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Topic: World's first 'robot' guitar tunes itself |
Greg Cutshaw
From:
Corry, PA, USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 8:52 am |
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I think the tuning mechanism has been available for a while but here it is in a finished product.
Gibson Robot Guitar
Greg |
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Richard Sevigny
From:
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 10:05 am
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So is it Equal Temperament, or Just Intonation?? 
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If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
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Greg Cutshaw
From:
Corry, PA, USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 10:35 am
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It is "Just $2500"!
GJC |
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 11:48 am
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I think $2500 is surprisingly reasonable considering the average prices of American made guitars nowdays. A lot of Les Paul models without the robot tuning are more than that. Almost 30 years ago I paid about $2400 for an Alembic, $1200 each for 2 Les Paul Heritage 80 models 27 years ago, around $1800 for a Hamer Korina Standard, about $1800 for a B.C. Rich Eagle, again in the '80's, U.S. made...Guitarists are too used to cheap prices on imports. Guitars are really very cheap compared to pianos, good violins, etc., even the U.S. made prices.
Fender should put this in their Strats with tremolos and Gretsches with Bigsby's... in fact most trem-equipped axes...  |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 1:11 pm
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| Jim Phelps wrote: |
Fender should put this in their Strats with tremolos and Gretsches with Bigsby's... in fact most trem-equipped axes... |
If they did, would the auto tune feature interpret the use of the tremolo as the guitar going out of tune and try to re-tune it?
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 1:17 pm
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| Mike Perlowin wrote: |
| Jim Phelps wrote: |
Fender should put this in their Strats with tremolos and Gretsches with Bigsby's... in fact most trem-equipped axes... |
If they did, would the auto tune feature interpret the use of the tremolo as the guitar going out of tune and try to re-tune it? |
Not if it were made to detect and tune only when the trem was in the neutral position or when it detected no variations in pitch, ie. trem use, allowing for pitch changes during playing, if it's functional while playing...which I'm sure could be done...eventually anyway... I didn't see mentioned how the self-tune works, if you have to play the strings open or what... could be they're still a 'way off from a guitar that can tune itself while you're playing it.
*Edit... Just watched the instructions video.. you tune it by striking the strings open... so robot tuning while you play isn't here yet.
Last edited by Jim Phelps on 15 Nov 2007 2:51 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 15 Nov 2007 2:31 pm
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Just went to the Gibson website, they have a great feature on the "Robot Guitar" and some funny videos. Maybe those people at Gibson are not so stodgy after all... and they did come out with the Flying V, Explorer and (maybe) the Moderne, way back when...
Here: http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/
After watching the instructions video at the Gibson site, I'm even more certain that $2500 is a very reasonable price for this thing considering the development time and $$$ that obviously went into this. Their limited run of 4000 won't even make a dent in their development and tooling-up costs. I'm guessing it's a test run, probably make more of them if the idea is successful.
Sure I don't need a guitar that tunes itself, but I can't see why it's a bad thing... especially the different tunings and automatic tuneup after changing strings.
No I don't work for Gibson or even have any real affection for them lately, but I still think this is a neat idea. |
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Shaan Shirazi
From:
Austin, TX, USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2007 6:42 am
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| This totally ruins the "it was in tune when I bought it" joke. |
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 16 Nov 2007 10:43 am
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yeah, I thought of that too,  |
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Eric Jaeger
From:
Oakland, California, USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2007 2:16 pm
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Sonny Landreth has a guitar built by Rick Turner with servos to retune to various tunings, but when I asked him about it he said he was going back to Strats because the weight was ruining his shoulder. If Gibson is right this thing weights in less than a Les Paul standard. He ought to check it out. Changing tunings in a couple of seconds is way easier than changing guitars all the time, too.
-eric |
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Steve Norman
From:
Seattle Washington, USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2007 3:28 pm
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Very cool! After watching the demo, on stage I would never be able to work it right under pressure. I would panic and change the tuning of the guitar or something. Im pretty quick at changing the strings on stage. Not to be negative, Im just a spaz with tech on stage.
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