N-Tune adds a tuner to your guitar's volume knob

Although Gibson's self-tuning Robot Guitar is mighty snazzy, buying an entirely new instrument in order to ease your tuning woes isn't exactly practical. Truth be told, the N-Tune won't do the tuning for you, but it does make adjusting those flats and sharps a lot more interesting. Essentially, the chromatic tuner replaces the volume control on your electric axe and can be retrofitted in most every guitar / bass out there. Once installed, users simply pull the knob up to mute the volume and turn the tuner on simultaneously, and then you can check out the on-knob LEDs to gauge how accurately your strings are tuned. Best of all, this thing is slated to ship within the next month for just $100, but alas, it's recommended that you pay a professional to actually rig it up.

[jmiday @ Feb 27th 2008 4:53PM]

Totally Awesome.

[gojirast @ Feb 27th 2008 10:34PM]

Kinda pointless, actually. Most decent effects pedal rigs have integrated tuners that give much better feedback than this.

[phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 4:55PM]

Whoa... an engadget post about a _real_ musical instrument? Did someone put mescaline in my coffee?

[Elliot @ Feb 27th 2008 5:10PM]

Sorry, I thought the old "mescaline in the coffee" gag would be a good one, I guess I might have gone too far.

[Mad Dick Bones @ Feb 27th 2008 8:04PM]

I thought it went over pretty well

[Galley @ Feb 28th 2008 8:42AM]

I might appreciate the joke if I knew what the hell mescaline was.

[Clayj @ Feb 27th 2008 4:55PM]

Does it let you go up to 11 now?

[phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:07PM]

only Marshall stacks do. ;p

[Zak @ Feb 27th 2008 5:07PM]

Does it play Doom?



no but srsly, that's pretty cool.

[Russ Hughes @ Feb 27th 2008 5:10PM]

Brilliant!

[Jordan @ Feb 27th 2008 5:35PM]

I need to find Doom tabs and a good midi pedal...

[Itchy Pajamas @ Feb 27th 2008 5:34PM]

But wait a minute... with this thing, you still have to actually tune the guitar yourself. How 2006.

[Jordan @ Feb 27th 2008 5:36PM]

you mean 2007?

[Krish the Fish @ Feb 27th 2008 5:52PM]

no, he meant 2006.

the Gibson Robot was released in 2007.

[Jetexas @ Feb 27th 2008 5:43PM]

The thing is, pretty much every electric guitar rig out there these days already has a tuner built into the pedal. Most guys I know run Line6 floorboards that already have the tuner, and the few guys I know who still go with the 50 different individual pedals velcroed to a piece of plywood already have a tuner pedal also.

I have a tuner built into my Takamine acoustic, which I LOVE, but thats because I just run it straight into a direct box and have no pedals. Putting a tuner on an electric is just redundant.

[phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:58PM]

But what if you patch directly into an amp and don't have pedals. You know, for us non-touring players?

[Jetexas @ Feb 27th 2008 6:03PM]

Well, you could either buy a $30 tuner pedal to run in-between your guitar and amp, which would allow you to tune any guitar you plugged in or you can spend $99 to put this on every guitar you own or might use with your amp.

[Alan @ Feb 27th 2008 6:04PM]

@phanbouy
Shoot - buying an extra cable and a pedal tuner would be cheaper than 100 bucks for this and then having someone install it.

[Wotan @ Feb 27th 2008 6:02PM]

Irony. I read this as I'm tuning with a 1972 pitch pipe.

[Jason @ Feb 27th 2008 6:12PM]

That's certainly the way to go. I thought this was interesting at first, but then got to the price point. Even a good electronic tuner is only $20. Plus, it probably sucks tone like a mofo and definitely won't look good on my strat.

[Liam @ Feb 27th 2008 6:26PM]

Exactly. Tuners are cheap, and way more practical. Plus I'd recommend that anyone tries to tune with their ears if they can. If you're practicing with other musicians, it's not cool to keep them waiting, less so when there's a paying audience. But if you're on your own, it's good practice, helps develop your aural skills.

[dclark10 @ Feb 27th 2008 6:04PM]

so how does this help my score in Guitar Hero III???

[Blaktornado @ Feb 27th 2008 6:09PM]

Guitar Hero is for talent-less wannabes ;D

[Blaktornado @ Feb 27th 2008 6:11PM]

This is awesome.

If I had a guitar worth putting this on (yes, I love my Squier to pieces but I would never spend this much money on it unless it needed fixing) and some cash, I would definitely buy it. Great for those who record, especially. If you sound a little Flat when live then it's not the end of the world, but on recordings, it matters.

[spam sucks @ Feb 27th 2008 6:51PM]

Aren't Squiers for talent-less wannabes? ;D

[Blaktornado @ Feb 27th 2008 6:58PM]

I'll have you know that I recorded 3 albums with that lil' baby :) (Search my username on iTunes in March 08, folks! ;) hehe couldn't resist)

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2008 7:46PM]

So... those songs you recorded using your Squire. Are they emo/punk? Are they more then the same chord repeated?

My roommate owns a squire. He thinks he's hot shit too.

[thatkidmattt @ Mar 31st 2008 6:58PM]

So... those songs you recorded using your Squire. Are they emo/punk? Are they more then the same chord repeated?

My roommate owns a squire. He thinks he's hot shit too.

[Mad Dick Bones @ Feb 27th 2008 8:07PM]

"I love my Squier to pieces but I would never spend this much money on it unless it needed fixing"

If your Squier needed to be repaired it would probably be a better investment to buy a new Squier or a used Strat off of eBay. I got a used mexican Strat shipped to me for $150 last year and I couldn't be happier with it.

[Matthew Schulis @ Feb 27th 2008 6:31PM]

This self tuning sounds nice.....

But does the volume go to 11? lol

[engadget @ Feb 27th 2008 7:52PM]

So how long before nVidia files a copyright infringement lawsuit?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/sysutility.html

[Demeth @ Feb 27th 2008 8:16PM]

I was about to say the same thing.

[Zeb Pedersen @ Feb 28th 2008 5:38AM]

Why would you put something which has miniturised components before even hitting the output of your guitar - it's just going to suck highs. All these teeny-tiny guitar gadgets are only concerned with making them as small as possible and don't care about putting your signal through crappy or 'good-enough-i-guess-but-look-how-tiny' components.

Since when has pedalboard real estate been so costly, anyway?

Oh and to the guys writing about 'crappy' Squiers - dunno if it's been said yet as I only skimmed half way down - but Squiers, whilst more often than not are nothing particularly special, are not all that infrequently really very special instruments, and in fact the JV's are hugely desirable (and rightly so, they play and sound and are built GREAT)

[social @ Feb 28th 2008 12:40PM]

But is it true bypass? ; )