Gibson LPX Owner's Manual

Gibson LPX

Owner’s Manual

FCC and IC Compliance

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This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules and RSS-210 of Industry Canada. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful interference

2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

Le présent appareil est conforme aux CNR d'Industrie Canada applicables aux appareils radio exempts de licence. L'exploitation est autorisée aux deux conditions suivantes :

(1) l'appareil ne doit pas produire de brouillage (2) l'utilisateur de l'appareil doit accepter tout brouillage radioélectrique subi, même si le brouillage est susceptible d'en compromettre le fonctionnement.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which canbe determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by 1 or more of the following measures:

 Reorient or relocate the antenna  Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver  Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected  Consult the dealer or an experienced radio or television technician for help

Caution: Changes or modifications not expressly approved by Gibson could void the user’s authority to operate this equipment.

Japanese Compliance

This device has been granted a designation number by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications according to the Ordinance concerning the Technical Regulations Conformity Certification etc. of Specified Radio Equipment

(特定無線設備の技術基準適合証明等に関する規則)

Article 2 clause (1) Item (19) (1) Approval nos: 202WWSM115690411, 202WWSM115690412, 202WWSM115690413, 202WWSM115690414 This device should not be modified (otherwise the granted designation number will become invalid)

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Chapter 1: LPX Essentials

Important: Register Your LPX

Registration provides information for joining the Visionaries Club, where you can:

 Participate in the forums  Maintain a blog  Share LPX patches  Download free software: Gibson LPX Editor, Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 Pro (full

version), and Ableton Live Lite 8 Gibson Studio Edition

 Post calendar events  Contact support

Additional benefits are planned for the future, so stay tuned.

How to Register

1. Use any internet browser to visit http://www.gibson.com/FirebirdX.

2. Click on the Registration link to submit your warranty information (see the LPX

Certificate of Authenticity included with your guitar).

3. After registering, you’ll receive licenses for the LPX software bundle, as well as a username and password to access the Visionaries Club site at http://LPX.gibson.com.

STOP! Update Your System

The software-based LPX system allows for product enhancements. After registering your LPX, check the Visionaries Club for new documentation, patches, and system updates. If

new system software or firmware is available, install the Mac or Windows LPX Editor as described in the downloadable LPX Editor manual, then follow the update procedure.

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Important Safety and Warranty Information

We value you as a customer—and want our products to give you an inspiring, and gratifying, experience. So, to insure your safety and protect your investment in Gibson’s LPX guitar, please read and follow all safety warnings and operating instructions before using this product, and keep all documentation for future reference.

Environmental Factors

Heat and moisture can harm your Gibson LPX. Please do not install or operate this guitar near sources of moisture, such as sinks, damp basements, leaky roofs, etc. and never store it near heat sources, such as heaters or radiators. Both you and your LPX will be much happier if you store and operate this product under safe conditions.

Power Sources

Use only the power sources included in the LPX package. Make sure any power supply cords are not located where they are likely to be safety hazards, such as on the floor where people might walk, or in locations where they may receive pressure from items placed upon or against them. Also, be very careful with any power source connections, such as where the AC adapter connects to the wall outlet. If this is jostled loose, the G-Node USB 2.0 audio interface included with LPX may experience extreme power differentials, which can potentially harm you and the product.

Service

Please do not attempt to service LPX or any of its accessories yourself—let our expert technicians handle any repairs for you.

Speaking of experts, always send the LPX or G-Node USB 2.0 audio interface to the factory for servicing if any of the following occurs:

 Any foreign object (especially liquid) has gotten inside LPX or its accessories  LPX or its accessories have been exposed to water, dropped, or otherwise damaged  A marked change in LPX’s performance  You hear anything rattling around inside if you shake the LPX gently

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Warranty Protection

It is extremely important to us that you are satisfied with LPX. Register it and activate your warranty protection by mailing the warranty card included with LPX to Gibson USA, Department W, P.O. Box 100087, Nashville, TN 37210-0087. If you encounter any kind of problem, contact us as soon as possible so we can make things right.

Once you your warranty protection is active, LPX's electronic components are warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the date of original purchase. Your warranty covers the cost of both labor and materials on any repair deemed necessary by our Customer Service Representative for the warranty period, subject to the limitations below. Please note that our warranty belongs to the original retail purchaser only, and may not be transferred or assigned to subsequent owners.

If LPX malfunctions as a result of faulty materials or workmanship, Gibson will determine whether repair or replacement is more appropriate. In case the original materials are no longer available for repair, Gibson reserves the right to use materials regularly utilized at the time of repair.

If we determine that replacing LPX best serves your interests, or in the unlikely event that it is destroyed, lost, or damaged beyond repair while in our possession for repairs, we will replace the product. If it is no longer available, it will be replaced with the most similar product whose value does not exceed your original product’s purchase price.

Remember—as a necessary condition to the warranty coverage described in this section, you must activate your warranty by mailing the warranty card included with LPX to Gibson USA, Department W, P.O. Box 100087, Nashville, TN 37210-0087.

Warranty Limitations

Unfortunately, your product warranty cannot cover :

 Any product that has been altered or modified in any way, or upon which any serial

or registration number has been tampered with or altered in any way.

 Any product whose warranty card has been altered or contains false information.  Any product that has been damaged due to misuse, negligence, accident or improper

operation or storage.

 Any product damaged during shipment. Inspect the package immediately upon

receipt, and notify the carrier immediately if there is damage.

 Any product damaged as a result of extreme temperature, humidity, or the use of an

improper power source.

 Any product not purchased through an authorized dealer, or any product that has had

repairs, modifications or alterations made by an unauthorized service technician.

 Wear and tear based on normal usage.  Factory installed electronics after more than one year following the original date of

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purchase.

Gibson makes no other express warranty of any kind. All implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose that exceed the specific provisions of the warranty, are expressly and specifically disclaimed and excluded from the warranty. Note, however, that some states and/or countries do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties, so this paragraph may not apply to you. In particular, if you purchased your product outside of the United States, contact your local distributor for the handling and resolution of all warranty issues, as the warranty described here is not always applicable.

And of course, Gibson shall not be liable for any special, indirect, consequential, incidental or other similar damages to you or to any third party, including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits or business, or damages resulting from use or performance of the product, whether in contract or tort, even if Gibson or its authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages, and Gibson shall not be liable for any expenses, claims or suits arising from or relating to any of the foregoing.

To obtain warranty service, please contact Gibson directly:

US (Toll Free) 1-800-4GIBSON US (Local) 1-615-871-4500 Email - service@gibson.com

Never send a unit in for repair before contacting Gibson. You will be advised of the proper procedure for a quick and efficient repair, as well as provide information on where and how to send your LPX.

Gibson® is a trademark of the Gibson Guitar Corp. Windows® and Windows 7® are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc.

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Introduction

Congratulations on joining the select group of LPX visionaries.

LPX combines revolutionary features with Gibson’s traditional construction quality and superior sound. It’s the most technologically-advanced guitar in the world—yet remains familiar and playable. You don’t have to adapt to LPX; it adapts to you.

 Tune your guitar strings automatically, including alternate tunings, in seconds  GoldTone

pickup technology for the three mini-humbuckers emulates iconic guitar

sounds through switching of purely analog signals, not digital modeling

 Over 2,000 pickup combinations are possible, including variations on single-coil,

humbucker, series, parallel, in-phase, out-of-phase, and many more

 Play stunning acoustic guitar sounds from the separate piezo pickup—even layer

acoustic and electric sounds

 Blue LightningTM Wireless Pedalboard and Switchboard floor pedals eliminate cable

clutter and allow rapid sound selection

 The onboard Pure Analog

upgradable audio engine provides anything from subtle

tone control to state-of-the-art processor, amp, and cabinet effects

 Tweak sounds live or in the studio with innovative onboard control sliders  Customize the volume knob for any volume curve, and edit the Digital Varitone

tone knob for virtually any tone control response

 Send LPX outputs—including individual strings—to Mac/Windows recording software,

thanks to Gibson’s G-NodeTM USB 2.0 interface

 Create your own signature sounds with the intuitive Mac/Windows LPX Editor  Gain exclusive access to the Visionaries Club for trading and downloading patches,

learning new techniques, sharing experiences with other LPX owners, and more

...and those are only the highlights. Welcome!

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Preparation

Accessories Checklist

Your LPX is a complete system with all needed accessories. After removing the guitar case from the shipping box, take out the Accessory Pack in the bottom of the box. Check that between the Accessory Pack and guitar case pocket, the following are all included.

Notes:

 All AC adapters are global and work with 100 to 240V, 50/60Hz.  Use only USB 2.0 high-speed cables with LPX USB peripherals.  The Certificate of Authenticity is an important part of the LPX package—it’s your

passport to continued support, free patches and software, special offers, and access to the online Visionaries Club. File it in a safe place.

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LPX Controls

Please note the control names we’ll be using in this manual, and their locations.

About the Gear Shift Knob

The Gear Shift is a sophisticated “push-pull” knob with an illuminated interactive display. The display shows LPX's status as you select tunings, sounds, and additional functions. It is your primary way of interacting with LPX.

Pull the Gear Shift up (furthest from the guitar body) to apply power to LPX.

Push down on the Gear Shift knob (pushing toward the body until it clicks) to turn off LPX. This stores the current tuning and sound for recall next time you power-up.

The Battery

LPX must be turned on, with a charged battery, to work. Batteries can lose charge over time, so please check the batteries when you receive LPX.

Pull up on the Gear Shift knob to turn on LPX. Within five seconds, a green circle should appear momentarily in the middle of the knob to indicate the battery is charged.

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If not, open the battery door on the back of the guitar, and remove the battery.

Place the battery in one of the supplied chargers. A full charge takes about 70 minutes.

The battery charger light will be red while charging, then turn green when the battery is charged. Insert the charged battery in the guitar.

Check the charge of the other supplied batteries, and if necessary, charge them to capacity as you explore LPX. If you need additional batteries, use Samsung IA-BP80W (or equivalent) camcorder batteries.

Low Battery Indications

Depending on how often you tune, the battery charge can last up to two hours of continuous playing. The following indicators represent the battery status.

 Gear Shift knob has green dot in center: Battery is charged, with at least 30

minutes charge remaining

 Gear Shift knob flashes yellow: 10 to 30 minutes of charge left

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 Gear Shift knob flashes red: Less than 10 minutes left—replace battery. Low-level

white noise appears in the output to give audible confirmation of battery status.

 Gear Shift knob flashes blue approximately every four seconds: After 10 minutes

without activity, LPX goes into “sleep” mode. (Sleep mode still drains the battery somewhat; to prevent this, turn the guitar off completely.) Move the Gear Shift knob to “wake up” LPX.

Connecting to Amplification

LPX’s unbalanced output can drive anything from a guitar amp, to a mixing board’s lowimpedance input, to a computer’s audio interface. Separate cables are included to connect LPX to either 1/4” phone jacks (balanced or unbalanced, with ring not connected) or XLR inputs (pin 2 hot, pin 1 ground, and pin 3 not connected). Note: Use only the supplied

stereo cable to connect LPX to the G-Node interface.

Caution! When patching LPX to a balanced XLR input, make sure the XLR input does not

have phantom power enabled. This could damage LPX’s output.

LPX’s output level is somewhat “hotter” than standard guitars. Start with the amplifier volume at minimum, then turn up to a comfortable listening level. Note: LPX produces no

“thump” on power-up or power-down, so you may safely turn LPX on or off even if your amp is set to high levels.

For a quick audio check, you can plug standard headphones directly into LPX’s output. However levels will be low, and only in the left earphone.

Required String Gauges

For optimum Robo-Tuner tuning speed and reliability, please use the correct gauge strings.

LPX ships with the recommended string gauge set: High E = .009, B = .011, G = .016 (wound), D = .026, A = .036, low E = .046.

 The heaviest gauge permissible string set is high E = .011, low E = .052  The lightest gauge permissible string set is high E = .009, low E = .042.

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Chapter 2: Select Tuning and Sound Presets

Select Tuning Presets

Note: The “down” tog-pot switch position means pointing at the floor, referenced to holding the guitar in a normal playing position.

1. With the Gear Shift knob pulled up and the guitar on, push the silver tog-pot switch to the down (Tuning) position. Note: This mutes the audio.

2. Rotate the Gear Shift knob fully counter-clockwise to select standard tuning. The knob’s display shows “1.”

3. Strum each string distinctly, as when playing single notes—not rapidly, like strumming a chord. The Robo-Tuners will turn as needed, and the string LEDs around the Gear Shift’s edge will turn different colors to indicate tuning status. Several strums may be necessary; the more you use the tuning function, the faster it tunes. Here’s what the colors indicate.

 Red: String not in tune, or not yet tuned  Yellow: Robo-Tuners are turning to tune the string. If the corresponding Robo-Tuner

doesn’t turn when its LED flashes yellow, there is a physical or electrical problem.

 Green: Individual string in tune  All string LEDs green: Tuning is complete  White: Short circuit detected. If any part of a string touches something metallic

that's not in the normal string path, that string will not tune. Check if a string touches the tail piece, the bridge, a fret, or another string; make sure that strings are cut close to the posts, and that all strings are in the bridge saddle's center.

4. When tuning is finished, LPX automatically exits tuning mode, unmutes the audio, and returns to whatever patch was selected when you started tuning. A Gear Shift light flashes

green to confirm the guitar is tuned.

5. Return the silver tog-pot to mid-position.

To experiment with other tunings:

1. Push the silver tog-pot down to Tuning position.

2. Rotate the Gear Shift to the desired tuning. See the following Tuning chart for a listing

(Gear Shift Center is the character that appears in the center; the Gear Shift Symbol flashes in blue briefly upon selecting a patch.)

3. Strum as described above.

4. Return the silver tog-pot to the middle position when tuning is done.

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+ 27 hidden pages

Gibson LPX Owner's Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual