There Are No Strings Holding Down LiberLive's Award-Winning Smart Guitar

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The guitar is the coolest instrument there is; this is a scientific fact. Whether you're plucking out a moody vibe on an acoustic or shredding the classics on an electric, the guitar is an absolute force of musical good. However, the guitar can also be rather difficult to learn, play, and maintain, which creates a bit of a barrier to entry for would-be rockers. It can take a long time and a lot of calluses to get really good at guitar, and even once you've mastered it, you still need to cut and set new strings on a regular basis. There's no way to skip the practicing process for learning guitar, unfortunately, but what if there were a way to make the rest of it a little more user-friendly?

LiberLive, a next-generation music tech brand, has been researching this concept since its founding in 2019. Five years, four international design awards, and eight tech patents later, LiberLive has arrived at its brainchild: the C1 Stringless Smart Guitar. It's the guitar of the future: none of the strings, all of the sound. It's not just a prop from an old sci-fi TV show, but the real deal, and you can buy one for yourself right now on LiberLive's website or Amazon at an awesome holiday price.

LiberLive's C1 Stringless Smart Guitar is designed to provide a comparable level of sound quality to a regular stringed guitar, but in a much more accessible package. If you grew up playing "Guitar Hero" at all, the operation of the Smart Guitar may feel familiar to you. Just hold your fingers on the sequential chord buttons, flick the paddle, and you get that lovely strumming sound. You can even slide your fingers along the buttons to produce the same warm sliding tone you'd normally get from strings. The paddle is also sensitive to strumming velocity, so stronger flicks produce a fiercer sound.

The sound of the C1 Stringless Smart Guitar has been carefully tuned by professional musicians and acoustics experts for high-quality output. This is backed by a built-in professional speaker setup, including a 3-inch mid-woofer, a 0.8-inch tweeter, and a 180-millimeter bass-boosted wind tunnel. Rolling Stone called this smart guitar a "technological marvel" and named it among the best at CES 2025.

Since it's a digital instrument, the C1 Stringless Smart Guitar is jam-packed with helpful features. For instance, if you're playing by yourself, a couple of quick taps on the neck will activate a built-in drum machine and bassline to serve as your backup, both of which are powered by MicroDAW Sampling Synthesis technology for real-time, distortion-free audio data extraction. You can also pair it with the LiberLive app to set up 72 custom chords, adjust the key, and set up a sound profile. The app allows you to set up chord sheets as well with simple color-coded instructions, so you don't even need to know how to read traditional music.

LiberLive

The C1 Stringless Smart Guitar is also substantially more portable than a traditional guitar, weighing in at just 4 pounds and change. Its folding body also means you can store it more easily, which is a lifesaver while traveling.

The LiberLive C1 Stringless Smart Guitar makes playing an instrument accessible to a wide array of music enthusiasts and creatives. It's a great entry point for beginners who've always wanted to play but weren't sure where to begin. It's also an excellent alternative for musicians looking for light-weight portability and less demand on their fingers. It makes a great gift for parents looking to inspire musical creativity and comes in four colors (black, green, pink or white) at a price point of just $499 — now that's music to our ears.