Jamstik Core is the best MIDI guitar at $500, but I’m still left wanting moreWhen building or upgrading your music production setup, a MIDI or MPE controller is often an essential investment for controlling virtual instruments. With a budget of, say, $600-700, you could get a full-size keyboard with weighted keys and ample controls, or something more futuristic and expressive, like the Embodme Erae Touch MPE controller. Or you could opt for the Jamstik Core MIDI guitar, and shred through your own sound library and the accompanying Jamstik Creator suite of virtual instruments.
The Jamstik Core is the smaller, more affordable version of the Jamstik Standard (previously called the Studio), which we called “an incredible instrument” and “the best iteration of a MIDI guitar.” Like the Standard, the 22-fret Jamstik Core is a MIDI guitar that actually is a guitar. That might sound bizarre to say, but with other MIDI guitars, such as the AeroBand, you’re getting something that looks and plays something like a guitar — not an actual guitar.
Jamstik employs a 6-channel Hexaphonic MIDI pickup in the bridge position, which doubles as a traditional guitar pickup. That means that you can easily flick between sending MIDI to your synths and compatible gear, and to playing through an amp or DI box as a normal guitar. The MIDI data is captured with the Hexaphonic pickup and Jamstik’s per-string processing.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
I’m surprised by the Jamstik Core. It’s quite a capable MIDI guitar for hobbyists, curious music-makers, and lifelong guitarists. However, I quickly find myself wishing for slightly better accuracy and a few features that the Jamstik Standard has.
Playing the Jamstik Core
As a guitar, the Jamstik Core feels entry-level. It’s not exactly a premium build and comes in a variety of basic colourways, but it feels nice in the hands, durable, and has comfortable action. I’m reminded of the £200 Yamaha Pacifica I once had as a teenager, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Still, some budding MIDI guitarists should look to the Jamstik Standard for a more esteemed design. The Core is also smaller than the Standard, with 22 frets as opposed to 24, which may bother players looking to dabble in the higher registers.
Although touted as a MIDI controller, the Jamstik Core is actually equipped with MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression). So, when I play parts with slides, bends, and hammer-ons, the virtual instruments on my laptop respond accordingly — a normal MIDI controller isn’t capable of these additional dimensions of expression. And, crucially, such behaviour makes this truly feel like a guitar, even when you’re playing sounds that aren’t typically capable of slides and hammer-ons.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
The plug-and-play nature of the Jamstik Core means you can start playing these sounds within seconds of picking it up. A single USB-C port transmits all the MIDI data from the guitar straight into your laptop or audio interface. I tested the Core during a trip away from home with only my laptop and no peripheral gear, so this was ultra-convenient.
On the first setup, I had to update the Core’s firmware, install some drivers, and get the Jamstik Creator app running on my laptop. You don’t need the Jamstik Creator app — you can just select the Core as a MIDI instrument in your DAW, and it’ll control your sounds — but the Creator app is a rich bank of sounds and instruments that work exceptionally well with the Core guitar. All in all, this was a surprisingly seamless setup process.
If you happen to pick up the Core for a quick guitar jam, you can plug directly into an amp or DI box via the quarter-inch input just next to the USB-C port. This is positioned naturally at the base of the guitar’s body.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
How accurate is the Jamstik Core?
As mentioned, the Core employs a six-channel hexaphonic MIDI pickup, which is currently the standard for MIDI guitars. This translates a string’s pitch into MIDI data, which allows you to control virtual instruments and MIDI gear. It’s also capable of transmitting the pitch of all six strings simultaneously — hence ‘hexaphonic’.
The first few moments feel like magic when I start playing my soft synths with the Jamstik Core. With near-zero latency, I’m playing a swelling synth pad by strumming bar chords and plucking a piano melody. It’s plenty of fun to scroll through the hundreds of sounds in Jamstik Creator — which include real guitar presets, too. The Core even registers harmonic notes, which isn’t something I expected.
A bonus here is that you can use Creator with any MIDI controller, and as a standalone app or as a plugin in your DAW.
Jamstik Core. Image: Jamstik
However, it must be said: the Jamstik Core is not 100 per cent accurate and can be inconsistent. This is most apparent when playing Ableton Live’s stock instruments compared to sounds in Jamstik Creator. I find that the pickups sometimes struggle to detect the lowest notes on the E string, and the softest strums aren’t always picked up, which is frustrating when trying to play monophonic bass synths. The Core either doesn’t pick up the fret I’m playing on, or plays an adjacent note, which takes me straight out of the experience.
That said, content creator RoyZivMusic shreds furiously on the Jamstik Core and seems not to face a similar issue. He also demonstrates a powerful way to use the Core: blending the natural sound of the guitar with a virtual instrument for gritty and experimental tones. In addition, as RoyZiv demonstrates, playing drum parts on this thing is a serious challenge — it’s nothing like triggering drums with a MIDI keyboard or anything similar!

The Jamstik Standard also has a six-channel hexaphonic pickup, but it also boasts onboard digital signal processing (DSP) for extra detail. This is where the step up to the Standard makes sense for those who need reliable, accurate tracking when it matters, like onstage or group recording sessions.
Should you buy the Jamstik Core?
To the point of live performances, the Jamstik Core comes with an obvious limitation: Unless you buy Jamstik’s MFC1MIDI floor controller, you’ll always need a laptop with you when playing the Core. For most home studio music-makers, this isn’t going to be an issue.
If I were seriously invested in using a MIDI guitar as a professional and daily staple, I’d save up for the Standard version. The latter would be more reliable, a more serious size, and come in more premium finishes. But, if you’re tantalised by playing pad swells, lead synths, and blooping arpeggios with a six-string, the Jamstik Core is a powerful entry point, especially for an MPE instrument. I was immediately, and still am, grinning to myself when picking up the Core to play my virtual instruments in a completely new way.
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