« Versatility | Main | Guitar Hero? »
Brilliance or Cheating?
By admin | November 12, 2007
I make a concerted effort to keep up with the latest and best with regards to guitar equipment, and like most things, it is an ever-changing world. Guitar technology has certainly taken many turns in the last 10 years, and it largely is the responsibility of increased computer processing capabilities. Digital effects, MIDI systems, and multi-effect workstations have become more and more common, and it is safe to say that the current trends in guitar tech imply that things are going to keep moving in that direction. However, I do believe that there comes a point where technology becomes TOO involved in guitar playing - I have been keeping tabs on the newest release from Gibson:
A guitar that tunes itself.
You read correctly! Below I’ve pasted an excerpt from the article describing a little bit more about it:
The Gibson Les Paul is one of the world’s most recognized and popular guitars and now it is also one of the most technologically advanced, as well. On December 7, Gibson will release its first Les Paul that utilizes robotics to assist users in tuning and intonation.
While simply tuning a guitar may not be an issue for many guitarists, the Gibson Robot Les Paul goes beyond tuning the guitar. It also allows the player to easily change tunings to one of six alternate tunings.
The guitar supports Open E, Dropped D, DADGAD, Open G, Hendrix Tuning, Double Dropped D, or any of your own custom tunings that you program into the system.
 |
To tune the guitar you choose which tuning you want on the control knob located by the volume and tone knobs, remove your fingers from the frets and strum — the guitar automatically tunes itself moving the tuning keys using the robotics. The strings carry the control signal and the power supply from the Data-Transmitting Tailpiece to the Neck CPU operating each of the Powerhead Locking Tuners individually.
The guitar consists of several components that make it all work including the Tune-Control Bridge, Tune Core-Controller, Data-Transmitting Tailpiece, Neck CPU and the Master Control Knob. The Powerhead-Locking tuners are constructed with a lightweight alloy housing and are not heavier than common tuning keys, according to Gibson. Each Powerhead has a motorized high-performance gearbox controlled by signals from the Neck CPU mounted on the back of the headstock.
Gibson will begin selling a limited edition model of the Gibson Robot Les Paul on December 7, 2007. The regular model of the guitar will go on sale in late 2008. Pricing was not immediately available. (end of article)
So there you have it! The first guitar that tunes itself. Now, for some applications this could be absolutely brilliant - recording a live album, for instance. This would prevent tons of guitar-swapping and tone-tweaking in that sort of setting. However, given all the technology built in to this guitar AND the fact that it is a Gibson, I would predict that you are either going to have to be a member of the royal family or CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be able to call one of these your own. And while the technology itself is a brilliant concept, what if it fails? What happens when that little CPU fails and goes haywire?? Time will tell…
I am confident there will be some guitar purists who just see this as laziness or an excuse to lack knowledge about your instrument. I personally tend to lean toward being a little more old-fashioned about guitar, but I could see both sides on this. I guess the real test will come when I can actually put one of these in my hands and test drive it.
Something tells me that won’t be any time soon, however…
Topics: Uncategorized |
November 12th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
As much as that sounds cool, and expensive, I just love my TU-2 pedal to much to do away with it. Why? I really don’t know. But maybe what about the generation before us, who claimed that tuning by ear is the best, so will the generation after us see us as we see our previous generation as arcaic?