Like many of you, I’m just a little
skeptical when somebody announces they have a guitar
that tunes itself, even if that somebody is Gibson. I’ve
got some questions I want answered: Is this system going
to be big, clunky, and ugly? Does it do open tunings?
Can I add my custom tunings? And will it really tune my
guitar quickly and accurately? Is it easy to use? Until
now, there have been several daunting requirements in
the design of a self-tuning guitar.
You need to have microprocessers that
are small and lightweight yet are sensitive to
accurately detect the pitch of the guitar strings tuning
and smart enough to calculate how much the strings need
to be adjusted to achieve the desired tuning. You need
powerful yet lightweight motors to adjust the tuners.
The self-tuning system should be visually integrated
into the guitar. And, perhaps most critically, all of
this technology should not be too expensive. If you’re
in a hurry for answers, I can tell you the Gibson Robot
Guitar really does work—surprisingly well, in fact.
The
basics The Robot Guitar features Gibson’s 490R/498T pickup
combo, just like a Les Paul Custom. The 490R’s Alnico II
magnet delivers that warm, Les Paul sound, with a
slight, upper-midrange boost. The 498T has an Alnico V
magnet. It’s noticeably hotter, with a crisp high-end.
The body of the guitar is the traditional mahogany
back/maple top, but it’s chambered for light weight. The
blue silverburst finish is only being offered on this
first run version. Like all Gibsons, this guitar has a
nitrocellulose clear coat.
Viewed from the front, the Robot Guitar looks like a
regular Les Paul. Closer examination reveals the three
major components of the self-tuning system: the Master
Control Knob (MCK), Powerhead locking tuners, and the
Tune-Control bridge.
Here’s the basic operation: The MCK is used to select
standard or open tunings including E, G, and DADGAD. The
strings are lightly strummed. The control bridge monitors
the pitch of the strings and instructs the motorized tuning
keys to adjust the strings until the MCK blinks blue to
indicate they are in tune.
A closer look
The MCK replaces the bridge pickup tone control. Easily
identifiable, the knob has an optical lens/LED display on
top. It’s a push/pull operation—pull up on the knob to
activate the self-tuning system. It still acts as tone
control when pushed back into place. Pulling out the MCK
kills the volume output, so you and your audience don’t have
to endure the sounds of a guitar self-tuning. When the
system is activated, the LED display on the top of the knob
lights up in red letters. Turn the knob to zero to select
Regular Tuning, or select a letter that stands for an open
tuning such as G for open G tuning. The LED shows flat and
sharp symbols in red. To activate, press down on the optical
lens. All the string LEDs shine red. Lightly strum across
the strings and the Powerhead tuners begin tuning. Each of
the six Powerhead tuners is a servo peg in a standard
housing that contains gears, a motor, and electronics.
Although larger than standard tuners, they are actually
smaller than you would expect, given how powerful they need
to be to tune the guitar. The Powerhead tuner set is
actually 15 grams lighter than Gibson’s standard Gotoh tuner
set!
The Tune-Control bridge is where the tuning operation
begins. A microprocessor located in the Les Paul’s back
cavity contains wiring for the volume and tone pots. The
bridge uses a built-in piezo pickup to measure the pitch of
each string. Look closely and you can see the wiring
underneath the tailpiece and the bridge that connects them
to the controller. Electrical power and tuning data are
relayed to a CPU—central processing unit—on the back of the
headstock via the strings. The CPU then issues instructions
to the Powerhead tuners.
How well does it work?
I charged the Robot Guitar by connecting the included
battery charger to the guitar’s output jack with a standard
guitar cord. The LEDs on the Master Control Knob confirmed
that the system was charging. From one to 10 flashing LEDs
show the charge level of the two onboard rechargeable AA
batteries. It took about 90 minutes to get to 10, a full
charge. Once fully charged, the batteries are good for 250
or more tunings. Charged and ready to go, I was eager to try
out each of the tunings and see just how easy and accurate
the Robot Guitar’s self-tuning system is.
The Robot’s Master Control Knob is used to select standard
or open tunings including E, G, and DADGAD.Because the
guitar was already in standard tuning, I turned the knob to
E for open E tuning and the EADGBE LEDs lit up red. I
brushed across the strings about a dozen times in each
direction to keep them vibrating so the controller could
keep measuring the changing string pitch. Although the
operation was fairly quiet, more than one observer commented
that with its quietly whirring motors it sounded like
RoboCop—hence the name Robot Guitar. I watched as each of
the LEDs began turning to green. The A string and low E
seemed to lag behind, so I lightly plucked each of them
until they turned green. When all six string LEDs turned
green they began flashing blue and then stopped—I had
achieved open E tuning in less than 15 seconds. Pushing the
MCK back in, I was ready for some Bo Diddley or Elmore James
action. Switching back to another tuning proved to be quite
easy—I just pulled out the MCK and turned it all the way to
zero. Again it only took a few strums to get back to
standard tuning.
Customized tuning
Here’s how Robot Guitar let me store a customized tuning
that I created by manually adjusting the tuning: First, I
resisted the impulse to just reach up and monkey with tuners
without disengaging them first. I pulled each tuner away
from the peghead so I could manually adjust the string—if I
hadn’t done that I could have damaged the Powerheads. My
custom Jandek-tuning consisted of de-tuning each string to
create an unnerving dischord—a tuning I could easily
recognize. I saved the tuning by replacing the dropped-D
tuning preset.
Standard tuning of A=440Hz can be recalibrated from
435-446Hz. Reference Tuning mode lets you disengage a tuning
peg, tune that string to a reference pitch—another
instrument—then have the system tune to that reference
pitch. To change strings, I used the String Down Mode to
unwind the strings and String Up Mode to wind up new
strings—necessary steps to ensure the accuracy of the
system. The Robot Guitar also allows you to quickly and
correctly set intonation—a very welcome feature! These are
just some of the powerful functions that are controlled via
the MCK.
