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Posted by: RobM Dec 3 2007, 09:44 PM

Gibson alonmg with Tronical GMBH (a German company) is offering new technology on their newest LP models, self tuning. That's right their newest LP models will be able to self tune in about 2 seconds. Read about it here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_hi_te/self_tuning_guitar

Enjoy

Posted by: mattacuk Dec 3 2007, 10:11 PM

Thanks for the article, it sure is an interesting idea!!

For me, Im not sure if I would like it or not. It sounds really handy, but I do like a traditional guitar !

Posted by: Alucard Dec 3 2007, 10:13 PM

http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/

It's not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be. I was thinking somewhere from $4,000, but $2500 is cheap for something like that.

Posted by: tonymiro Dec 3 2007, 11:40 PM

Also and just to be a Luddite - it doesn't do you any harm to be able to tune a guitar manually .

By all means go with this if you want but learn to tune a guitar as well .

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Dec 4 2007, 01:02 AM

That's kinda scary cheap for a high tech LP. Maybe a discount for the poor [fatherless guitar testers] that will be beta testing. I wonder how long before the first hotfix.

I looove that blue silverburst finish. Being nitro, I wonder how that'll age.

Edited for language - Andrew



Agreed. It does seem that there is a manual mode.

It's out of my price range either way, but this would be a great time/money saver for the gigging player that's just starting out (not a ton of cash). Wouldn't have to bring along multiple guitars for diffferent tunings...just call them up as you need them on the fly.

I wonder how practical it would be to do something like change tuning in the middle of a song.

Posted by: fkalich Dec 4 2007, 01:12 AM

I pretty much am happy with whatever Jimmy Page had, distortion, echo, six stings on a block of wood.

Technology is driving society mad. If something is really a serious improvement on life, such as the Microwave oven was, or Scoopable kitty litter, I go for it. Otherwise I keep it simple.

Well time go for a night hike with my dog. Where did I leave my Military Spec Alpha grade night vision scope?

Posted by: PlayAllDay Dec 4 2007, 01:12 AM

Oh that's so funny - I wanna see the little tuning heads tune themselves!!
But it is practical if you play in many different tunings as I do - saves you having a host of guitars all tuned differently.

Posted by: Bogdan Dec 4 2007, 01:43 AM

Yeah this is a very useful technology... Gibson rules! I would love to have this on my guitar...

Posted by: g-forcelover Dec 4 2007, 01:49 AM

how do you tune it to drop d

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Dec 4 2007, 03:57 AM

One of the videos goes into that. There's a bunch of built-in tunings. Drop D was in there. Just a click away (or two). There wasn't a Drop C though.

Posted by: Unleash-The-Shred Dec 4 2007, 04:08 AM

Isnt this like the 8th time this has been brought up on this forum?

Haha.

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Dec 4 2007, 05:03 AM

That six strings on a block of wood was a '59 LP burst. Don't forget the doubleneck 6/12 SG. Not as complex as JPJ's Mellotrons and GX1, but not hardly just wood with strings. And they did a hell of a lot with technology in the studio.



Don't knock it til you've tried it.

While I think that just getting one of these to not have to tune your guitar is kinda sad, I think there are some interesting possibilities.

I already mentioned changing tunings in the middle of a song. Maybe not so useful going from Standard to Drop D, but possibilities open up if you switch from Standard to Open C for a solo?

What happens when you try to fret notes when its tuning itself? Probably something weird. Maybe not musically interesting, but who knows?

What if there's a way to feed the tuners different data? Have it bend certain increments (1 or 2 steps) and then back? Hands-free behind the nut love (John 5)? Or Behind the nut bends while you're fretting strings? Or make it wobble for a vibrato effect?

Technology for technology's sake is kinda lame, but creative applications of technology can make some interesting results.

Posted by: botoxfox Dec 4 2007, 09:44 AM

5th time me thinks

Posted by: exorcyze Dec 4 2007, 08:36 PM

Interesting that they're touting it as the "world's first" and it's yet to be released when I remember seeing one of these 2 years ago:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4951/

Posted by: Toni Suominen Dec 7 2007, 09:54 PM

It sounds interesting but I dont think it will be that big of a hit amongst guitar players. I personally don't like any kinds of "robotic" quality in my guitars. But Im sure that some people out there like that kind of stuff very much. But I prefer just basic locking tuners like Schallers

-Toni

Posted by: Muris Dec 7 2007, 09:57 PM

Does it have regular tuning?

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Dec 8 2007, 06:03 PM

I beleive it has all kinds of tunings.

PS I too do not think that this is a handy feature because I like simplicity. It is a great invention but I am not that convinced yet...

Posted by: Bogdan Dec 9 2007, 12:45 AM

Imagine you play a song and do some crazy stuff on it and than when its over you don't need to annoy the audience while you get your guitar back in tune Now if this guitar could tune itself during play (if it gets out of tune) that would be awesome feature too

Posted by: swingline Dec 9 2007, 12:54 AM

It doesn't have a setting for tuning down 1/2 step, which would get on my last nerve.

Posted by: Lurgen Dec 9 2007, 12:58 AM

I think this would be a great idea, but as their first generation product there is no way I'd rely on it. Gibson might make good guitars, but that's largely because they've been doing the same thing for decades. Adding a microprocessor, a bunch of servo motors, some extra pickups (for tuning) and software could really lead to reliability problems.

That said, they're awfully cheap for what they are - $4000 Aussie Dollars isn't a whole lot more than a normal LP. Oh, and the price in the article does not include the Powertune upgrade - that's an extra $900, so you're looking at around $3400 USD for the Gibson Robot.

What I find more interesting is that Gibson will be selling upgrade kits for all sorts of guitars, not just their own. The thought of being able to fit one of these to my existing guitar without damaging it is pretty cool.

I really like the idea behind this thing. Tuning a guitar is a pain in the neck, especially when you want to change tunings. I have to keep a guitar tuned drop-D all the time, simply because I hate changing between the two tunings. This would change all of that for me.

Posted by: Unleash-The-Shred Dec 9 2007, 01:09 AM

I'd buy one of these. The only thing is, can they repair the robotic parts if they break?

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Dec 9 2007, 02:41 PM

I`m sure they would fix the parts - it is Gibson afterall. But I wouldn`t buy first versions, I`d wait and see how they behave in real world conditions.

Posted by: Dejan Dec 9 2007, 11:44 PM

We are living in the 'gadgets world' after all

But I see no point, Gibson never had problems with tuning

Posted by: stratman33 Dec 10 2007, 02:15 AM

wow this is really cool. i get sick of tuning my guitar all the time.this would be really nice

Posted by: kebsis Dec 10 2007, 10:25 PM

Another company (line 6 I believe) has a guitar that can dial between tunings. However it is very expensive and the tuning change only occurs through the amp electronically, the actual tuning of the guitar stays the same.

Posted by: buckjones Dec 10 2007, 10:29 PM

Yes, some of the Variax line guitars from Line 6 do have alternate tuning effects built into the guitar. So like you said you'd have to hear it through the amp or headphones.

I'm sure Andrew could go into some good detail on this

Posted by: tonymiro Dec 11 2007, 12:12 AM

There's also the Roland VG99 system that lets you use different tunings - but without actually altering the guitar's tuning at all. (The VG does a lot of other things besides.) And there's a Fender Strat model that does the same as the Gibson here as well.

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Dec 11 2007, 12:47 AM

Hey Dejan you have the point! - LPs never need tuning anyway

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Dec 11 2007, 01:20 AM

Indeed, I could

Posted by: Batista Dec 12 2007, 05:48 PM

I read in a guitar magazine about this interesting guitar, but it's something that I just can't understand. It stood that it will never get out of tune AND that it's self tuned. What I don't get is why it is able to tune itself when it never gets out of tune?

Posted by: Goliath Dec 12 2007, 09:12 PM

It doesn't go out of tune because it tunes itself...

Posted by: Batista Dec 12 2007, 09:16 PM

Well that makes sense I guess

Posted by: Gerald Dec 12 2007, 09:45 PM

Personally I think it's a gimic. I do appreciate the out of the box thinking by Gibson though. I'd buy one of these to collect, but for use; not so sure on that one. Real enthusists typically go for the older guitars anyways because those vintage models have the tone and feel that people generally want.

What I really think is interesting from Gibson is the digital Gibson. For someone like myself who likes traditional guitar based music & electronic music I think this is the wave of the future. It's way to much guitar for me at the moment, and the pricetag is way to high.

So in the end - buy a regular or vintage Les Paul because it's going to stay in tune anyways and use the rest of your money for GMC membership and strings!