http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/ Engadget Comments for Gibson gets official with the self-tuning Robot Guitar http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 12:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
I'm a guitarist, and I find ears considerably more difficult to lose than little digital tuners. After three years of this, I now find tuning assists annoying and inaccurate. I can't imagine buying something like this, as I would end up tweaking it myself anyway.]]>Nov 12th 2007 12:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
Sounds like a Japanese character from the seventies though..]]>Nov 12th 2007 1:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 2:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
I'm a classically trained musician. Although I play a wind instrument, I think the same principles are in effect here:

Tuning by machine/computer will probably tune "perfectly," and very quickly. However perfect intonation is often not your goal in a performance. There are LOTS of subtle nuances with intonation that are too complex to be replicated by a machine. (so far) Sometimes you want to be out of tune, in a very specific way, depending on the composer, venue, instrumentation, style of music, color of the LSD, etc. I see that they've pre-programmed some of presets into this guitar, but this is only the tip of the iceberg of what a professional might use.

I'm not saying that this thing isn't great for 99% of the potential audience. Hell, I'm not a guitarist, and this thing would probably be great for me. I'm sure this device is great for an intermediate-to-advanced guitarist, but if you're talking about elite professional performers, I think could potentially hurt them more than help them.

As my teacher always used to say, you tune with your ears, not a tuner...]]>Nov 12th 2007 3:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
REAL GUITARS ARE FOR OLD PEOPLE!

/south park reference]]>Nov 12th 2007 4:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
It's interesting you mention that you play a wind instrument. I'm a saxophonist myself, and I take my instrument to a technician to be tuned, because it's impossible to tune the instrument without the proper tools. It's certainly not something you do during at a gig.

You can adjust the overall tuning of the instrument slightly by adjusting your mouthpiece so you're close to the rest of the band, but you can't change individual toneholes. Beyond that, if you find your high F# is out of tune, you have to adjust your embouchure when you play just that note until you see your tech.

This is not the case with a guitar. A guitar's tuning is redone completely, every time it comes out of the case to be played, as every string can be adjusted easily. The instrument is highly subject to the heat and humidity of the venue you're playing at.]]>Nov 12th 2007 10:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
http://transperformance.com/index2.htm]]>Nov 13th 2007 10:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 5:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 12:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/can't wait to try this thing out]]>Nov 12th 2007 12:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar there is gonna be a sign up to check it out early]]>Nov 12th 2007 1:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
Personally i just spend the 30 seconds it takes to tune my guitar every month...]]>Nov 12th 2007 12:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 12:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
After the initial run sells out, the guitar will go into regular production for about 30% less, so about $1600 MSRP. The exact pricing hasn't been set yet. The full production model will be a LP Studio, and will be available in all the regular Studio finishes.

Pricing will probably come way down after the tuning mechanism gets ported to other models.

Honestly, if you're really interested in this thing, try to get one of the limited release models. That way, even if you end up hating it, it will still sell for more than you bought it for in 5 years or so.]]>Nov 12th 2007 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 13th 2007 7:07AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 12:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 12:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 6:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 9:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 12:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 5:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Ears go bad over time.]]>Nov 12th 2007 12:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 16th 2007 1:05AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
I think you're missing the point. You see that this does not just the standard EADGBE tuning but several other popular tunings as well. What this would let a guitarist do is play one guitar through an entire live show - no more changing instruments just to get a different tuning. It would also cut setup time in about half, because you only need to tune one guitar before a show (and the guitar does it for you) rather than five or six manually.

Of course, I still probably wouldn't trust this thing to work all the time and would therefore have to have backups anyway, but I'm sure that's the real intent behind it.

Personally, I wouldn't buy this guitar solely because there's just more that can break. Guitars are one of the last products you can buy that are seriously meant to last 50 years or more, and through heavy, hard use - no "robot" guitar is even going to last half that before the electronics and mechanical parts wear out, and good luck finding replacements in 20 years. It's not like this is going to be standard equipment; this is a specialized guitar.

Changing strings also looks like a serious pain in the ass.
]]>Nov 12th 2007 1:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
I was also talking about personal preference; I like to mess with the tuning. Even if I've just used a digital tuner, and the open string is dead on, I will mess. Few guitars are perfectly intonated, and the fret positions are a mathematical compromise. So it helps if you compromise the tuning too. I say this in all certainty that I am the only one that cares.]]>Nov 13th 2007 7:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://transperformance.com/multimedia/index1.html

Interesting thing is I have heard much about Transperformance since... Hmmm]]>Nov 12th 2007 1:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
I for one welcom our self-tuning Robot Guitar overlords.]]>Nov 12th 2007 1:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 1:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 2:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 2:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 2:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
oh my I just made myself sad.]]>Nov 12th 2007 2:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
great to have one that's already built for me!]]>Nov 12th 2007 3:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 3:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 4:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/
http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/RobotGuitarVideoVoting.aspx]]>Nov 12th 2007 4:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 3:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Dec 11th 2007 10:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 3:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 3:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Dec 10th 2007 4:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/gibson-gets-official-with-the-self-tuning-robot-guitar/Nov 12th 2007 4:46PM