The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 12-08-2007, 02:38 PM
Compurocker's Avatar
Compurocker Compurocker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Woodstock, New York
Posts: 1,602
Default A guitar that tunes itself?

According to one of the major NY Newspapers: Robotics Technology developed by German company Tronical Gmbh, in partnership with Gibson Guitar Corp., enables Gibson's newest Les Paul Model to tune itself in about two seconds. AP

I don't know. I would still rather have a Peterson Strobe of some sort.
__________________
Jeff

It's the Music That Really Matters!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-08-2007, 03:11 PM
Jeff M Jeff M is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Not where I thought I was going, but probably where I need to be.
Posts: 18,603
Default

Kline made an acoustic guitar a few years back that would do the same thing.
Don't think there was much of a market for it.
__________________

"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best."
Henry Van Dyke


"It is in the world of slow time that truth and art are found as one"
Norman Maclean,
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-08-2007, 03:26 PM
jackweasel jackweasel is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 945
Default

I don't know where I got the link, [Powertune System] but I saw a video about it, and it's true. A dedicated piezo bridge-area pick-up which sends a signal to some sort of processor that tells the six tiny servo motors attached to the tuners, which way to go and how far.
Neat idea, from a technical standpoint, but will it really catch on? Sure would help with temp changes on an acoustic, but I doubt it would be practical unless the processor is very, very small or is a seperate outboard unit.
Might be nice though.
Bob, are you listening??
__________________
more guitars and stuff than I deserve
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-08-2007, 03:37 PM
jefframm jefframm is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Suburb of Atlanta, Ga.
Posts: 12
Default I don't get it....

I'll be the stick in the mud on this one.... with all of the potential innovations for guitar, i just don't get this one really. I work with lots of "youth" for our Youth Group praise band and my experience is that learning to tune, and learning to keep yourself in tune as you play really help with your ear and your playing in general.

I guess I'm showing my age. Back when I was boy we had to tune our guitars in 3 feet of snow after walking 42 miles to school....
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-08-2007, 03:43 PM
Guest 720
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Division...itars/LesPaul/

My friend tried it, and thought it pretty cool to change to alternate tunings with the essentially a knob turn. Haven't tried one myself yet. The videos show how it works pretty well.

Last edited by Guest 720; 12-08-2007 at 03:51 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 12-08-2007, 03:58 PM
Pvee Pvee is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Maineville,Oh,USA
Posts: 2,667
Default

The inventors here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI934KFn1Ls

This is the other one. This one cost about three times the other one.
http://transperformance.com/index2.htm

This is a pretty good article, good pictures.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Guita...ar-70522.shtml

There is a thin circuit board behind the tuners that must connect them together electrically and the power comes through the strings to drive the tuners.

You can install this in a Les Paul without having to do major surgery on it.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-08-2007, 04:19 PM
whamonkey whamonkey is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 1,631
Default

The thing must be topheavy with all them servos in the headstock.

Can you say neck-dive?
__________________
2008 Martin HD-28
2006 Composite Acoustics COT Standard
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-08-2007, 04:31 PM
Nelson's Avatar
Nelson Nelson is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Northeast Colorado
Posts: 3,445
Default

That's old technology. The Transperformance Guitar has been around for years http://transperformance.com/index2.htm. Endorsed by the likes of Graham Nash, Peter Frampton, Jimmy Paige, Eddie Van Halen and a whole host of others.
__________________
I have a photographic memory...but I'm out of film.

Nelson


2002 514ce
2003 414ce Ltd
2014 150e
2010 Fender Strat
2017 Les Paul Custom

Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 12-08-2007, 06:00 PM
songsender's Avatar
songsender songsender is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Lincoln, NE
Posts: 899
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by whamonkey View Post
The thing must be topheavy with all them servos in the headstock.

Can you say neck-dive?
In looking at the info on the sit - they say the tuners actually weigh LESS than a standard Grover tuner.
__________________
Paul Burner
BURNER GUITARS
THE WHEEZETONES BAND


Building one-off acoustic guitars since 2008
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 12-08-2007, 06:29 PM
dahn8 dahn8 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Maryland
Posts: 1,324
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jefframm View Post
I'll be the stick in the mud on this one.... with all of the potential innovations for guitar, i just don't get this one really.
Thats what i thought at first too but then i was told of artists who, using a similar product, changed to alternate guitar tunings within the same song on the fly to get interesting sounds.
__________________
Dan

Taylor 614ce (walnut/englemann) "Kayla"
Gretsch Pro Jet (with Bigsby!)

Last edited by dahn8; 12-09-2007 at 02:49 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 12-08-2007, 07:42 PM
whamonkey whamonkey is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 1,631
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by songsender View Post
In looking at the info on the sit - they say the tuners actually weigh LESS than a standard Grover tuner.
Wow........I stand corrected BUT not convinced.....yet.
__________________
2008 Martin HD-28
2006 Composite Acoustics COT Standard
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 12-08-2007, 10:16 PM
wthurman's Avatar
wthurman wthurman is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Posts: 10,620
Default

Makes more sense to me on guitars which use a whammy bar. Despite locking nuts, balanced levers, etc. the whammy bar throws tuning to crap most of the time, in which case it would be nice to have something that tunes outside of that consideration. Of course, it will throw a lot of roadies out of work...
__________________
Wade


Worry less about the guitars you want. Play the guitar you have more.
The answer will come, and it will not be what you expect.

A guitar is a tool, and a friend. But it is not the answer.

It is the beginning.


Current Guitars:


Taylor 716C Modified
Voyage-Air VAOM-04

CD: The Bayleys: From The Inside
CDBaby
Amazon
Also available from iTunes



Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 12-09-2007, 11:21 AM
bitsmith's Avatar
bitsmith bitsmith is offline
Practicing fingerstylist
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lawrenceville, GA
Posts: 202
Default How much would you be willing to pay?

I'm a little surprised by the number of negative comments about this technology. If it works well, it resolves what for me has always been the biggest irritation of playing guitar -- trying to keep the instrument in tune. Also, I'd think that any player who uses alternate tunings and would like to regularly alternate between tunings during a performance would be willing to cough up some bucks for something like this.

The Transperformance system looks especially impressive, given that it allows you to change tunings in the middle of a song. I'd expect that would open up all sorts of new possibilities for composers. This article indicates the Transperformance system has been around for 18 years (16 years at the time of the article's writing in 2005) and has been used by many of the world's best-known guitarists. It appears the major sticking point is the cost.

It would be interesting to look at this technology from a slightly different perspective. How much would you be willing to pay for a self-tuning system on your favorite guitar (electric or acoustic) if it allowed accurate mid-song retuning; supported multiple user-programmable alternate tunings; did not alter the guitar's appearance; and had no adverse effect on tone, playability, or feel?

Bryan
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 12-10-2007, 11:25 AM
whataboutbob whataboutbob is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 45
Default

I like the idea but I'm not yet sold on this technology for one simple fact: Strings don't like to change tensions drastically. I find it hard to believe that you could change to an alternate tuning and have those strings stay in their NEW tune for the duration of a song. So for that reason I am skeptical of it's live use potential.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:31 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=