Ultimate Rhoads

This new tuner on gibsons guitars are cool are a look
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x21fptcdzVQ

Its not as fun getting hit in the face with the string when tuning

randy will never die wrote:Its not as fun getting hit in the face with the string when tuning

woah...how do you tune your guitar?

You know when you over tune your guitar and the string snaps

I use a tuner

I use my ear. LoL
I tend to get a few scares from string breakage

When I was about 16 I had a high E string snap and get me in the eye. I currently use a Snark and always look away while tightening the high E

The Gibson concept is interesting, I wish Guitar Center were closer so I could try one out.

I used to do warranties for Gibson. Their self tuning guitars have a 135% return rate. That means for every 100 guitars they build (that have self tuning), on average they are returned for warranty 1.35 times.

rhoads56 wrote:I used to do warranties for Gibson. Their self tuning guitars have a 135% return rate. That means for every 100 guitars they build (that have self tuning), on average they are returned for warranty 1.35 times.

Good to know... could you give a common reason? The system just not working?

Paul Wolfe wrote:

rhoads56 wrote:I used to do warranties for Gibson. Their self tuning guitars have a 135% return rate. That means for every 100 guitars they build (that have self tuning), on average they are returned for warranty 1.35 times.

Good to know... could you give a common reason? The system just not working?

To save weight, the tuners are made from plastic. If the self tuning is engaged, and you try to manually tune (trust me, it's instinctive... or when the battery dies) you break the machinehead.

The electronics are very tempermental.

The batteries fail and have a low lifespan. They are a very unusual voltage (I dont remember, but it is not common... like 7.8 volts or something), and have a unique clip to stop you buying another off the shelf. You have to plug the guitar into a special charger, through the jack hole. You can't play while it charges.

The tail piece has plastic inserts for the ball ends of the strings to sit in. These wear and break.

Zero shielding causes electronic interference.

All surface mount, and unique connectors, mean you need to modify the circuits when swapping pickups. Dodgy pot? Going to be expensive to fix!

Dam you Gibson another expensive product that is not worth the price tag you give it

Thanks for the insight, rhoads56. Now that Gibson has put the technology out there, I wonder how long it'll be until someone reverse engineers the thing, makes improvements and makes after-market self-tuners available? It wasn't long after the original Floyd Rose trem that people came up with similar products - some of which were definite improvements.

Paul Wolfe wrote:Thanks for the insight, rhoads56. Now that Gibson has put the technology out there, I wonder how long it'll be until someone reverse engineers the thing, makes improvements and makes after-market self-tuners available? It wasn't long after the original Floyd Rose trem that people came up with similar products - some of which were definite improvements.

Tronical, the supplier to gibson, has been making self tuning systems since around 2000. The problem is they need to be intergrated into the guitar, eg: the tuners require a signal, voltage, etc etc. The strings are grounded, so that means there HAS to be plastic parts in the tuners, plus two wires minimum, to each one.

What happens when the headstock snaps, as a LOT of Gibsons do, and the wires are all imbedded in the neck?

rhoads56 wrote: Tronical, the supplier to gibson, has been making self tuning systems since around 2000. The problem is they need to be intergrated into the guitar, eg: the tuners require a signal, voltage, etc etc. The strings are grounded, so that means there HAS to be plastic parts in the tuners, plus two wires minimum, to each one.

I'm confused. Are you saying a self-tuning system can never work well because of the plastic parts? There is a difference between quality plastic and cheap plastic as I know you are aware. Or is it that the quality plastic is cost-prohibitive?

No matter, I'm perfectly happy to tune by hand. My Strat is usually never more than a few cents out of tune anyway. Self-tuners would create a generation of lazy players... still it seems like a fun toy.

Paul Wolfe wrote:

rhoads56 wrote: Tronical, the supplier to gibson, has been making self tuning systems since around 2000. The problem is they need to be intergrated into the guitar, eg: the tuners require a signal, voltage, etc etc. The strings are grounded, so that means there HAS to be plastic parts in the tuners, plus two wires minimum, to each one.

I'm confused. Are you saying a self-tuning system can never work well because of the plastic parts? There is a difference between quality plastic and cheap plastic as I know you are aware. Or is it that the quality plastic is cost-prohibitive?

Im saying that Gibson, as usual, are taking the cheaper option, rather than the quality option. As a repairer, I see ten times more Gibsons than I do Fenders. They sell more Fenders though.

So is Gibson have a licenses to sell the tuner

I know for a fact that Gibson did not invent the tuner

Why would you put millions if dollars into a product and not sell a good version