This is the Loog Pro, a three-string guitar suitable for kids, and also for awesome adults. The Pro, along with the new Loog Mini, are the sequels to existing Loogs, and bring a whole bunch of neat upgrades. Why are we writing about it here on Cult of Mac? Because it also comes with a free app to help you learn to play.
Who wants a three-string guitar?
The Loog has just three strings, half the number of a regular guitar, and one fewer than the guitar’s devil’s-spawn sibling, the ukulele. This makes it a lot simpler as a beginner instrument, and particularly suitable for kids. But a three-string guitar can also be a whole lot of fun for an advanced guitar player. They can experiment with odd tunings (tuning the strings to non-standard pitches), or use the thing to play slide guitar.
New Features for the Loog Pro and Mini
All the Loogs look badass. They’re shaped like someone took a kids drawing and fed it into a CNC machine. Their style is a throwback to the amazing Danelectros and mail-order-catalog guitars of the 1950s and 1960s, with hot-rodded car colors and chrome hardware. The new electric Pro adds a new metal bridge, with adjustable saddles for better intonation on each string; an all-maple neck (the old ones used rosewood for the fretboard, which is now classed as endangered and subject to strict import controls); plus a new pickup design (the pickup translates the strings’ vibrations into electricity) and some other cosmetic changes.
The Loog Guitar Mini
Photo: Loog
The Mini is an acoustic guitar, and is around the same size as a ukulele. However, because it uses nylon classical guitar strings , and is tuned to the pitch of a standard guitar, it doesn’t produce a sound that sets your teeth on edge and makes you want to snatch the instrument and smash it over the player’s own head.
Loog Academy app
The Loog Academy is the companion app for the guitars. It’s a one-stop-spot for most of what a beginner will need. There’s a tuner which tells you whether to “tighten” or “loosen” the strings, a drummer to play along to, or to use as a metronome. There’s also a section that teaches you the chords you can play on three strings (there are plenty). The app also includes a whole course on learning to play, using tutorial videos, along with a songbook. And these aren’t your regular lame, out-of-copyright campfire classics either. Included are songs by Pharell, Taylor Swift, and The Rolling Stones, as well as videos to play along to.
In short, Loog’s guitars and apps do their best to remove anything that may stop you playing. It’s about as encouraging as you could imagine.
The new Loogs are on Kickstarter right now, and are already well over their funding goal (currently almost $240,000, with a goal of just $30,000). You can also buy the previous generation at a discount right away.
