Smart guitars have come a long way, but the Enya Inspire Pro takes the idea much further than simply putting a speaker inside a guitar.
This is a futuristic electric guitar with a carbon fiber composite body, Seymour Duncan pickups, titanium hardware, built-in speakers, onboard effects, amp modeling, a looper, an expression ribbon, AI-assisted presets, and app connectivity.
And somehow, Enya has packed all of that into a guitar that costs $849 for the Inspire Pro SD model.
I’ve spent some time with the Inspire Pro, and in this review I’m going to look at what’s new compared with the original Inspire, how it sounds, the technology built into it, the build quality, and most importantly, who this guitar is actually for.
What Is the Enya Inspire Pro?
The Enya Inspire Pro is a smart electric guitar designed to combine a traditional guitar with a built-in amp and effects system.
Instead of needing an external amp, pedalboard, tuner, looper, and other gear, the Inspire Pro puts much of that functionality directly into the guitar.
The Pro is an upgraded version of the original Inspire, with improvements to the body material, hardware, pickups, electronics, processing power, speaker, and onboard effects system.
The particular model I tested is the Inspire Pro SD, with Seymour Duncan pickups and premium titanium hardware.
Build Quality and Carbon Fiber Construction
The first thing I noticed when I pulled the Inspire Pro out of the box was the weight.
It has considerably more heft than the original Inspire, and that’s largely because Enya is using a Mastergrade composite carbon fiber material for the body.
This isn’t just a carbon fiber shell over a traditional guitar. The body is essentially one large, single-cast piece of composite material.
There aren’t traditional seam lines throughout the body, aside from the area around the rear cavity cover.
That construction has some significant advantages if you’re looking for a guitar that can handle different environments. Carbon fiber composite is much less susceptible to changes in heat and humidity than traditional wood construction, which makes the Inspire Pro particularly interesting as a travel guitar.
If you’re constantly moving between different climates, that’s a big advantage.
Titanium Hardware and Tuning Stability
The Inspire Pro still uses a two-point tremolo, but the Pro SD gets some major hardware upgrades.
Enya uses titanium components on the SD model, along with a brass block on the back of the tremolo.
Titanium is an extremely durable material, and the combination of the upgraded hardware and more stable composite body should help with long-term durability and tuning stability.
It’s one of those upgrades that might not be immediately obvious when you look at the guitar, but it makes a lot of sense for an instrument designed to be used on the road.
Neck and Frets
The Inspire Pro also gets stainless steel frets with rounded fret ends.
They’re highly polished and feel excellent under your fingers.
The fretwork on my guitar was very good, and the polished stainless steel frets contribute to the premium feel of the instrument.
Up at the headstock, you also get self-locking tuners, which complement the upgraded tremolo hardware.
Seymour Duncan Pickups
One of the biggest upgrades on the Inspire Pro SD is the pickup system.
This version uses Seymour Duncan pickups, including an SSL single-coil pickup and a TB-4 humbucker.
The TB-4 is essentially a JB-style humbucker, while the guitar also gets high-quality Seymour Duncan single-coils.
That gives the Inspire Pro a much more traditional electric guitar foundation underneath all of its smart-guitar technology.
Pickup Switching and Voicing
The Inspire Pro has a five-way pickup selector and a dedicated tone control.
Pulling up on the tone knob activates additional pickup wiring options, allowing you to access different combinations of the single-coils and split humbucker.
That gives you quite a few tonal possibilities without needing to add anything externally.
Bright Switch
There’s also a bright switch built into the guitar.
It bypasses some of the resistors in the internal circuit to give you a brighter sound.
I could see this being particularly useful for guitar solos or situations where you need a quick boost in brightness.
There is one limitation: you have to have the guitar’s volume control turned all the way up for the bright switch to activate. If you normally play with your volume around 75 percent, you’ll need to turn it up further to engage the feature.
Built-In Speaker
At first glance, you might not even notice that there’s a speaker built into the guitar.
There’s a speaker grille built into the body, and Enya says this is the loudest and highest-quality speaker they’ve put into one of their smart guitars.
The speaker delivers 20 watts of power with full dynamic range.
And you can definitely feel it when you turn the guitar up.
One improvement I noticed compared with the original Inspire and Nova Go Sonic models is that higher-gain sounds produce considerably less feedback.
That’s important because feedback can quickly become a problem when you’re putting a speaker directly into the instrument you’re playing.
The Expression Ribbon and Kill Switch
One of the most interesting additions to the Inspire Pro is the small ribbon controller located next to the five-way switch.
Enya calls it an expression ribbon, and it can be assigned to different parameters within the guitar’s effects system.
It’s not a traditional expression pedal. Instead, you control the parameter by moving your finger along the ribbon.
You can assign it to things like:
- Gain
- Delay
- Reverb
- Other effect parameters
- Kill switch functionality
One of my favorite applications was using the ribbon to control amp gain.
That lets you move from cleaner sounds to heavier tones without reaching for a pedal or amp control.
Built-In Tuner and Looper
Next to the expression ribbon is another button that adds even more functionality.
Double-tapping the button activates the tuner.
The indicator changes color depending on your tuning:
- Red means you’re over the target
- Blue means you’re under the target
- Green means you’re in tune
When you’re in tuning mode, the guitar also shows the key you’re currently playing in and provides a more detailed tuning experience.
Holding the button down for a couple of seconds activates the built-in looper.
Enya also includes a footswitch with an LCD screen that allows you to control the looper with your feet.
You can control things like loops, punch-ins, undo, and delete without having to take your hands off the guitar.
For someone who wants to busk or perform with minimal equipment, this could be extremely useful.
Built-In Amp Modeling and Effects
This is where the Inspire Pro gets really interesting.
Compared with the original Inspire, the Pro has roughly three times the computing power.
That additional processing power allows it to handle more demanding effects and DSP processing, including pitch effects and more complex signal processing.
Enya has also expanded the preset system considerably.
The Inspire Pro now has a full amp and effects library with up to 50 amp models, covering everything from clean sounds to high gain.
You also get seven effects blocks that can be used to build your sounds.
The easiest way I can describe it is that there is essentially a small amp modeler built directly into the guitar.
AI-Powered Presets
Yes, the Inspire Pro also has AI technology built into it.
The good news is that the AI isn’t going to play the guitar for you.
Instead, it can help build presets based on a text prompt.
For example, I entered a prompt asking for a clean sound similar to “Bringing on the Heartbreak” by Def Leppard.
The system returned presets that it thought would work for that sound, including one called Hysteria Clean.
I also tried “Message in a Bottle” by The Police, and the system found a preset designed around that type of sound.
After finding a sound I liked, I could save it directly to my presets.
It’s a pretty interesting way to navigate a large collection of amp and effects options without having to manually go through everything yourself.
Pitch Effects and DSP
The additional processing power also opens up effects that wouldn’t be practical on the earlier Inspire models.
I tested the pitch effect by setting the wet signal to 100 percent and the dry signal to zero.
The result was the ability to effectively drop the pitch of the guitar several steps without physically changing the tuning.
That’s another example of where the Inspire Pro starts to feel more like a complete effects processor than simply a guitar with a built-in speaker.
Expression Ribbon in Practice
The expression ribbon becomes particularly useful when you start assigning multiple parameters to it.
For example, I assigned the ribbon to amp gain so I could move between cleaner and heavier sounds with my finger.
You can also assign a second target to the ribbon.
In my testing, I assigned the second target to reverb mix.
That means the same ribbon can increase amp gain while changing the amount of reverb at the same time.
You can even reverse the relationship. For example, you can set the ribbon so that your cleaner sound has more reverb, while increasing the gain simultaneously reduces the reverb.
That’s a pretty powerful concept for a controller that’s built directly into the guitar.
Inspire Pro SD vs. Inspire Pro AL
Enya offers the Inspire Pro in different versions, and the biggest distinction is between the SD and AL models.
Inspire Pro SD
The SD model is the premium version and includes:
- Seymour Duncan pickups
- Titanium hardware
- Brass tremolo block
- Premium glossy sparkle finish
The MSRP for the Inspire Pro SD is $899, although at the time of my review Enya was offering it for $849.
Inspire Pro AL
The AL stands for Apex Lab and is the less expensive version.
The AL has the same core smart-guitar technology, including the speaker, computing power, expression ribbon, and looper.
However, it uses Apex Lab pickups instead of Seymour Duncan pickups, zinc alloy hardware instead of the titanium hardware, and doesn’t get the same premium finish or brass tremolo block.
The MSRP for the AL is $649, with a $599 sale price at the time of my review.
If you’re already spending the money on an Inspire Pro, I would personally save a little more and go for the SD model.
The Seymour Duncan pickups, titanium hardware, brass block, and premium finish make it feel like a much more complete package.
Who Is the Enya Inspire Pro For?
The Inspire Pro is an all-in-one guitar system, and I don’t think it’s really designed around one specific type of player.
That’s actually one of the most interesting things about it.
It’s useful for several different situations:
- Players who travel frequently
- Buskers and solo performers
- Home players who don’t want a full amp and pedalboard setup
- Players who want built-in effects and amp modeling
- Musicians who like experimenting with technology
- Players who want a compact setup for rehearsals or performances
- Guitarists who need multiple sounds from a single instrument
The carbon fiber composite construction also makes it particularly appealing for traveling musicians who don’t want to worry as much about changes in temperature and humidity.
Who Should Skip It?
If you want a completely traditional electric guitar and already own a good amp and pedalboard, a lot of the Inspire Pro’s technology may not be particularly useful to you.
You’re paying for a lot more than just the guitar itself.
The built-in speaker, DSP, AI presets, looper, expression ribbon, and app connectivity are the reason to buy this guitar. If you don’t care about those features, there are plenty of traditional guitars that will give you a simpler playing experience.
Price and Value
The Inspire Pro SD has an MSRP of $899, with the price at the time of my review reduced to $849.
The Inspire Pro AL has an MSRP of $649, with a sale price of $599 at the time of my review.
At $849, the SD is a pretty remarkable amount of technology in one instrument.
You’re getting the guitar, pickups, onboard amp modeling, effects, speaker, tuner, looper, expression controller, AI-assisted preset system, and app connectivity all in one package.
Final Verdict
After spending time with the Enya Inspire Pro, I think this is one of the most interesting smart guitars I’ve played.
It’s not simply a guitar with a speaker built into it.
The combination of the carbon fiber composite body, Seymour Duncan pickups, titanium hardware, built-in DSP, amp modeling, effects, looper, expression ribbon, and AI-powered preset system makes the Inspire Pro feel more like an entire guitar rig built into a single instrument.
The biggest question is whether you actually want that.
For me, the most compelling aspect isn’t any individual feature. It’s the fact that the entire system can grow with you.
Because the Inspire Pro has app connectivity and onboard computing, Enya can continue providing firmware updates, additional amp models, bug fixes, and other improvements over time.
That means the guitar isn’t necessarily finished when you buy it.
The system can continue to evolve.
At $849 for the Inspire Pro SD, that’s one hell of a guitar.
And if you’re a player who travels, performs solo, experiments with technology, or simply wants an all-in-one guitar rig that you can pick up and play without bringing a bunch of equipment with you, the Inspire Pro makes a very strong case for itself.
The Enya Inspire Pro isn’t trying to replace every traditional guitar. It’s doing something completely different – putting an entire guitar rig inside the instrument itself.
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