The AM Forum

Gibson's new "self tuning" Les Paul !!!

 Robo Guitar  (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_hi_te/self_tuning_guitar)

I thought I was getting modern when I bought a Flamenco with machine heads and not the traditional pegs. Now buy a Les Paul and the tuning is auto ... amazing! I never minded tuning and wouldn't want this one even I  did play electric, but see some value for beginners that can't tune and accurate tuning for the busy professional player.

Sort of like an automatic antenna tuner compared to having to twist a couple of knobs.

I dunno, like old radios I like tweaking my 58 Les Paul.

Ahhhh I don't know Buddly,

I read about the Robo Les Paul in Guitar Player.  I guess in a pinch for changing tunings on the fly during a gig it might be cool.  But typically, once you have the strings stretched in, you don't have to do that much retuning.  Also, I have a feeling that with all of the wood taken away for the body & headstock, due to the added extra hardware in it, it isn't going to have the low mids of a stock 'Paul tonewise.  Besides, I always kept a second guitar not only for a spare, but for alternate tunings on certain songs, during gigs.  Also, not everybody tunes to standard pitches, or even a half step down like Hendrix & SRV did.  Like Van Halen, I've often tuned down a quarter step.  Besides, while I've used Les Pauls for playing heavy rock in bands, I usually prefer other axes.  Les Pauls are cool, but like Strats, everybody uses them.  Oh yeah, and forget about doing Sonic Youth type stuff with the Robo Paul.  Hmm, I wonder how gramps (who was not only a jazz guitarist but a luthier) would feel about it.    

73,
Ellen - AF9J
Who for the first time in 29 years of playing, is now a Telebasher

I want a self-playing guitar.

Isn't that like a 'no code' license?

Same here Sam. I don't know anyone I've played with who saw tuning as a "challenging chore".


I'm sure Ellen, that's accounted for in the tuning scheme here but I agree with ya. There are many times I like to tune the bottom or top E (or both) when playing behind a lead to take advantage of some bass runs n' such.

Mack, you're looking for trouble when your modification itches lead you to ANYTHING of your wife's !! Believe me...... I know  :o

LOL on the fingers in the piano. I use to tune pianos using an A pitch fork, then forths and fifths, then test in thirds. Now it can all be done electronically except the jiggling of the tuning hammer. Don't give up Mack. Consider using solonoids that are computer operated. The computer will determine the tension needed and adjust the voltage on the solonoid to pull just perfect. This is continious tuning so your wife's piano will never be out of tune, then maybe she will buy you the robo guitar. LoL!

I wonder if the robo guitar can be set to tune different preferences. In Flamenco some forms call for dropping the E 6 to D. It would be a shame to have to do this manually after investing in a robo tuner.

How about a stringless guitar that has 6 beams of light coming from both directions, the nut and the bridge and by breaking these beams with your fingering the correct tone is electronically produced. This would be called MF or modulated fingering. Only draw back is being called a MFer.

I think you can program different tunings into it to use as presets (along with with tuning down say 1/4 step instead of 1/2 step from standard pitch).  Still, it means screwing around with programming in the presets.  BTW, this concept isn't new.  I remember seeing a motorized guitar tuning system advertized back in the late 90s or 2000.  Still, I like my guitar a wee bit more organic.

73,
Ellen - AF9J
The metal chick - working on some screwed up circuit boards at work

Hmmm, I seem to recall that Eddie VanHalen was able to tune his guitar once when he put new strings on and that's it. I also thought the late (great) Stevie Ray Vaughn was able to accomplish this but would never let anyone know what the secret was. Me, I tune my Stratocaster with the handy-dandy Borg tuner. Works for me.

Give me an "A" and its done in no time ! ;D

Yep,

Ever since Uncle Joe (generation #2 of the guitar players in my family [grampa taught him a lot of guitar setup tricks]) showed me how to properly set up a guitar, tuning issues have been a non-issue (with the exception of an SG back in 1990-91 that sure could scream, but had such a wimpy neck joint, that it was almost impossible to keep in tune).  Still - I could see somebody using the robo tuner if they have a Floyd Rose vibrato on their guitar.  When you break a string on a guitar using one of those things, it's a major pain to retune them.  The robo tuner would make re-tuning a lot faster to do.  Still, the Robo tuner or Robo Les Paul just isn't my cup of tea.

73,
Ellen - AF9J     

Will it do alternate tunings? If a player is into using multiple alternate tunings and didn't want to change guitars, or take a bunch of time to retune, the robotuner would be nice.

Yes it will.  That's one of it's main marketing points - quick tuning changes for alternate tunings (such as Dropped D [my favorite], Nashville, Dropped C [for all of the nu-metalers], etc.).

Ellen - AF9J

Cool. Dropped D is easy since only one string is involved. Some of those others would give me a head ache.

      i like the programmable tunings idea. i sometimes play slide in a few tunings and the change is time consuming and unprofessional during a gig. having that setup on my pedal steel would be even better.

        as to tuners i use an A-440 tuning fork and strike a harmonic on the D string, then tune out from there. i get a better tune starting from the middle. unfortunately for those of us with old jazz boxes like my Gibson L48 and others with less than perfect intonation the tuners just get us in the ball park, as you have to tweek some strings a bit to get a good tune when fretting notes, kind'a like tuning a piano.

       guys like Stevie Ray didn't have to retune so often due to using very heavy strings, which is the key to great tone anyway. Say Buddly- did Bobby (K1KBW) send you the latest Bobby and the Lizzards CD? we did it last summer. if you don't have it let me know and i'll send you one. it's got both kinds of music too...Rythm and Blues.

Yep, if you don't want to lug around guitars for different tunings, it may be wortwhile to have a robo Les Paul.  But knowing Gibson, the price is steep, as in $2500 steep.  Ouch!   Although, there are those who predict, that after the first production run, the price will drop down to about $1600.

As for SRV - I saw him live twice.  In spite of using extra heavy gauge strings, he still managed to break strings  at least 2 or 3 times during both shows!

73,
Ellen - AF9J
Working on her Viking II

Sure did Chris. I get requests from the guys and gals at work to play it every so often.

As I said in a post above............

Sweet Home Chicago !

E A D G forever on my A9 mando.   Used to be a poor man's violin, uh huh.
'fraid I cheat with an electronic A, tune the rest of the 5ths off 7th fret.

Ellen.   You play a Telecaster for gigs?  Then you are ready for the Bakersfield sound.

Where are the drummers?  It seems that everyone on this forum is a professional guitarist like Ellen and Sam, an amateur guitarist or at least a former amateur guitarist.   Who was it that showed the size of a really big tuner by laying a Paul Reed Smith next to it?  I mean really.  What forum is this?

Jon

      cool! i don't run in to many mando players around here, being that country music is illegal within 25 miles of NYC. i love Bluegrass mandolin, and especially dig the electric mandolin playing of the guys from the Western Swing gang.

     Buddly: thanks for listening, and happy to hear you liked it. we just did 8 more tunes a few weeks ago, and i broke out my pedal steel for a few tunes. the blues/boogie stuff has a nice Texas Playboy's feel to it, and then Bobby sings "Truck Drivin' Man"...it's the Bakersfield sound drowned in Bass Ale. pure fun. i'll make sure you get a copy after N1GTU mixes it down.

the drummer is Joe WA1IWQ. Bill W3DUQ is also a drummer. back in the bad old days on 75 AM a lot of us used to trade licks on our instruments live on the air, in between sets of music. AM today is so tame compared to what it was
in the early 70's...

I know, but I play it in a decidedly un-country fashion.  A lot of people forget that Teles have been used for heavy rock music.  Joe Perry of Aerosmith has been using them off and on for decades.  Jimmy Paige of Led Zepplin used them in the Yardbirds (as did Jeff Beck).  He also recorded the entire first Led Zepplin album (remember "Dazed and Confused"?) using a Telecaster, and the guitar solo to "Stairway to Heaven" (an overplayed song, if there ever was one) with a Telecaster.  Even Kim Thayil of Soungarden (yes Steve I do like some Grunge bands), used a Telecaster on occasion.  Don't forget all of the blues players who use them.

I got mine because the price was right, I needed a change soundwise, and worst of all (for the first time in 28 years) I was without a guitar (I sold my old guitar and amp [along with the Heathkit Cheyenne I used to have] to pay bills), and going through serious guitar withdrawl. As it is, I got rid of the stock bridge pickup in it, and put in an overwound GFS unit, to give it more output, and tame some of the highs.  I don't like shrill, or twangy sounding guitar.  But I do like the way Teles bark. 

Now I just need to find another band - tough to do at age 44, when most  musicians my age only want to play Classic Rock (yawn!), country, oldies, pop covers, or the blues (went through my blues phase 25 years ago).  Nobody my age wants to rock out, and I'm way past the stage of "I'll play in any band, just to be able get up in front of an audience."  If the music doesn't turn me on, I'll end up looking bored on stage, and won't make my best effort playingwise.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

Well Jon... i don't play drums but I've made some coin playin' harmonica in a blues band.

Did some stuff for a friend on a Christian Jazz/Blues album and do some studio work around Northern Ohio now n' then.

Not making a living at it but does put a few sheckels in the pocket.

Quote without comment:

http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jan/babemouth.html (http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jan/babemouth.html)

73, Bill W1AC

I guess this is where I put my hand up and be counted.  Although I'm fairly obsessed with music nobody would ever mistake me for a pro.  I started 5 years ago and its now my most time consuming hobby.   No vintage Les Paul here, just some cheap Chinese stuff:

Squier Strat and acoustic
Dean EVO (actually Korean)
Squier Jazz Bass
Cheap no-name fiddle
Cremona Upright Bass
Rogue mandolin

I switch around between instruments quite a bit, usually playing mandolin about a half hour each morning and playing electric or acoustic guitar in the evening.   This last year the guitar was largely replaced with the upright bass because I joined a fiddle orchestra and really didn't know how to play the upright. I had to scramble to learn 30 plus tunes before our concert season.  We are in the off-season now so I'm torturing the family with the acoustic guitar.   We did record a CD but I think folks would sooner pay me to not play than play so I'm still an amateur.   I played electric guitar with some folks for about a year in a rock jam band up in the wilds of Woolwich, Maine but it never went anyplace (its never supposed to).  I play a lot of traditional music as well as rock and roll.  The fiddle group plays French Canadian, Cape Breton, Irish and Scottish music.  It's called Fiddleicious and it's directed by Don Roy, sometimes called the dean of Maine fiddling. 

For those of you who have played professionally, I'd be curious if you recorded and the names of the bands.

73 de Ed W1XAW   

I read it Bill.  Awww!  That was cute!!  Kids really do say the darndest things!

73,
Ellen - AF9J

Nah never recorded. They've always been just local bands.  I've never been full blown proffessional (where my living has been solely from music), just semi-pro.  Still, I do it for the love of making music.  Past a certain point, I get more enjoyment out of playing with people, than just by myself.  I don't know, maybe it's my ensemble musical upbringing.  I was playing in brass bands several years before I took up guitar in 1979.  Still, there is a limit to this mindset for me. As I've  mentioned, playing with other people, is no fun for me, if I don't like/get into the music.

Also, while many musicians like jam sessions, I have mixed feelings about them.  Oftentimes I find them to be too chaotic, with nothing but noise being made and/or no songs being played.  Or, everybody at the jam session only knows a few songs in common, and because you haven't really gelled as a group, you hack your way through those songs either over and over, or in long extended jams.  That gets old, and painful.  But, I will admit that I've gone to reunion jams held by old bandmates, and had a blast ripping through sets of the old material.

73 & play on,
Ellen - AF9J

P.S. - here's a photo of my present guitar rig. 

1.  The guitar is a Squier Affinty Telecaster (I call her Candy  for the Candy Apple Red color),with a high output, overwound GFS single coil pickup in the bridge position.   

2.  The amp (I just got recently for chump change) is a 100W Peavey Supreme head.  It's a switchable, 2 channel amp (clean & mondo distortion).  Yes, it's solid state.   My days of breaking my back lugging tube amps are pretty much over with.  It's sort of the solid state version of Peavey's 5150 tube amp.

3.  The speaker cab is an older Crate 2x12" bottom with 70W Celestions in it, I got cheap last year.  I find living with 4x12" bottoms to be a pain.  Anyway, 2x12" bottoms have almost as much bass response.

4.  The yellow stompbox on top of the amp is a reissue of a 70s DOD overdrive pre-amp. With the gain my amp has, I doubt I'll be using it much anymore.  I'm not a huge user of processed guitar as it is. My only effects are a Morely Flanger, and a cheapo Danelectro chorus pedal.  I usually run a pretty dry signal.

I took a vacation day tomorrow.  I'm hoping to give my guitar and amp a workout.  Oh yeah, the little Crate practice amp in the corner of the photo, is my old practice amp that I gave to a friend of mine.  I borrowed it back from her a few weeks ago.   I hope to give it back to her this weekend.

Buddly said:
I'd like to hear some of that one of these days Buddly ;) Other than the Strat Highway One, I have an original issue Ibanez (very heavy) I nice little Fender Champ 30 and an awesome Polytonics Baby Brute.

Hi Mike,

Don't you mean a Poly-Tone Baby Brute?  I don't think Poly-Tone is in business anymore.  For a while, their amps were very popular with the jazz crowd.  BTW, what model of Ibanez do you have?    70s & even early 80s Ibanezes are starting to go for some serious bucks.  They were very well made guitars that also sounded good.  Unlike  some of the cheapo Teisco, et. al Jap Junk of the 60s, by the 70s, most Japanese guitars were very well made.  As a matter of fact, Ibanez, Yamaha, and Tokai got in some serious hot water for making unlicensed copies of Les Pauls, Strats, etc. in the 70s, that were so accurate, the only thing that looked different was the brand name on the headstock, and sometimes the headstock shape.  They were of better quality than the the insturments Gibson and Fender were making at the time.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

Ellen said:
Yeah that's the one.  Perfect size for sittin' and jammin'. The Ibanez is a heavy bastard pseudo Stratocaster copy with humbucker pickups and a four bolt neck. The frets are raised and there is some hardware missing. Unfortunately, all the hardware is metric :P So to restore it would mean using standard hardware. The store where I buy my equipment from said it would be better off hanging on a wall than trying to restore it. :'(

Hi Mike,

Hmmmm Strat Style?  Is it a Roadstar from the late 70s/early 80s per chance?  Try some of these links for Ibanez parts:


https://store.ibanez.com/store/comersus_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=30

http://www.ibanezrules.com/parts.htmhttp://www.guitarpartscentral.com/

http://www.guitarpartscentral.com/

Ellen - AF9J