By David Ponce

The iTar is not a real product yet, it’s a conceptual accessory for the iPad that will make it easier to turn it into a guitar. Which is where we imagine the iTar name came from: “i” and “guiTAR”. Still, at first glance, iTar looks like something nefarious, something oily and perhaps cigarette related. Or perhaps that’s all in this author’s mind and in reality it couldn’t be anything further from that. We actually do like what it will do if its Kickstarter campaign takes off. It combines a button-based guitar fretboard (Starr Labs patented fingerboard) with your iPad to create a multi-talented instrument. Dock the iPad in and you’ll be able to play, quasi-virtually, a number of instruments, not just the guitar. It can be a keyboard, a drum set, a synthesizer; everything hinges on the related application and its bevvy of instruments that are at your fingertips.

Of course, the iTar will only exist if the Kickstarter campaign gains steam. As of writing, they’ve raised $4k of their $50k goal, but there are a little over 50 days left. If this is your sort of thing, the smallest contribution that will net you an iTar is $200, although you can pitch in at any level.

[ Kickstarter Campaign For iTar ] VIA [ DVice ]

By Chris Scott Barr

My life is generally pretty hectic between class, work and all the things in between and I sometimes like to take the stress volume down a notch or two with my trusty Les Paul Custom. The problem is it’s generally 3am or later by the time I have a chance to sit down and do such a thing, so cranking up a Marshall full-stack to 11 is not an option. That’s why when Peavey’s AmpKit LiNK, a portable electric guitar interface for the iPhone, came across our desks a few weeks ago I was immediately interested (and by interested I mean I went running around the office with a replica Highlander sword shouting “There can be only one… reviewer.”).

The AmpKit experience begins with the free AmpKit app (or it’s feature packed paid version AmpKit+) from the iTunes App Store. The application itself is very sleek, the primary interface is a virtual view of the amp head/cabinet, microphone and effects that you currently have set, giving you a good overview of all your settings. The interface also provides a number of preset configurations, a metronome and tuner, and an interface for recording clips and transferring them wirelessly to your PC or Mac.

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