When I got word last week that Gibson had taken a bold step into the virtual world by officially launching its own Second Life Island―a popular computer game accessible through secondlife.com―I was intrigued enough to take a nice long stroll around Gibson’s eye-popping, guitar-centric virtual 3-D island. If you’ve never visited Second Life before, but you’re a big fan of Gibson, don’t be intimidated. Read on and I’ll give you the scoop on what to expect and how to get there. P.S., it’s free and really user friendly.
In case you hadn’t heard—and a lot of non-geeks haven’t—in the last five years, Second Life has become an addictive pastime for millions of people around the world. It’s essentially a free downloadable program that looks like a digital continent and that has been created entirely by its residents. Each person builds an avatar that, with the guidance of a mouse and a generous allotment of down time, can explore the lay of the land. Many people have purchased parcels of land on Second Life, on which they’ll build a home or a coffee shop or a bait and tackle shack—or whatever their fancy. In fact, though Second Life is free to download and the Gibson Island is free to explore, there are enough things to buy and sell—be it land or clothing for your avatar—that millions of dollars in real money are exchanged each month via the site.
Gibson has taken advantage of this new media format, giving its computer-savvy consumers a different kind of access to its guitars with the Gibson Island. There, digital luthiers build guitars before your eyes and celebrity guest stars perform shows. There’s also the matter of free guitars. Yes, free Gibson guitars for the taking. OK, so you can’t actually take the guitars with you once you leave Second Life in favor of reality, but it’s pretty enticing nonetheless.
As you could have guessed, Gibson Island is in the shape of a Les Paul guitar body. When you first land on the island, after registering your free account at secondlife.com and getting a hang of how to maneuver your avatar, you have the freedom to go wherever you want. I went to watch a video, but you can choose to do other fun things too.
The island offers a number of videos that you can watch, including blues performances by the legendary Howlin’ Wolf. Anytime you see a video billboard, just walk your avatar over to it and click. You’ll be presented with a menu, allowing you to choose your video. Then sit back and enjoy the performance. Here’s a tip: on the bottom of the Second Life screen there is a media Play and Stop button to play video. If you get a billboard and it says click the media play button, that’s what it’s talking about.
The Play button will automatically start playing the video you are standing in front of. When you are finished you can just walk away and the video will stop playing.
Some of the billboards have information on particular Gibson guitars. For instance, in Gibson Labs you can get more information on the SG Diablo by simply clicking on the billboard. It will open up the Web page on Gibson.com and take you right to it. Much easier and way more fun than searching around for the information.
As I mentioned earlier, you can also score up your favorite Gibson guitar on the island―I just picked up a free 1959 Les Paul. Now, if I could only get that out of Second Life and into my studio.
I picked up a guitar bag, too. You have to protect an axe like that, even in the virtual world.
I tried to climb the ropes on the giant Gibson acoustic so I could pick up a free F5 Mandolin, but that didn’t work out so well for me. My character, like me, is afraid of heights. I fell off. Not to worry, no injuries to speak of.
Walking around can be a bit tiring, so why not try flying instead? If you press the “F” key on your keyboard, you can fly around the island. This gives you a bird’s eye view of what’s available―pressing the “F” key again lands you safely back on the ground.
How about a walk through the Gibson Forest where you will learn about the woods that make the guitars, or a visit to Gibson Radio, which plays music from hundreds of artists?
One of my favorite spots is the Gibson Custom Guitar Shop where you can customize your virtual guitar and meet Gibson’s official virtual luthier, Myriam Beck.
The island also features the Gibson Rock and Roll Stage, a full-sized concert stage for musical performances. And, of course, Epiphone, Baldwin, and Gibson Acoustics, all have their own place on Gibson Island. Go on, have a look for yourself.
For directions on how to get to Gibson Island once you're logged into Second Life, click here and scroll down to "How to Get on Gibson's Second Life Island."