A knob-twiddlers dream—and no doubt a nightmare, to some—is this radical Gibson Firebird X, a 6-string electric guitar into which Gibson has essentially crammed a mini-music production studio’s worth of digital gear. All quite mind-boggling, as Gibson details 20 revolutionary features of the X, including fourth-generation Robo-Tuners, Patch Morphing, and a Pure Analog™ Updateable Audio Engine, with Open Architecture for easy third-party developer access. Not all critics have loved the X, and of course, there  will always be purists who don’t want their guitars to even know about third-party apps. Still, the consensus seems to be that the Firebird X is a milestone instrument, the next evolutionary link in what’s to come. Which makes it…interesting. To learn more, try this extended, evangelistic video (if you’re impatient, slide it to the playing parts!)…