|
Electric guitars have changed surprising little since the 1950's. Aside from a few innovations here and there, the materials, design and guts of today's Fenders, Gibsons, etc. are pretty close to what they were in the 1950's. In fact the actual models from the 1950's are generally considered to be superior to newer models. Is the Gibson Robot Guitar finally a worthy breakthrough that will take our playing to the next level? Is a robotic tuner practical? Or just a gimmick? Will this open up the world of alternate tunings to the masses of guitar players stuck in standard tuning? |
|
Gimmick. I've played a few; they feel like a normal LP would, but instead of using your ear to tune, it does it for you. Boring, imo. The musician's experience is all about ear, and tuning is just part of that! However, I do enjoy the fact that you can drop it into an open tuning, on stage, with no back-ups needed. Mediocre development in guitars imo. Give us something more, Gibson!!! |
|
i think this guitar is beautiful and exspensive.I think having a automatic tuning guitar is nice but it's like a GPS you sort of become dependent upon it.Knowing how to tune a guitar by ear is a good trade to have. |
|
I get the impression it's meant for the gigging crowd, but I know it isn't advertised as such. Like someone said above, if you play sets that have songs in them with altered tunings, it would be a big time-saver on stage. Pair that with not having to take with you alternately tuned guitars to the gig and it adds up. Personally, I hate lugging 3 guitars (one in standard, one 1/2 step down, another drop-d) with me to each venue. |
|
I believe it's far behind the times. Line 6 had already developed a guitar that automatically tuned itself digitally before Gibson came out with the Robot, and this of course is the Variax. I see many guitarists today using Variax guitars, and few using Gibson's Robot. Why is that? Gibson reinvented the wheel by making small gears do what out fingers usually do. Line 6 invented something completely different that requires no wheels (perhaps, in the metaphor, a hovercraft, haha). With the turn of a knob, your guitar can be in any tuning you wish. In my opinion, the Variax is the major breakthrough. |
A more sophisticated tool none the less. I would happily test drive one. The video clips I have seen are impressive.