Gibson intros SG Robot Guitar, new edition of Les Paul version

Last time we saw the Gibson Robot Guitar it was in the hands of Yngwie Malmsteen, who was laying down gorgeous, undulating waves of pure classical-metal fever. The first version of the self-tuning Les Paul was a rather limited edition, but now Gibson is sharing the wealth by introducing two more widely available models. The guitar-maker will issue the original iteration of the axe, but it will now be joined by Gibson's other familiar face, the SG. Both models will apparently be available in a funky, purple-metallic finish (which we suspect only Prince could truly love), and will go on sale for a "limited time" -- though Gibson hasn't said what the cutoff will be. So, if you've got $3,999 for the Les Paul, or $3,599 for the SG, now might be the time to buy.

[Via TrustedReviews]

[Brent @ Apr 11th 2008 10:12AM]

I'd much rather have a robot roadie than a robot guitar (especially in purple).

[STIEN @ Apr 11th 2008 10:32AM]

This would be an amazing legit guitar...despite its magenta color.... dont let t-mobile know

[KangMin @ Apr 11th 2008 10:18AM]

I'd buy it... even if it was just for collection...
too bad i didnt win the lottery

[Brodie @ Apr 11th 2008 10:23AM]

I would suspect that if the McDonald Land characters ever started a band, this is the axe that Grimace would play. Ronald McDonald would obviously have to be the singer and Mayor McCheese would probably play drums. Birdie the early bird would play bass, and the fry kids would play tambourines or cowbell or something simple like that. And the McNugget buddies would be roadies or groupies I'm sure...

Well.. back to the reality...

[StrangeBum @ Apr 11th 2008 10:55AM]

What about the Hamburglar?

Would he play lead guitar while Grimace does rhythm or something? I always like the Hamburglar, such a misunderstood soul. Maybe he can let everyone know how he really feels through the act of melting faces with his solos.

[one1082 @ Apr 11th 2008 10:58AM]

i totally see the hamburgler on bass

[mr.vanker @ Apr 11th 2008 3:10PM]

Birdie on synth and Hamburglar on bass...

[Gorillamonk @ Apr 11th 2008 2:24PM]

I can totally see Hamburglar on the bass. Beating those strings up! Someone draw this idea out.

[Blaktornado @ Apr 11th 2008 4:35PM]

No, no. Hamburglar on the Theremin.

[Ray @ Apr 12th 2008 5:47PM]

I second Hamburglar on theremin.
He should also play keys; he's got the black and white thing going on...

[KangMin @ Apr 11th 2008 10:25AM]

and of course... you can be the [b]ro[a]die
...lol
sorry... i just had to

[Joshua @ Apr 12th 2008 11:49AM]

The Model looks nice.

[Sam @ Apr 11th 2008 10:29AM]

Did Mightor cough Malmsteem up?
(Let's see who gets this reference ... )

[Cris @ Apr 11th 2008 10:34AM]

Adult Swim anyone?

[StrangeBum @ Apr 11th 2008 10:58AM]

Did you get that thing I sent ya?

[Jack Ripple @ Apr 11th 2008 10:45AM]

"Yngwie Malmsteen, who was laying down gorgeous, undulating waves of pure classical-metal fever." What idiot is writing this screed? Gosh, Engadget writers must be getting paid per post.

[Joshua Topolsky @ Apr 11th 2008 10:46AM]

This idiot -- and I'm not getting paid per post. What, you don't like Malmsteen?

[KangMin @ Apr 11th 2008 11:04AM]

"What idiot is writing this screed? Gosh, Engadget writers must be getting paid per post." What idiot is writing THIS screed? Gosh Jack Ripple must be getting paid per reply.

[StrangeBum @ Apr 11th 2008 11:05AM]

Yngwie Malmsteen kicks ass!

Along with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai...pretty much the G3 guys.

[Frank Furter @ Apr 11th 2008 11:31AM]

Jack, let's make your first post your last. Go away.

[Zoesch @ Apr 11th 2008 8:48PM]

I never liked Malmsteen myself but I don't see where the heck you draw the connection from Malsteem to bad writing.

[thatkidmattt @ Apr 11th 2008 10:44AM]

Classic SG = NICE!

Robot SG = cool, I suppose, but heavy.

Purple SG = WTF?!

[Ryan Trevisol @ Apr 11th 2008 12:07PM]

Indeed, and the SG didn't need any help being neck heavy, they go and stick 10lbs worth of tuners on there . . . You'll need a robot roadie just to hold the headstock up.

[onikaze @ Apr 11th 2008 10:50AM]

reminds me of the J Mascis signature jazzmaster.

[Jim @ Apr 11th 2008 10:56AM]

I have just purchased one of these and I am delighted

Jim
http://www.bulgariasfinest.com

[Galley @ Apr 11th 2008 11:03AM]

SG > Les Paul, and Yngwie is God!

[adriangrab @ Apr 11th 2008 11:07AM]

Honestly, I think it's a bit of a waste of money. The need with guitar tuning is not how to tune it to a certain pitch. By hand, it literally takes seconds to tune between songs, especially with a good tuner.

The real need is in staying in tune during a song. I'd much rather have a guitar that can handle all of my two step bends without going out of tune, as opposed to one that goes out of tune every few minutes and automatically retunes itself.

Basically.. it's a gimmick. And by the way, I don't think I'm buying a Gibson anytime soon because of the frivolous lawsuit against guitar hero. If you want the smooth LP sound, go with a PRS.

[Frank Furter @ Apr 11th 2008 11:35AM]

Yikes - defending video games AND pulling off two-step bends!!! Saaaaaaay, are you that kid from YouTube that records himself?

[mr.vanker @ Apr 11th 2008 3:10PM]

I was thinking it'd be cool if it could keep a constant read on which strings need to be tuned, and tune them when they go out (whether they are being played or not)

[Zoesch @ Apr 11th 2008 8:51PM]

You must've never played a real Les Paul in your life, the PRS are awesome guitars but they don't sound even remotely close to the Les Paul, the closest you can get for cheap is Epiphone, and basically only until the '99 Les Paul Studio and Classic since they were made out of Gibson bodies with lesser tolerance.

[j_c_dunn @ Apr 11th 2008 11:14AM]

Deffinatly a waste of money unless you are buying it for "collection" purposes. A Line 6 - Variax modeling guitar + the programming kist run only ~$1300, has just as good of a sound (actually better, I can't even play my American Strat anymore as the Line 6 sounds so much richer) and allows you to pretty much completely customize the tuning, sound (from a Strat to a Tele to an SG to a Sitar to a Banjo), and pickup style/position/rotation over some 50ish slots. Heck of a lot cheaper, looks just as good, and alot more versatility than something that automatically adjusts the strings for you. At least with the Variax you can change the tuning on the fly and never have to worry about the strings feeling different as they always keep the same tension.

[Eric P. @ Apr 11th 2008 2:47PM]

Dopey idea. Anyone who is going to spend more than $500 on a guitar ought to know how to tune it. Generally, any guitar that costs over $500 ought to stay in tune when you're playing. I know this from 30 years of playing guitar. For $4,000 you could buy a truly excellent guitar and excellent amplifier - and thats probably twice as much as most pro players have into their guitar & amp set-up (ie. 1 guit + 1 amp; not the whole collection of guitars, amps & toys).
dopey, dopey, dopey.

[corystal @ Apr 11th 2008 3:13PM]

Did it take you more than 14 minutes to post this or did you just not read the comment above yours? These guitars don't just tune to EADGBE.. they do several other odd tuning schemes, and some other cool things too. For guitarists that don't have the luxury of several guitars to switch between, this is actually a good idea, well executed.. (does it really weigh 10lbs more though???)

[Geir E @ Apr 11th 2008 11:40AM]

Is the use of that Gay-ish color a way to say real men tune their own guitars?

[Frank Furter @ Apr 11th 2008 11:47AM]

Don't you have a pink ribbon in your avatar?

[Stuey @ Apr 11th 2008 12:01PM]

I don't like Gibson because I don't like Humbucking pickups. I'll stick with my Fender Telecaster.

[Greg @ Apr 11th 2008 2:12PM]

Agreed, us Fender folk don't like having to pay twice as much for half the guitar. Single coil overwound texas specials on a beat to hell Strat ftw.

[BrokenMonkey @ Apr 11th 2008 12:29PM]

I saw these for sale at samash.com a while ago, way to keep up on the news guys.

[Itchy Pajamas @ Apr 11th 2008 12:53PM]

Man, I wish they'd hurry up and upgrade all the Historic models with that features already. :-)

[Itchy Pajamas @ Apr 11th 2008 12:59PM]

Me too. Telecasters are my favorite. Maybe Fender will introduce an auto-tuning system on the Telecaster that only tunes the first 5 strings, with the assumption that the 6th is discarded. :-)

[Hannah Thoreson @ Apr 11th 2008 1:12PM]

I would use the purple guitar to play "purple haze"

[Las Palmas @ Apr 11th 2008 1:26PM]

here's better information from Gibson's site:

LP Studio: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/divisions/gibson%20usa/products/lespaul/robotlpstudioltd/
SG Special:
http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/divisions/gibson%20usa/products/sg/robotsgspecialltd/

[pneil @ Apr 11th 2008 2:33PM]

Hey,

If they'd mark it down to $999 it might be worth it to buy
one, strip off that nasty purple finish, and redo it in sonething
cool.

The attraction isn't standard tuning. If you've ever hauled
around 3-4 guitars because you're doing songs in a variety
of tunings, you'd have a whole new appreciation for the
idea.

Pneil

[paul @ Apr 11th 2008 3:03PM]

It's not mentioned that way here, but I hate how in the Gibson propaganda leaflets, they're billing this guitar as the world's first self-tuning guitar. Transperformance has been doing this for almost a couple decades now. http://transperformance.com/

[JR @ May 17th 2008 8:55PM]

I'm a long time guitar collector and player and I had doubts if this sort of technology would actually work effectively enough when on stage or playing a gig. To my surprise the tuning process is quick you can go from various dropped tunings to various open tunings plus you can create your own customized tuning. You can also use different pitches based on your need. This guitar is for those that use many different tunings and don't want to waste time doing this on stage or having to carry 4-5 different guitars. The color in person is acually much darker and richer in appearnce then the internet photos I've been seeing. I purchased the Gibson SG and the ebony neck and the string action were setup exceptionally well. Then neck has a great feel with no buzzing. This guitar is not for every one but again if you play with a lot of different tunings then it's worth trying out.