Gibson robot guitar

[Colin McCubbin]

Although it is a horrible name, I was fascinated to read today about Gibson's solid bodied (les paul style) 'Robot Guitar'. The tuners each contain a small servo motor, and it can apparently automatically retune to a number of fixed tunings, (or indeed any owner programmed tuning) in a matter of a couple of seconds.

Although not a reso, for those who play electric and who currently have t have several axes on stage for different tunings it might just be a really useful tool!

After replacing a broken string it will also bring that string up to 'in tune and as strings go out of tune it will also re-tune as required.

www.gibson.com/robotguitar/guitar.html

Now, all we need is to get one to Dave King and have him gut it and build a National style 'robot' (perhaps the Aragon that he has been promising for some years.. .) . Instant open tunings at the flick of a switch...

[mirrormist]

Hi Colin

Now if somebody would invent a robot guitar that could instantly replace a broken string that really would be something ;D

regards

[Michael Messer]

Last year both Dave King & I were in touch with the manufacturers of this new tuning system. It is called 'TRONICAL'

ralaudio.com/tronical-powertune-automatic-guitar-tuning-system-p-1795.html



It is excellent and was something I had considered fitting to my electric guitar for stage work. It does work and is amazingly quick & accurate. I think Fender have also licensed the system and will be launching a robot guitar too.

Shine On,
Michael

[Bob Brozman]

What will they think of next? A robot audience?

After getting your A 440, a professional musician should be able to tune, or change tunings, by ear, quickly. and a good audience should be able to tolerate a few moments of tuning from a musician.

My humble opinion only. No offense intended herein, please do not take any.

[wolvoboy]

now all we need is a robot to play it for us,we could call it Roboslide or reso the Robot,sorry getting silly now, I think its a great idea especially for those in a hurry.
wolvoboy

[Michael Messer]

Bob, the reason I did not pursue the Tronical any further was because I agree with your comments and thought the whole idea a bit ridiculous.

Shine On,
Michael

[Bob Brozman]

Glad to hear you say that! I wonder who WILL use this?

Passed through old Slough (shoud be pronounced SLUFF, right? the other day....on tour in the UK--I have still a few more shows near you, London, Basingstoke, St. Albans....are you still located in SLUFF?

[LouisianaGrey]

It strikes me as being a bit of a solution in search of a problem. Still, with Christmas coming up, now you know what to buy for the guitarist who has everything.

[snakehips]

Hi there !

It strikes me as a great gadget for a guitar you love that you can't gig with because it is so crap at staying in tune - I've had guitars like that before - one was an non-reso archtop National - circa 1941 with that wierd P90 sized pickup (the one with its own coil per polepiece).

However, guitars like that ar usually cheap and nasty and thus not worth spending heap loads of dosh upgrading with a system like this.

[Michael Messer]

Bob, I am still located near Sluff, but not in the same house. What are the dates for those shows you mentioned? I was at the Anvil in Basingstoke on Saturday.

If you become a member of this forum I can send you a private message with my phone number & address.

Shine On,
Michael

[Bob Brozman]

the 16th at Basingstoke, the Anvil, and the 17th in St.albans. The 15th i am in Bridgwater. Would have mentioned all of them earlier, but trying to respect the no ads rule!

my email is bobrozman AT att.net

[tark]

The servo driven tuning idea has been around for quite a while. The first company to market a system that I know of were TransPerfomance - transperformance.com. Perhaps their highest profile customer is Jimmy Page and they built a Les Paul for him with their tuning system. A few years ago they co-operated with Steve Klein to build a prototype acoustic guitar with TransPerformance tuning. Since then there have been several simpler systems with fewer tuning settings on the market. Some fit all the mechanism at the tuners and some at the bridge. At one time Trev Wilkinson was developing a servo tuner system that was to fit into a replacement Strat style tremolo bridge.
I reckon apart from adding unnecessary complexity to a guitar, the tuner versions will make the guitar neck heavy and I would guess the battery life is on the short side (apart from the clockwork models of course).

[Michael Messer]

Bob,

I won't be able to make any of those shows; 15th I am in Birkenhead and the 16th at the High Barn in Braintree. Oh...17th I might be able to make. Where are you playing in St Albans?

Thank you for respecting the no ads rule

Shine On,
Michael

[Bob Brozman]

Maltings (arts centre?)