedar top, Khaya (African) mahogany back, sides and neck, and Brownwood fingerboard and bridge. (Brownwood/Blackwood technol­ogy modifies soft woods through drying, compression and coloring process to rep­licate hard tonewoods like rosewood and ebony.) The neck has a 650mm scale length, slim "C"-shaped profile and 20 nickel silver frets, and the neck and body also have a satin open-pore finish.     

The HyVibe controller is installed in the guitar's upper bass bout, in the same place where acoustic-electric preamps and con­trols are usually mounted. The controller features a large monochromatic LED screen, down, up and enter/back buttons, a vol­ume knob that doubles as a push/push on/ off button and a fader for adjusting parame­ters. The HyVibe controller provides access to numerous functions, including tuner, effects (reverb, chorus, delay, octave, trem­olo, phaser and distortion), looper, met­ronome, Bluetooth speaker, MIDI pedal, USB and system. Input, output and USB C jacks you will find located on the lower bout near the endpin.

The HyVibe Mobile App allows users to modify all the effects, con­figure looper settings, record playing, cre­ate custom effect banks, configure the order of effects on the controller and calibrate the guitar.

PERFORMANCE

The HyVibe system generates effects via the guitar itself without needing external amplification, similar to the ToneWoodAmp and Yamaha TransAcoustic. And unlike the Tonewood and Yamaha, the HyVibe system uses two actuators to "excite" the top of the guitar, rather than the back,for a more precise and defined sound. Also, HyVibe's connectivity allows for it to be updated regularly with new effects or functionality. HyVibe offers a wider variety of effects, and the effects can sound quite prominent if desired. The looper function simply blew my mind the first time I tried it — it was almost shocking to hear the guitar playing back my performance by itself with exactly the same sound. The effects and looper deliver professional-quality sound and performance and greatly expand the concept of playing "unplugged."

The mobile app greatly expands the power of the effects section by allow­ing users to modify each effect to their preferences and control a wider vari­ety of parameters and settings than those accessible via the controller. In addi­tion to being amplified "acoustically", the effects can also be amplified exter­nally since the processed signal is routed through the output jack. The HyVibe system's battery lasts for about 10 hours of constant use, and it then recharges quickly in a few hours, using the pro­vided USB adapter.
The guitar itself is an impressive and satisfying platform for access­ing the HyVibe technology's capabilities.

It delivers classic dreadnought tone with brilliant treble and big, blasting bass that's slightly tamed thanks to the cutaway. The attention to detail in the craftsmanship is outstanding, resulting in an instrument that feels very smooth and comfortable in the player's hands and providing satisfying playability.