Gibson's New Self-Tuning Guitar

There are certain natural laws that govern the behavior of our world: what goes up must come down; for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction; to play in tune, you have to get yourself in tune, writes Gibson.com.

Ever since the invention of the instrument, this third law has been grudgingly accepted by guitar players. No longer. Gibson’s new Powertune System rewrites the laws and frees guitarists from the drudgery of tuning. To play in tune, tell your guitar to tune up for you. Impossible? Not any more.

The Powertune System, available as original equipment only on Gibson guitars, is the first fully functional, performance-ready, and non-obtrusive automated tuning system, and the only self-tuning system practical for use by the professional guitarist. It is operated solely from the guitar, with no external connections or interface from a third-party device, and no need to move your busy fingers from the guitar strings and controls they are already manipulating in the course of your performance. Simply activate your guitar’s Master-Control Knob (MCK), strum the strings lightly, and within seconds the Powertune’s digital brain and Powerhead tuners work together to put you perfectly in tune.

Or to achieve any open or alternate tuning, rotate the MCK to the desired preset, strum, and you’re ready to play in Open E, Dropped D, Double Dropped D, DADGAD, Open G, Hendrix Tuning (half-step down), or any of your own custom tunings. In the time it takes you to say, “Hello, Cleveland—we think you’re gonna like this next one…” you’re back in tune, and ready to rock. No stomping on pedals, staring at the floor, or breaking eye contact with your audience, and your fretting hand doesn’t even have to touch a tuning key to get you there.

Other tuning systems require either the use of an external gadget, extensive and obtrusive modification to your guitar, or are extremely limited in their capabilities. Fender claims to have automated tuning on its VG Stratocaster, but it is far from being a genuine self-tuning system, and lightyears from having the capabilities of Gibson’s Powertune System.

In fact, if you put a VG Stratocaster into correct “relative” tuning but slightly flat or sharp of true concert pitch (i.e. the guitar strings are “in tune” with each other, but not with other instruments in accepted A-440Hz tuning), it is not even capable of correcting its virtual tuning to make the guitar actually in tune.

Read more at Gibson.com.

Comments

[01chardw]

sounds cool

[tim311mahoney]

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

[dgme92]

01chardw wrote:

sounds cool

sounds VERY cool. i can't wait to see it put to use, see how well it will work

[gurk-mannen]

Awesome!

[not_dead_enough]

Within a year or two Gibson will sue some company for using the idea like they do every other guitar manufacturer.

But sounds like a cool idea.

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

I agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one, but it doesn't have a huge impact on your musical theory knowledge. It doesn't change how u learn chords, arpeggios etc and I know great piano players who don't know the first thing about tuning one.

[frankv]

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

Things like that are only sad when tuning is necessary, you probably don't know how to build a guitar, while in the early days of guitars, guitarists probably made them theirselves.

[Aftertime]

wow that's pretty cool, if this becomes standard on every guitar in the future, i wonder if people won't have as good of an ear towards open strings

[theLowEnd]

this is sweet

[nehpets5555]

sounds awesome

[USCENDONE BENE]

The lazyman's guitar has finally arrived!

[smash119]

this is exciting. while i don't particularly need a tuner to automatically tune anything for me in standard or drop d, it would be great to something automatically put it half step lower or some open tuning for you. standard and drop d tunings i can just accept doing, but it sure would be convenient for alternate ones.

[stephen_rettie]

im exceited but as has been said
no one will be able to tune their guitars when this hits the mainstream

[horazonblade]

I wonder if you can preset custom tune preferences? I'm all about trying to learn with your ear... but this is a sweet invention.

[iplayfenders66]

Sounds pretty cool, it would be interesting to see how well it actually works. Although I don't understand why they have to bash fender at the end of the article. Seems a little unneccessary..

[Circle]

in a few years time we will be able to say to the younger guitarists: 'you know, back in our days we had to tune our guitars manually'. and they will be like 'wtf?'

[matalliam]

wow ive gotta buy one of those, its probbably gonna cost more than a guitar tho

[pist off]

And people said it was a conspiracy when they heard machines are taking over.

[Astaldo]

THAT'S COOL!!!

[Abe]

Is it odd that this scares me?

[Godbe]

This sounds like a really good system. I'm lazy and hate having to change tunings, tune up etc etc.
It's not really good practise, but it's sure as hell convenient!

[will_124]

you know it probly wont work...

[Dallen_007]

This seems pretty cool, but the attack on fender seemed really unnecessary and unprofessional.

[Korzack]

pist off wrote:

And people said it was a conspiracy when they heard machines are taking over.

:haha The Matrix begins here, eh?
Ok, so technology has to keep marching on, for the greater good of things. Not keen on the idea, but a guitar maker's gotta come up with new stuff, I guess. And this stuff'll take at least about 20 years to filter down to the cheaper end axes.

[Nerdo-sez-bo]

You see, I play a lot of Sonic Youth and experiment with my own tunings. It's not for me. And I don't think it would be anyway.

[Metallica708]

a) Extra expense will be huge
b) It will mean people will start 'losing their ear'
c) Tuning isn't that hard a skill to learn... It's just laziness.

[becker009]

damn it! gibson beat me to it! i was seriously going to create one of these for my senior project using feedback to constantly keep the strings tuned, even while playing! oh well haha, guess i'll have to look elsewhere for innovation.

[Nazi zaschzi]

im a gibson man i just love dem's guitars

[becker009]

Metallica708 wrote:

a) Extra expense will be huge
b) It will mean people will start 'losing their ear'
c) Tuning isn't that hard a skill to learn... It's just laziness.

on the contrary, for part b). constantly hearing the correct frequency of a note because of self-tuning will hone everyone's relative pitch. as a result, you'll be able to identify when something is OUT OF TUNE.

[Cal UK]

Sounds sweet.

[mattyp90]

Dallen_007 wrote:

This seems pretty cool, but the attack on fender seemed really unnecessary and unprofessional.

Totally agree with all of that.
Personally I never have huge trouble in tuning, but it would be nice if I was recording and wanted perfect tuning.
On that last bit, it makes it seem as if Gibson only decided to come up with this technology after Fender did the VG, not actually because they want to do something helpful for guitarists.

[MadGoat]

Interesting.

[Harvey_Danger]

That's cool, but the VG strat doesn't claim to self-tune, just model different tunings. I'd prefer that, because then I can go to A without making my strings all floppy and loose. Also, as far as I know, Gibson guitars don't yet have the technology to model the sounds of acoustic guitars or to switch from sounding like a guitar with humbuckers to one with single pickups.

Haha, besides, it's pretty much guaranteed that a $1700 Strat is going to be of better quality than a $1700 ...

[stitches31]

wow. i hate tuning into different tunings so it would be sweet. to bad i play with ibanez guitars.....i could try a gibson though.

[mimimimi]

I personally think this would be great when playing gigs, but ijust plain lazy when practising.

[Perforator]

I can't think of any reasonable explanation why but that sucks in my opinion.

[punkrockjoe]

This is a nice invention and all but the fact of the matter is that most people won't have these and tuning by ear is VERY important skill.

[rotted_strings]

I hope this comes out on just more than the Les Paul and SG. Cause I plan on buying and Explorer.

[shakysam]

Attacking Fender is just how Gibson rolls. I've been on a Gibson factory tour and all we heard is how superior their manufacturing processes are etc.

I think that this 'powertune' system is a nice gimmick to have on a guitar, but is not worth paying extra money for nor would it be a deciding factor in the purchase of said guitar. For example, nobody is going to choose a guitar that tunes itself over another with better tone or feel.

[OneHappyCamper]

Hm, the only downside I could see to this is that it takes away from the headstock wood mass, if the battery is mounted in the haedstock as it seems in the pic.

[Shabalaba]

It will have flaws at first, but technology will improve, but equally it is one more thing to go wrong on your guitar.

Perforator wrote:
I can't think of any reasonable explanation why but that sucks in my opinion.

I know what you mean, its a clever idea but i dunno, i just dont like it

[rotted_strings]

(sry bout the typo) doubt it will work for long, most tuners i have (i. e. Fender Sparkle Tone) go stupid and try to tune different, like assuming b when its an a

[xxZeroxx]

Metallica708 wrote:

a) Extra expense will be huge
b) It will mean people will start 'losing their ear'
c) Tuning isn't that hard a skill to learn... It's just laziness.

I agree very much with C.

rotted_strings wrote:

I hope this comes out on just more than the Les Paul and SG. Cause I plan on buying and Explorer.

I do too but if they did that would defeat the purpose of buying a Les Paul or a SG.

[GimmeToro]

not_dead_enough wrote:

I agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one, but it doesn't have a huge impact on your musical theory knowledge. It doesn't change how u learn chords, arpeggios etc and I know great piano players who don't know the first thing about tuning one.

True, I play piano and don't know how to tune one, but it is a lot more time consuming and difficult to tune a piano than it is a guitar. Thus I learnt to tune a guitar, as it doesn't take that long, and the benefits of playing in tune outweigh the inconvenience of tuning it.

This idea sounds good in theory, but there's very little technology that works exactly as intended every time. I can imagine it will be a proper pain if it goes wrong.

[PekarGuitar]

Seems like it could be cool, but if it costs significantly more then its not worth it. It would be kinda cool though to change tunings effortlessly...

[dgervin839]

It'd be really useful for Floyd Rose users, if that was possible?

[x_themetalfan_x]

Woohoo laziness meets technology again! Oh how I love the western world. It's actually not a bad concept for those who play live and don't want to break their momentum to tune, but I'd hate to see it take over manual tuning. Tuning is an important fundamental!

[cochese788]

Pretty cool concept, but I wonder how much it will cost...

[_Lewis]

Nice idea, but if you think about it, there will be guitars with this new technology everywhere soon and it will breed a lot of new guitarists who don't know how to tune a guitar properly. How nice

[pfa]

self playin guitars next ? :P

[paddypower27]

kids ain gna b able 2 tell naturally by ear hw a string is outa tune in 10 yrs cos of this, n its 1 of those fings u gta kno off the top of ur head!

sounds sweet tho =] wud b gd 4 on stage only rle.

[cHIZZX-00]

sounds VERY expensive

[Acrimony]

Can you say expensive?

[StinkyShoes]

well, to me, tuning isn't so annoying, if the guitar would be able to stay in tune without having to adjust it again. Hopefully this would basically accomplish that.

[silentdob]

This is cool and all (considering Im quite anal about being in tune), but damn did they put down Fender. They basically said "if you put it ever so slightly out of tune, the guitar will call you a dumbass and make you fix it yourself". Gibsons just mad that Fender beat them to it, so they had to take the Microsoft way out of it and find a way to make something that exists better and say their the first.

[ChucklesMginty]

That is like the best thing ever.

[metalhead_maddo]

When they make one for my seven-string Ibanez, I'll be happy.

[TJ1991]

Sounds like a great idea, but wiping out manual tuning altogher, which will probably happen in the next few years, cant be a good thing. With the popularity of tabs increasing ridiculously in the last few years, and now this, it will get to the stage where no listening will have to be done at all.

shame i cant afford one though. or i presume i wont, i mean this is gibson...

[Styx]

whooa i never though something like that would happen to a guitar!!i hope this comes out for the bass too ... it has to be so expensive that u will have to cut ur testicles to pay it lol.

[captaincods]

Lazy asses.

[LetTheBassPlay]

^dude, take that "id kick ur ass on guitar" crap somewhere else. put up some recordings and prove it.
anyways, that sounds like a good idea for the upper level guitars, because i believe that everyone should know how to tune your guitar, so it shouldnt be on the beginner and intermediate guitars.

[mrryan]

paddypower27 :
kids ain gna b able 2 tell naturally by ear hw a string is outa tune in 10 yrs cos of this, n its 1 of those fings u gta kno off the top of ur head!

sounds sweet tho =] wud b gd 4 on stage only rle.

Tell me about it... Look at what spell check has done to today's youth.

[mh400nt]

Gibson should activate my master-control knob...

Too far?

[wes_jett2008]

*Goes to the gibson website for the first time ever*

[Jastul]

this is an AMAZING idea, but this will be too expensive for the first few years to really overtake manual tuning or using an electronic tuner; it will have multiple flaws, at least for the first few months or years; it will totally make new guitarrists unable to tune their guitar manually once this hits the mainstream at reasonable prices. i guess what I'm saying is that it's got great potential, as long as people don't use this instead of doing it the (soon to be) old school way 'cause ear tuning is a great skill that no guitarrist should be without

This is a pretty sweet thing if you're playing alternate tunings during a gig since you can just use it instead of having to waste time to tune your guitar or having to switch guitars in between songs.

Checked

[tamargoguitar]

I just spent 4 hours setting up my floyd rose guitar so it can stay in tune, I want to rest a little bit so I come to UG, and the first thing i see is THIS???

you dont know how angry I am right now!!!..

sounds awesome though!! im definetely getting one

[fwibble]

anybody reckon it;d be possible to take it from a gibson guitar and install it in another model guitar?

if it works as well as it claims there'll be a million copycat devices out by christmas next year at the very latest

[sum41freak8733]

now i have to say its a nice idea , i would love it when im doing gigs for a fast tune up , but i still know the old school way (every guitarist should) but if your a beginner and get this guitar , then you should still learn the old tuning methods before you know , our kids kids kids , wont even know what a untuned guitar sounds like becuase they wont have a natural ear for tuning

[Nightfyre]

Shameless plug for Gibson that only looks like a genuine article... sad. Slow news day? At least it could've been written so it didn't sound like an advertisement.
The tech sounds good, but probably will be buggy for a while. I have to admit being able to rapidly swap between e, drop d, d, and open dmin would be great, because I play in all those tunings. If you don't like it, you could always replace the auto-tuners if it's standard on your guitar of choice.

[pist off]

and they said it was a conspiracy when they said machines are taking over.

[Nightfyre]

Note: I don't mind tuning up, so this doesn't really affect me.

[sharlut_1234]

wow sounds cool cause i hate tuning my guitar

[2late2know]

as said before I'm sure there will be some flaws, but this sounds really amazing. I would love to be able to try this out simply for seeing that it actually works.

[the_kid_tek]

I'm guessing it'll cost a bomb. But it still sounds extremely good.

[dimebagsmygod]

A shame some one cant invent something to stop going out of tune the further you go up the fret.

[666_Pounder]

It will be good if they pull it off.

[Jadk0de]

Sounds cool, but with time technology falls apart... we all know this, how much is it going to cost to fix this piece of equiptment if/when it goes wrong, plus your going to need batteries for this?

I like this idea of self tunning, but i fear the price of its addition on current guitars and its repair/maintenance. We shall see

[utahotc]

There's nothing like the feel of tuning something that's out of tune. Getting rid of horrible dissonance always makes me feel better.

I personally would not use this at home. Sounds like a godsend for live work though.

[Dabey]

cool i must say

[mr freezy]

the_kid_tek wrote:

I'm guessing it'll cost a bomb. But it still sounds extremely good.

What I was about to say, it'll be waaay overpriced.

[Jonny02]

When did this website become an advert for Gibson? We had the sickingly obvious Gibson sponsered 10 best guitar solos and now this. Music NEWS should be un-biased.

[ctb]

Nerdo-sez-bo wrote:

You see, I play a lot of Sonic Youth and experiment with my own tunings. It's not for me. And I don't think it would be anyway.

I experiment now and again.

And to actually have a guitar like this is amazing, but I would really miss trying to get it in tune!

To me this is like when one of my college friends said, "Flappy Paddle Gear Boxes in cars just take the feel out of racing, the rush of putting your hand to the lever and changing gears."

[CJRocker]

Am I the only annoyed that UG is starting to turn into an ad for Gibson? this is like the what, the 2nd or 3rd Gibson themed article in several days? You can stop kissing ass now guys.

And don't get me wrong, I think its cool, but if those Robotuners (I forget what they are actually calleD) you can buy, it only works maybe half the time. And knowing Gibson it will cost an arm and a leg. Cool concept though.

[El_Bozo]

There was this kind of tuning system made by Tronical, and presented on NAMM 06, so i think it's no news to me.

It's a cool gizmo, but it just supports the lazyness of musicians. Anyway, cool in some way...

[The_Beginner]

no way xD it sounds really cool, but still, I'll stick to the "normal" guitars, and I'm sure this guitar will cost an ocean of money xD

[in*limbo]

GOD i love gibson =)

[grunge geek al]

but i like tuning

in a few years every guitar will have it and i'll be irritated, especially as i enjoy mucking about with tuning

[Nightfyre]

dimebagsmygod wrote:

A shame some one cant invent something to stop going out of tune the further you go up the fret.

there's this thing called intonating your guitar... unless you're on acoustic, you should know how to intonate your guitar.
I bet that's next: not knowing how to intonate or adjust the truss rod. I just got a job at a local music store, and people don't know how to maintain their instruments anymore. Maintenance is dying; I have to oil the fretboard on almost every guitar I work on. 90% of the ones that don't need it are from people who have me restring their guitars and I did it previously. Few people string their instruments correctly, so I'm often getting somebody's guitar for the sole purpose of restringing. It's pretty sad... except that it pays my bills

[Bonscott4ever]

I wonder if they're going to put this on any other guitar besides the Les Paul...seems every innovation at Gibson comes in the for of a Les Paul....

[dumbwolf]

i disagree it cannot be good at all, somebody who had been playing without it would knnow beter that the one who would use it

[ConfusedBirdman]

I need a guitar that will restring itself, clean itself, and for that matter, play itself.

[Draken]

it's a nice idea

[Skuzzmo]

Sounds lame to me.... Argueing with the guitar about what tuning you have is part of the experience of playing. Might as well cut a recess into the body and fit an MP3 player. Then you can just leave it on the stand merrily playing while you turn around to ya mates saying 'yeah, i've really improved on the guitar, I sound great don't i'

[duncang]

If it works, I hope Gibson will do a Floyd Rose and license other companies to make copies. I understand if they don't though, because it'll make them millions if they keep it Gibson exclusive.

[Phill-Rock]

I thought the VG Strat already did all this - but I didnt hear about the problems. I'd rather have a Gibson anyway, but unless they make an Epiphone version I wont be getting it any time soon.

[skippy_moogoose]

funny thing, my guiatrist's dad knows the guy who came up with this I think, he was telling me about it months ago,aprently Fender wern't interested in it,so he went to Gibson with it!!!

[Mahoru]

If the guitar looks, feels and sounds good already, this can only mean one of the ultimate improvements for somebody who changes a lot of tuning!!!
I hope it's not very expensive...

[acshadow25]

THAT IS THE BEST THING EVER! QUICK, GET ONE ON AN ESP!

[FretboardToAsh]

Right, handy. But why the bitching on Fender? I mean don't get me wrong, I despise that certain guitar.
But come on how old are we now?

[browar]

I thought they are talking about Fred Durst signature model.

[Adam Musial]

Sounds like we are all getting lazy now

[dado00]

dgervin839 wrote:

It'd be really useful for Floyd Rose users, if that was possible?

probobly but you would still have to unlock everything and then tune so it dont take much away

[dado00]

ctb wrote:

Nerdo-sez-bo wrote:

You see, I play a lot of Sonic Youth and experiment with my own tunings. It's not for me. And I don't think it would be anyway.

I experiment now and again.

And to actually have a guitar like this is amazing, but I would really miss trying to get it in tune!

To me this is like when one of my college friends said, "Flappy Paddle Gear Boxes in cars just take the feel out of racing, the rush of putting your hand to the lever and changing gears."

he got flappy paddle gear boxes from top gear jeremy clarkson

[Life Wasted]

Wow I wish they would put that on my Les Paul

[xtreme450]

dgervin839 wrote:

It'd be really useful for Floyd Rose users, if that was possible?

The biggest part about a Floyd Rose is that it never has to be tuned until you change strings...

Either way, I'd rather just do it myself between songs...I'm a traditionalist like that....

[UNIe]

I hope it won't be too expensive

[Jondy]

Incorporate this idea into a headless and I'm completely sold on the idea. Assuming it can do major drop tuning, like, close or equal to baritone.

ahh for a million dollars.

[corruptjustice]

sounds too good to be true

[deenasguitarist]

mrryan :
paddypower27 :
kids ain gna b able 2 tell naturally by ear hw a string is outa tune in 10 yrs cos of this, n its 1 of those fings u gta kno off the top of ur head!

sounds sweet tho =] wud b gd 4 on stage only rle.


Tell me about it... Look at what spell check has done to today's youth.

HAHAHAHA!!!! +1

[Absent Mind]

agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one

Um, you dont know how to program a computer to open this webpage, but you can still read this :P

I wish people would stop bashing this for being 'lazy' tuning is hardly fun, and would hardly be a skill worth having if a guitar did it automatically.

[Ragnarock]

Tuning your guitar is part of the experience...

[StenTheAwesome]

I can see this thing breaking strings often...

[getts182]

browar wrote:

I thought they are talking about Fred Durst signature model.

That's hilarious!
But as if Gibson guitars weren't ridiculously expensive already...

[Krisp]

Cool. Too bad it's probably too expensive for normal people. Well, every Gibson is.

[Charlie4]

This invention is both wonderful and awful because:

It will help anyone during a live gig by tuning automaticly while playing, great for beginners and amateurs , yet
the Music is taken out of the music by new technology via lazy ear. This will only help bring out more talentless bands.

[deadlyMETAL]

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

That would indeed be funny.

I think it's almost unbelievable, will likely be expensive as hell, and will give birth to new self-taught 'guitarists' who play only more NuRock stuff and it just sounds worse and worse since they learn so little about the guitar's notes and things like that.

It's funny, but I don't think it'll be great in most ways...

[Nebjy]

Sounds cool but it probably will have flaws at first and should never be sold to beginners, having to tune up every time you pick up your guitar builds character! :p

Also this would create some complications with tremolos so yeah.

[MetalHeadDude]

mrryan wrote:

paddypower27 :
kids ain gna b able 2 tell naturally by ear hw a string is outa tune in 10 yrs cos of this, n its 1 of those fings u gta kno off the top of ur head!

sounds sweet tho =] wud b gd 4 on stage only rle.


Tell me about it... Look at what spell check has done to today's youth.

haha so true

This looks cool but will the extra money really be worth the couple of minutes that not tuning will save?

[Mannequin]

Sounds like laziness grab a snickers.

[666hamish666]

i cant wait to get one but its gonna cost a fortune and i can already tune a guitar maybe its just like a novelty

[metalcameron89]

takes all the fun out of tuning your own guitar

[zapatista89]

my guess £550 more for a system, that potentially destroys a creative aspect of the guitar. and also what the hells the point? hmmmmm

[GuitarHero1081]

This is pretty nice to have!! and you bet your ass that SOMEONE is gonna hack it, and use it for other things (than self-tuning your strings)

[1llusionz]

It's not bashing. It just the way it is, it isn't suppose to be fun. Just like changing strings, it's not fun but required. Do what you gotta do to take care of your guitar. Tune by ear and it helps you recognize notes. People should do both by ear and machine. . .

What next a guitar the can automatically change its own strings?

With that said, it is a pretty neat idea. It can come in handy at gigs when you need to change tuning to songs. Sounds pretty shweet. Will boost Gibson sells. I want to try one of those things now!

[Cafas]

This isn't a 'lazy man's' guitar. Think about the endless possibilities it opens up to you. The guitar isn't an 'extension of the soul' anymore than any other instrument is. It's a tool made for creating music. And this new self-tuning device is going to help people create some cool music. At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

[GuitarJunkie]

Dallen_007 wrote:

This seems pretty cool, but the attack on fender seemed really unnecessary and unprofessional.

it wasn't an attack, it was just simply saying that this system is superior to other similar guitars out there, and the VG strats to my knowledge is the only other guitar with a self tuning system, that is apparently inferior to this one (gibson).

[soupdragon]

coooool
i cannot tune!
(well not by ear anyway, i can with an electronic thingamajig)

[ChoPxSueY]

I can see how this would be useful for a guitar with a floating bridge as they're a bitch to retune, but other than that a bit pointless. imo.

[zapatista89]

ChoPxSueY wrote:

I can see how this would be useful for a guitar with a floating bridge as they're a bitch to retune, but other than that a bit pointless. imo.

yeh good point that, but how many gibsons, except bigsbys, use floaters?

[richardm80]

this is a miracle. Jesus the saviour has returned to us in the form of this guitar!

[vosschs]

can it change my strings too?

[xgibsongirlx07]

awesome, so how much will this bad boy cost?

[Twiggy81R]

"Drudgery of self tuning"? In my opinion, actually tuning an insrument yourself helps you learn.

Don't get me wrong; I think it's a great idea.

[bigbunny]

ahhh. #@&%# i ran outta batteries.

[funkylebafin]

well well lets see here....

one of the most important aspects of ear training is the act of tuning ones guitar "by ear" and more importantly by "ones OWN self" !!!

thanks Gibson for having become the next one on the "whatever it takes to make a profit" (and in this case discourage ear tuning) organisation!!!

cant wait for the " PowerPlay system" where all u have to do is "strum lightly" and the guitar will play the rest of the pre-chosen tune for u! then for sure no eye contact will be lost between "musician" and listener...

cheers.

A.N

[7_seven_7]

Charlie4 wrote:

This invention is both wonderful and awful because:

It will help anyone during a live gig by tuning automaticly while playing, great for beginners and amateurs , yet
the Music is taken out of the music by new technology via lazy ear. This will only help bring out more talentless bands.

...I don't see how it'll bring out more talentless bands.. but okay.
and yeah i agree, what's with all the bashing of being "lazy". I don't mind tuning if i'm just a little flat on each string or something. But i think everyone can agree that going between tunings such as... from standard E to say.. drop C is a hassle. And me personally i play in every tuning from standard E to drop B, and this device would not only be handy at home to switch tunings [if that's what it can do i'm assuming] but yes very handy when playing live.
I'd get it if it came out for ibanez and wasn't too expensive, nevertheless a pretty good idea.

[RickGardiner]

I'll get one as soon as I win the lottery.

[Azwethinkwedo]

not_dead_enough wrote:

Within a year or two Gibson will sue some company for using the idea like they do every other guitar manufacturer.

But sounds like a cool idea.

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.
I agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one, but it doesn't have a huge impact on your musical theory knowledge. It doesn't change how u learn chords, arpeggios etc and I know great piano players who don't know the first thing about tuning one.

Tuning a piano is a competly different ball game though

[Bootus]

I think Matt Bellamy from Muse has this or something similar on his new custom made Manson Guitar.

[IainDavies_2]

it sounds cool, but it will take away the skill of having to tune your guitar, one could lose sense of the tuning because if a guitar is out of tune i know immediately and i can tune it up and it doesnt take me long, but if someone with this device comes to play a guitar thats out of tune and has no tuning device, unless their good at tuning by ear, they're screwd. tuning is a skill, not a task.

[Rocker_Dude2k4]

Woohoo laziness meets technology again! Oh how I love the western world. It's actually not a bad concept for those who play live and don't want to break their momentum to tune, but I'd hate to see it take over manual tuning. Tuning is an important fundamental!

-----

100% agree. i would use one on stage, as it saves lots of time changing tunings, for example going a step down and then back up to standard later. i wouldn't like to think that people would play without being able to actually tune a guitar though.

would be funny to see someone buy one of these as a first guitar and get really good, then give them a good old normal guitar and laugh at them

[Art_of_Guitar]

I can't wait to see the price tag on these

[Oxendoobie]

I love the attack at fender at the end lol.
I played the VG and i switched it to d and it didnt change tuning, so im hoping this actually works.

[thvstdffrnc]

this looks amazing.

[Oxendoobie]

Just looked up the price and it is $900 and its only available on the flying v, the sg, les paul, and les paul studio

very expensive

[.smudged.]

sounds expensive indeed, plus add the name gibson, and everything becomes ridicously overpriced

[BlindMelon45]

sounds pretty cool, sucks thatits only on Gibsons tho, im a Fender man myself

[1llusionz]

Oxendoobie wrote:

Just looked up the price and it is $900 and its only available on the flying v, the sg, les paul, and les paul studio

very expensive

That sucks, they should have it for the Explorer. That is a lot of money. Hmm.

[dragon88]

this sound prity kick ass but how lazy are people geting

[Captain Insano]

Hopefully it will do what it claims to be able to do.

[dfresh91]

yea i think its very advanced and stuff, probably a good thing for when ur doing a show and u go from one tuning to another or sumthing like that, but if its really expensive its not worth getting, seriously its not that hard to tune a guitar

[kaptink]

~@?= me crikey!

Whitchcraft!!!

[_Buxton_]

I never knew people called e-flat tuning a hendrix tuning before....

[Mental Hop]

Next step in technology, the self-playing guitar. Just pretend to play along and the notes will ring out clear and bright.

[skydemon666]

very cool

[_InsanitY_]

totally sweet =D must get 1 of those soon hehe... mext stop self playing and self playing robots that play the guitar lolz =)

[King ofKumbucha]

The best thing about this is that now bands can write songs in many different tunings without having to worry about changing guitars a million times live. Frees you a lot creatively.

[King ofKumbucha]

_Buxton_ wrote:

I never knew people called e-flat tuning a hendrix tuning before....

It's not but they called it that.

[JimiJames_]

Soon well have guitars , taht play themselves

[Bonscott4ever]

I'm pretty sure that the use of it is optional. Like you can use it during live shows, but then turn it off so you can experiment at home. At least i think that's what's going on.

[Mazzakazza]

pics or lies?

[RockMusicFan]

That would be great if you needed to switch tunings during a performance.

[Callum89]

Would it really be worth the extra cost (Which, I would assume, would be quite a bit) just to save you the trouble of tuning it?

[ready2breakdown]

im really impressed. I kept trashing on Gibson to all my friends about how much I hate that fender and gibson just got on top and stayed there. They were just sticking to their guns and doing the same old shit. But as of lately both of them have been pretty innovative.(Gibson more so)

But I'm mostly curious about if they will patent the idea.(I certainly hope not). It almost sounds to good to be true. lol. But I'm not going to make any judgments until I get my hands on it!

[hamish5178]

This is pretty old guys, it's been for sale on MF for awhile. . .

Not to mention that it costs around $800,

for me at least, tuning my guitar is not an $800 inconvenience.

[Tallman1984]

I can't believe how many people are offended by this concept. Christ! If you don't like it, don't buy it- Problem solved. You can spend an extra minute tuning your guitar like a big boy still. Have a cookie.

[HellrzngPinhead]

Sounds f'cking lazy

[as_i_lay_dead]

are these being released attached purely to gibson guitars? or will you be able to buy ones seperately that you can fit into your tuners yourself? because by the look of the pic its only attached to guitar by the tuners

[guitarman341]

I only ever really use Standard and Drop D tuning.

[Gamma362]

meh dons't look too impressive there are already ways of doing this cause professionals have been for years. I give it a few more years before people should really get excited about this

[Gamma362]

i would also like to say that this is unnecessary considering if you are spending a few thousand on a guitar its not going to go out of tune very easily

[Prove_i_Did_It]

ugh. $900 for the system alone. you have to install it.

[spoonylove90]

drudgery of tuning? how lazy are we gibson?

[i bleed metal]

i heard about this a while ago but cool nontheless, gibson is gonna make a fortune

[FlyingFool]

It should me mentioned that Gibson did NOT invent this technology. Gibson is licensing PowerTune from the company that DID invent it: Tronical.

[Cafas]

Man, some of you people are really stupid. You keep focusing on how it's negatives, of which there really aren't any. Plus, because of the restrictive price, it's really only going to be in the hands of the people who actually know what to do with it. Stop pretending you're all pure-blooded blues hounds.

[Aziraphale]

I was wondering when someone with the resources would release a product like this, I mean there are already guitars with built in chromatic tuners, aswell as hipshot detuners and various alt-tuning bridges, the step isn't that far to automatic tuning machines. This is no less "musical" than using a tuning device to tune your guitar. I'd never pay $800 for it, but like someone said a pianist can have a fantastic ear and great skills without knowing anything about tuning his/her instrument, so musicality has nothing to do with it.

[Bullet FMV]

That's ridiculously cool, but also ridiculously expensive. I doubt many people will purchase the system, unless they're so specific about only using one guitar for different tunings at a gig.

[Lambey]

itd be nice to have something like this for floyd roses.

damn things are well bad for tuning.

[as_i_lay_dead]

Prove_i_Did_It wrote:

ugh. $900 for the system alone. you have to install it.

so would this fit pretty much any 3-a-side headstock guitar?

[ffaf_guitar]

Gibson kicks ass, but anyone know how much this guitar will cost and if it's worth to give these extra(i guess so, cuz its gonna be more expensive than the classic one) money instead of move our lame fingers? anyway , i wonder with this developments in guitars these days when guitars will start make coffee too. :P

[delmarindy]

I kinda want one of these

[lost in 3 words]

pretty sick

[phillyguitar]

A: The only reason this is awesome is because you can use alternate tunings on one guitar. People should still manually tune, and I don't think this kind of technology will EVER be affordable to the average player.

I also generally like to do things manually, so relying on myself rather than a computer is just natural to me but hey, what are you gonna do.

[bs5538]

Sweet, but I wonder why they didn't mention the price? Oh, that's right! Most of us couldn't afford it.

[Guitarist132]

I dont get how it works at all but it looks cool...and probably expensive

[qotsa1998]

Pianists dont have to kno how to tune one, theres 88 strings to tune w/ an Allen wrench. that's alot harder than tuning a guitar. I thought Gibson guitars were a little overpriced, but this is just ridiculous. Tuning kinda isnt necessary to kno how to do, but it helps alot, especially when plaing a straight acoustic. And if u have to tune from Standard or Drop D to something lower like Drop C or something like that, its gonna mess up the string tension. ur gonna go from playing nice, tight strings to playing strings that sorta flop a bit.If its $900, and u have to install it, its not worth it. Gibson guitars dont lose tune to easily, and trying to play low tunungs with the same settings on ur amp, id think it would sound muddy. so rly, it is mainly a pro tool.

[gldragon]

thank you Gibson for making one of the coolest guitars since the LP...this will probably be extremely expensive

[Tombi]

..And another automatized achievement in this ****ed-up world.

[KingCheesehead]

And soon enough, new generations will never know how to tune a guitar.

[rocknrollerman]

wow i think thats pretty much useless. is really that hard to tune a guitar? no. now these kids will get these guitars and they wont even learn how to tune a guitar.

[Gee-Tar1]

This is an awesome idea.

[preebib]

thats awesome ive got to get one

[HavokStrife]

Wow, so Gibson's no longer gunna be the most likely guitar on the planet to fall out of tune in five minutes?

[Metallica_Man55]

attack on fender was uncalled for. this invention is too expensive to be worth it, unless you have money to burn. as also stated, future generations will not learn how to tune once the price for this falls into a reasonable amount, just like most people (not all) don't know how to build a guitar themselves.

what's next? guitars that play themselves? come on.

[PlayMadness]

Need... now...

[ctb]

dado00 wrote:
he got flappy paddle gear boxes from top gear jeremy clarkson

lol

[grungeisdead312]

Godbe wrote:

This sounds like a really good system. I'm lazy and hate having to change tunings, tune up etc etc.
It's not really good practise, but it's sure as hell convenient!

i was too damn lazy to read all that
but i think ill stick to tuning my guitar the old fashioned way \m/

[Misc Debris]

Hmm
Sounds kind of lazy to me
We're letting technology take over way too much

[grungeisdead312]

oh yea and i meant using a tuner,
b/c thats the old fashioned way now that the guitars tune themselves

[Garci]

Hmm, I really like the idea, but isn't this a rip-off of the VG strat's tuning system? At least that's what I thought. Either way, go Gibson!

[DANZIG767]

Misc Debris wrote:

Hmm
Sounds kind of lazy to me
We're letting technology take over way too much

Its not laziness, its convenience

[Shaned]

now only if they can make an automatic string changer,then i'd have to bow down to machines :]

[1llusionz]

DANZIG767 wrote:

Misc Debris wrote:

Hmm
Sounds kind of lazy to me
We're letting technology take over way too much

Its not laziness, its convenience

It depends on the person using the guitar. If I begiiner had this guitar then he/she wouldn't tune regularly (most likely) they would use this device. They are lazy.

If a pro had this guitar, he/she could tune easily by ear. But needs it to change tunings during performances. Instead of bring 3+ guitars set to different tunings, all you need is this one guitar.

[Stukart]

Well yippee, hell, why not make the guitar play on it's own aswel? now EVERYONE can be a rockstarrr!!

tuning is part of making music, and learning to tune is for the benefit of every guitarist. it's stupid to remove such a vital part of learning to play

[metallica99]

awesome but no doubt will cost a bomb

[1llusionz]

Shit, I should be a. in 2nd sentence. Sorry for typos.

It depends on who is using this guitar though.

[punkextremest]

Im afraid that will just rip what guitar is all about..... Experimenting!

[punkextremest]

Im afraid that will just rip what guitar is all about..... Experimenting!

[SL!!!]

punkextremest wrote:

Im afraid that will just rip what guitar is all about..... Experimenting!

how? it just tunes it. and you can tune it however you like. but yes, definitely every guitarist needs to know how to tune properly and intonate their guitar and be able to hear the beat patterns blah blah blah. all true. but. for those of us that can, this would be a huge time saver.

[JESUSbaby]

Fianlly, no more time to tune. I do believe it takes the on of the fundamentals out of guitar playing, but it will sure save a minute to tune up.

[sum_ugly_man]

frankv wrote:

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.Things like that are only sad when tuning is necessary, you probably don't know how to build a guitar, while in the early days of guitars, guitarists probably made them theirselves.

yeah, can you imagine in the future? we wont even have to use our fingers to rock, well jsut have to think about it and the note is being played, technologu is gonna destory mankind, im not getting this thing, im gonna stick to what jimi hendrix used to do and wat the rest of the great guitar gods do, tune it themselves, allthough it is a good invention though

[Kivarenn82]

lol, the next step will be voice activated tunings!

in one song you could go from drop D to open G to C# stadnard.

all while blending espresso based ice drinks.

[fenderboy20]

quite possibly the coolest thing ive ever seen

[SG1961]

i gotta get one of these for my sg

[wvguitarguy]

good idea but damn why play one if ya cant tune it?

[EldonsName24]

man i wish they can make an "auto-sweep picker" for guitars haha

[willy_99]

its a good idea and pretty clever but in my opinion its good to just do it by ear instead of some machine doing it for you

[Greg Harper]

This could revolutionise guitar playing. Will it help beginners? No. We don't even know if it works yet but from what I've just read this could be ace.

[RHCPhan18]

Kivarenn82 wrote:

lol, the next step will be voice activated tunings!

in one song you could go from drop D to open G to C# stadnard.

all while blending espresso based ice drinks.

F**k yes.

[envoykrawkwar7]

bigbunny wrote:

ahhh. #@&%# i ran outta batteries.

im just wondering what to do when a string breaks?
does it automatically do that too?
lol

theres theyre next invention

[jane_says]

eventually, musicians wont get paid jackcrap for there works, eventually, u can think of a song and it will b recorded, and the music industry will crash and burn

[13HourDrive]

I need this....I need this now.

[lupinthe3rdband]

thats a great idea

[fluffylump2]

soon you'll only have to look at a guitar to play it...

[HLrocker]

I think it's a great idea.
alot of people keep saying that its just lazy, but when you think about it, it's just there to make life easier, just like ALL technology, so if it's lazy to have a self tuned guitar, then it's lazy to use a stove instead of rubbing sticks together and cooking over a fire.

[duncang]

I don't think it's really gonna stop people from learning to tune by ear because by the time you're serious enough about the instrument to want to buy a top quality guitar with one of these systems you will probably already have a decent ear.

[Nomak1]

The Powertune System, available as original equipment only on Gibson guitars, is the first fully functional, performance-ready, and non-obtrusive automated tuning system, and the only self-tuning system practical for use by the professional guitarist.

[ponnightingale]

In the time it takes you to say, “Hello, Cleveland—we think you’re gonna like this next one…”

Hahahahaha!

But seriously, there's not need for this. It'll cost a bomb and is unneccesary.

[Mud Martian]

I play in strange tunings (lots of Soundgarden!) and I like tuning by ear because it's good practice for me. While this is really awesome and all, it isn't for me. And it seems like it'd be too expensive for beginner guitarists, and if you know how to tune by ear or have a tuner, then you don't really need a guitar that tunes itself? To each his own I guess.

[FlamingYouth]

please oh please oh please work well as described!

and please oh please oh please don't cost a fortune!

[TC1223]

that is freakin awesome - i want one

[fligi3]

Mud Martian wrote:

I play in strange tunings (lots of Soundgarden!) and I like tuning by ear because it's good practice for me. While this is really awesome and all, it isn't for me. And it seems like it'd be too expensive for beginner guitarists, and if you know how to tune by ear or have a tuner, then you don't really need a guitar that tunes itself? To each his own I guess.

That is true, but if you are playing a gig, you don't want to take too much time to change tunings.

[Heat-13]

....


coool


....

[delizio37]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WI934KFn1Lsi think this is a video on it....even though the articel says only gibsons, you can see then using it on a fender...now i hope the next invention is an automatic string changer that perfectly wraps the string

[Serial 177]

Damn SCREW The MTM1!!! this will help alot.. Gibson sound and quality.. with better tuning.. id love to try this out

[The_Man_IV]

hmm More and more technology

Old days are the way to go Ya know a regular tuner or ur ear now all this high gismo tech stuff for some of the most easiest things
Soon there gonna have guitars that play them selfs and u can hold them and watch wont that be somthin
gettin there guitar heros about that

[fenderbender111]

whats next?

auto-arpeggio?

[Menza_]

fenderbender111 wrote:

whats next?

auto-arpeggio?

Already been done by Boss. I dunno sounds neat though, I still like tuning and detuning myself though

[Mortigi Tempo]

doesnt sound that useful its not like tuning is so incredibly difficult taht it has to be done automatically

yeah i can imagine saying to grandchildren BACK IN THE DAY I HAD TO TUNE IT UP... BY HAND!!!

[joshua029]

not a gibson fan, but im sorta amazed...

[CBA28]

now what i want to know is the price, and can it be applied to any gibson guitar that you already have

[mau7]

that sux, like someone said will take out a creative work for the player, and will take out his skill on how to recognize the sounds and how to tune in correctly and play with the different tones.

2/10 for lazy asses

[gooeymax]

I found them on YouTube http://youtube.com/joeym7800. They are awesome!

[mercedesisbenz]

I wouldn't spend money on it.

[Agent_00Funk]

I bet this shit is expensive.

[eddievh2]

dang!!! i wonder if its on all gibsons....wat do i care i dont even hav one. still cool tho

[jpgilbert701]

nice idea

[A.U.S.T.I.N.]

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

thats probly whats gonna happen. but its probly gonna have bugs for a few months maybe a year. great idea though. pretty soon all guitars will get something like it.

[greenparty49]

wow i hurd about this a wile ago but i thought it was just a myth or something, lol im glad its rly comeing out, cant wait to see it

[acersucks]

It is a nice idea but the only time I can see this actually coming into proper use, like the article mentioned, is if you were playing live and just used it to quickly change tunings or correct it - it would save you time and you wouldn't end up looking stupid trying to tune your guitar between every song.

[k00kie M0nster]

cool

[zackk]

i think its pointless.

[austinarcadium]

its a cool idea, but i rather spend 200$ on an accurate tuner, than spend 2000 on a guitar that can tune itself.
still, its a cool concept.

[FireTag]

i forsee thousands of broken strings when people start buying these...

"let's do a song in drop D, then E then the acoustic one in G! Just because we can!"

*mess*

[DoctrDrew116]

This is terrible. Now even less people will know how to tune a guitar right.

[E V H 5150]

Don't know if it's be

Circle wrote:

in a few years time we will be able to say to the younger guitarists: 'you know, back in our days we had to tune our guitars manually'. and they will be like 'wtf?'

LMFAO, like old people saying "You know, when I was young I had to change the channel myself!"

[Doodleface]

GuitarJunkie wrote:

Dallen_007 wrote:

This seems pretty cool, but the attack on fender seemed really unnecessary and unprofessional.

it wasn't an attack, it was just simply saying that this system is superior to other similar guitars out there, and the VG strats to my knowledge is the only other guitar with a self tuning system, that is apparently inferior to this one (gibson).

The Line6 Variax can do that if you buy the workshop for it, it does it better too, because you can customize your tuning, and its virtual so no string sloppiness, or tightness.

[Doodleface]

oh, and people will likely be using the system alot, so I imagine alot of necks would warp and bend because the tension on the truss rod would change so much.

[Cobalt Blue]

Jimmy Page has been using a automatic tuning system for years. it sounded great when i read about it, but it was a wee bit expensive.

however I think this is going to bring on a whole generation of lazy guitarists who know even less about their instrument... on the bright side this would save money for anybody who needed to buy more than one of the same guitar for live shows... you know if they want the same tone but different tunning or just switching because it's ogne out of tune.

[HaKattack]

tim311mahoney wrote:


I agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one, but it doesn't have a huge impact on your musical theory knowledge. It doesn't change how u learn chords, arpeggios etc and I know great piano players who don't know the first thing about tuning one.

Tuning a piano is INCREDIBLY different than tuning a guitar. Anybody can tune a guitar, but you need special training to tune a piano.

[guitarNbass]

NO FUCKING WAY. Even if you think that it's gonna' suck or w/e. It's sweet that they have a guitar that'll attempt to tune it's self. I still do think that people should learn to tune on their own though. It's just part of what I think makes somebody a good musician. You're nothing if you don't have a good ear. Sweet idea! I know I'd want one although I can tune it on my own :-D

[Vaul96]

I'd only use it playing live so not to break the mood and spend 5 minutes between songs pissing round with tuning

[earlearl]

It's cool but a bit lazy, and that on attack Fender was a bit harsh. Also is that what we want i.e. it's not the thing for me becouse 1] the cost will be over the top, 2] many guitarists change their tunings to totally random tunings, and 3] tuning is a usefull skill and dosen't take long to learn (well for me it didn't).
Earlearl

[philjay]

I don't know about you, but I'm waiting for a guitar to play itself..

[Vaul96]

Oh and what about people who would much prefer to stick to the classic tone of their '59 Strat, they wont wanna botch up a beautiful guitar. People are still gonna know how to tune if they use old school instruments

[gifted_awakenin]

How can they give the VG Strat shit! It is amazing, It allows me to change my tuning without increasing/decreasing string tension which is great. This new system is bound to have many flaws, it'll take a while to get rid of the kinks then they can try and put down the VG

[Melonhead2]

i don't know... I think that if you want to play guitar you should be able to tune it. I can see how it would be useful if your switching tunings in the middle of a set, though.

[cabbaman98]

I ahte these massvley long comment things. No one will apy attention to this comment.
I jut basicly fink its awesome. I spend too much time worryin or actually tuning my guitar onstage when i cood be doing soemthing. And when u do accidnrly play out fo tne onstage it s anightmare.
Also wen u have 2 play a different tuning its horrible tryin to change on stage or having to swap guitars

[-heartbreaker-]

completely useless.

who cant tune a guitar, and if your guitar goes out of tune with one bend, your guitar is just shitty, that's all

get a new nut, new tuners, top wrap your LP, and get a tuner pedal, saving you thousands of dollars

[-February-Star-]

This article is misleading, the device isn't actually Gibson's. It was developed by a German company called Tronical, Gibson merely have distribution rights. Something this article fails to mention.

[super666fender]

jesus. i want thins. thsi is perfect for me. its a bitch havoing top tune from DADGBE to standard, to back down to drop A and such

[vinnym86]

Metallica708 wrote:

a) Extra expense will be huge
b) It will mean people will start 'losing their ear'
c) Tuning isn't that hard a skill to learn... It's just laziness.

a) true, but, if you're buying a Gibson, its not like this technology is raising the price to a level thats ridiculous... its already there.
b) no, this is technology for people who need the quick , easy, and accurate tuning onstage. I'm sure at that level, you're good enough to keep your tone recognition.
c) see above. but yes, tuning is an easily learned skill.

[-February-Star-]

The Gibson website claims that power is supplied to the PowerHead via the strings. That sounds incredibly dangerous to me...

[garrett5]

Sounds very lazy.. I wouldn't wanna play one, I like my guitar experience to be somewhat Traditional

[Jumboshrmp]

paddypower27 wrote:

kids ain gna b able 2 tell naturally by ear hw a string is outa tune in 10 yrs cos of this, n its 1 of those fings u gta kno off the top of ur head!

sounds sweet tho =] wud b gd 4 on stage only rle.

ppl wnt b able 2 read n 10 yers if ppl keep spelin leik dis

Anyway, I think this is a neat invention, but I don't really like the idea of new players not knowing how to tune their guitars...lazy..

[copet]

Cool. Now Steve Vai needs to create something to automatically tune the floyd rose JEM I'm gonna be buying this Christmas. And it must change strings as well.

[I Walk Alone]

That's all we need. More expensive guitars from Gibson.

[ihaterap69]

i want it but i cant afford...

seems sweet though

[gallagher2006]

Sounds cool, but is all that extra money REALLY worth it to save 10 seconds tuning between songs?

[MrDinkleberry]

Too bad it's 900 dollars for the kit thing. And tuning your guitar isn't that big of a deal. Although this would be absolutely GREAT at gigs.

[darkdraconium]

its pretty lazy from what i can tell....i mean...i can see the convienence for live stuff....but i would hope there would be an off button or say goodbye to bends XD

[psilocyndreams2]

it must be expensive as **** but it would be amazing if eventually they got one that would work for a floyd rose. think of how many hours that would save if you change tunings a lot...

Checked.

[Frusconbage]

Yeah its, nice, but honestly, tuning it yourself isnt that much of a hassle.

[branflakes439]

very VERY awesome

[tom708]

dont fancy it. its a cool idea, i just wont ever need it.

[Set-Abominae]

Wasn't this written by someone at Gibson.com? That would explain the shots at Fender if it was. Aside from that, this sounds really nifty and I want one.

[branflakes439]

i think its suppose to be $899.00

[metal jello]

01chardw wrote:

sounds cool

cool, but EXPENSIVE!!!!!

[mesa5150]

branflakes439 wrote:

i think its suppose to be $899.00

i would pay it. however i have 7 guitars so thats a lotta notes.

[mesa5150]

pardon the pun

[Paul Lambeth]

Absent Mind wrote:

agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one
Um, you dont know how to program a computer to open this webpage, but you can still read this :P

I wish people would stop bashing this for being 'lazy' tuning is hardly fun, and would hardly be a skill worth having if a guitar did it automatically.

Programming a computer is a boggling task. It takes years of knowledge to do. Tuning a guitar takes about a minute. It's not comparable.

I'd like one when they're cheaper to see if it works. I wouldn't use it for standard tuning or drop D, but I would find it useful for alternative tunings which I don't go into much.

[Zrasool]

i can't wait to buy this...in 15 years when i can actually afford to buy something that does something i can do myself in 30 seconds. and i just started playing.
still it's pretty cool.

[bjovi400]

yeah expensive. much.

[nightmare10999]

Sounds okay, but having a guitar that can tune itself kinda defeats the purpose of learning to play guitar in the first place.

[JeffWiredBeck24]

Eh, how will this translate to full-floating trems?

[DanRev]

Now all we need is a guitar that can restring itself.


That'd be the life.

[jamiehubbs]

nice...

but the inorganicness of this will surely F*** up the tuning i think

[MXFNCK]

why? is it so terrorizing to tune yer instrument?

[SixStrings]

well i heard that Fender is comming out with a robot that you just pre-program all of your songs into and you just prop him up on stage and he will play the songs for you, all in perfect tunning. pretty cool idea because you could just go to the bar, hang out with friends, or meet girls while playing your shows...

[FearBefore]

nightmare10999 wrote:

Sounds okay, but having a guitar that can tune itself kinda defeats the purpose of learning to play guitar in the first place.

Not really... I know that I didn't pick up a guitar and say "Damn I wish I could tune this!"
It's lazy, it could have flaws, it's more weight on an already heavy Gibson and like everyone's saying it's probably gonna cost a small fortune. However, I gotta say, I wouldn't mind one.

[Chad11491]

too bad it's 900 dollars for the system alone...

anyone who pays that just to automatically tune is stupid in my opinion, thats a decent head, or a good guitar, just for the SYSTEM, not the guitars it's going to come on, which for a standard SG expect to pay about 1700 to 2000 USD, great...what a nice *cough*useless*cough* invention Gibson.....and i love Gibson, but i think this is a ripoff, take the 30 seconds and frikin tune

[Artisan_Bassist]

I kinda like being able to tell exactly when my bass is out of tune on my own.....seriously, I'm lazy, but I'm not so lazy that i need something to tune my instrument for me!

[shut_up_n00b]

Why do they attack fender? and why did they call Eb standard "Hendrix" tuning? I know he used it and whatnot, but he didn't invent it. though this seems nice for a gigging guitarist, but for me it seems like an extra 200 dollars for the tuner.

[Havenspear]

Having to tune while on stage is the coolest though...everyone's like YEAAAH TUNE IIITTT!

But incredible system, very cool.

[verona_bassist]

it looks awesome...sounds very promising

Havenspear wrote:

Having to tune while on stage is the coolest though...everyone's like YEAAAH TUNE IIITTT!

But incredible system, very cool.

you are so right, every time i tune a guitar in front of an audience, theyre like "woww.."

[xlRainlx]

Wow, sounds awesome. I was gonna be buying a Gibson Flying V too! Hopefully I can get it with the powertune system.

[cukd7x-a2-]

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

they wouldnt know how to wind strings either...

[im_atheist]

meh sounds like gibsons answer to the VG
also i have a locking trem.
enough said

[JFenderBender]

sounds really awesome and EXPENSIVE $$$$$.

[im_atheist]

also how do you go about restringing it?

[killthekingx]

so what's going to happen if you're barring a chord on the 7th fret and you tell the auto-tuner to tune you're guitar? I'd suspect major detuning of the strings lol.

Checked again.

[JC13]

Joe Perry has been using something identical to this for years. It wasn't made by gibson though, it was an addon with a digital screen on the side of the guitar. So, only thick guitars (les pauls, teles) could be fitted with them... They were also like 4 grand.

[grunger549]

thats sad.... this is just another way for people with no talent to play the guitar.

[Set-Abominae]

grunger549 wrote:

thats sad.... this is just another way for people with no talent to play the guitar.

So tuning a guitar has major correlation to how you play it?

[FluFighters]

laziness.....at its finest

[yoshixxx7]

I need this. Now if they'll make one that strings itself.

[metalhammer79]

i hope they start puting those on deans, how cool would that be

[Slash_HuDsOn]

USCENDONE BENE wrote:

The lazyman's guitar has finally arrived!

play a guitar like this with economy picking, you may never break a sweat

[Silent Potato]

Hey, cool. I can't wait until they make a guitar that plays itself.

[gibsonrocker917]

i think this would be amazing for live shows, but offstage i'd much rather use my ear...and like...lock up the stage guitar as to not be tempted

[FullLife]

Dude I seriously need one of those. Too bad I dont have $$$

[SurfinWithSatch]

I just think it'll be funny in 30 or 40 years, when someone who is currently 18 or so has a kid who plays one of these auto tune guitars, hands down their vintage 56 fender strat (they won the lottery you see), and the kid looks up and says "wow thanks dad, but where's the auto tuner?".
Nice idea. But personally I'd rather it remain the old fashioned way, using your ears.

[placebic]

I Like it. I can't wait.

[headbanger703]

TITE!! i gotta get me 1 uv dem! pleeeeease santa!

[boxcarblink94]

Dallen_007 wrote:

This seems pretty cool, but the attack on fender seemed really unnecessary and unprofessional.

thought so too. kinda got me mad (i have a 70s les paul but love my strat)

[samerika]

It's awesome only if you know how to tune.

[useyourillusíon]

what's the point haha it's not exactly hard to tune

[IncubusMan999]

I think it's a bit trivial. I mean, they make tuning sound like climbing Mount Everest. It's not that bad. I agree that the attack on Fender was necessary. Overall, it seems like handy invention but, put it this way, I'd rather have grerat tone than an auto-tuner.

Am I the only one that thinks the UG columns is slowly turning into an advertising for Gibson. I mean, three days ago, there was a blatant advertisement for Gibson, now this, where the column is ripping on Fender and stating 'See it at Gibson.com' multiple times.

I have my suspicions

[IncubusMan999]

The Fender attack was UNnecessary, sorry.

[scarfacesuit]

it's an incredible idea, but as stated before, i can also see some kid shredding one day who can't tune his guitar.

most people use the 5th fret, but i've personally found that using harmonics (on electric that is...) is more accurate.

anyways, this sounds like a cool guitar. probably breaks the bank, but prices will decline one day.

[xdeline!]

knowing gibson, you'll only be able to use this system with their own brand of strings that they'll put out for this. then the strings will be like elevendy million dollars. only the likes of 50 cent and ice cube will be able to afford them, and if they learn guitar, who knows what'l be next!?

[dominion8]

OK OK, so i hate to jump in on the middle of things without reading the 15 pages of convo before hand, but I take it you can turn the switch on and off? What about the rest of the guitar? Is it an air guitar that can tune itself?!?!?!? AWESOME. But yeah, tuning isn't hard and just because it can tune itself doesn't make it a godsend. Maybe if it came with FX like the VG Strat. Shit one day maybe they'll play themselves too? Convenience is nice, but there is no substitute for the genuine article.

[Sloopy]

The thing that would be the best about this sort of thing is only using one guitar for a show, instead of having two or three guitars tuned to abnormal tunings such as open G or open A. It will save time, but hurt guitarists of the future.

[randomkiller]

apparently, its also only 900$ on musiciansfriend.
thats pretty sweet though. but yea, i kinda like tuning.
and it would be weird to have kids that play good but cant tune.

[randomkiller]

wait its 900$ for the system.
not the guitar.
damn thats mad expensive. cross that off my list.

[Rooster666]

I think its a cool idea but it seems more like a way for Gibson to pick on Fender.

_Lewis wrote:

Nice idea, but if you think about it, there will be guitars with this new technology everywhere soon and it will breed a lot of new guitarists who don't know how to tune a guitar properly. How nice

I really doubt that a lot of beginners will have this as a first guitar. In fact, I doubt that they will sell a lot of these anyway.

[BDSGuitarist33]

yeah, but didnt just a little while ago fender come out with a guitar just like this? just like when fender came out with the first solid body guitar, then gibson came out with one. i dont know. i doubt its all what they say it is.

[JimPrenier_11]

I wouldn't waste my money when I can tune my own guitar..If you want a perfect tone get an electric tuner. Theyr'e much cheaper.

[shadow_murph]

Circle wrote:

in a few years time we will be able to say to the younger guitarists: 'you know, back in our days we had to tune our guitars manually'. and they will be like 'wtf?'

lol so true... it's all fine that you don't need to know how to tune a guitar to be good at guitar but it helps develop your ear and then you know if your guitar is out of tune or not! if they just auto-tune it at first how the hell will they know if it's out of tune if they never tuned a guitar by ear?

[Battery Chicken]

Daddy wants!

[bluesblaster]

sounds like fender flaming to me

[Battery Chicken]

I honestly don't use alternative tunings because I just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of constantly tuning everytime I want to play a different song. I would if something would do it instantly for me.

[l)ragonForce]

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

haha!!

[Gibson_Rocker13]

sounds cool but i wouldnt use it personally, im a vintage *****

[Witch-king]

I'd like to see it work with a floyd rose.

[Roybordom]

duuuuude, that is sooo cool. i want one

[marianoarnaiz]

I AGREE JUST BECAUSE FENDER TRY SOMETHING NEW, AND GIBSON TOOK IT TO ANOTHER LVL, DOESNT MEANS THAT GIBSON MUST COME SHITTING OVER FENDER

Dallen_007 wrote:

This seems pretty cool, but the attack on fender seemed really unnecessary and unprofessional.

[mrbiscuits315]

I already have a automatic tuner my hand on your face.

[nedavis]

Hey man I'm down for any advancements in technology. I'm sure the soldiers in WWII were happy that the Thompson came out.

When I play guitar, I play by ear but use a tuner to make sure I'm playing the right keys. This is the same thing but built in. Totally cool.

[fenderdude0071]

it sounds pretty but..... it will spawn a wave a very lazy guitarists

Checked.

Uh yeah. I wouldn't want one lol.

Checked,

[toolfan_121]

fenderdude0071 wrote:

it sounds pretty but..... it will spawn a wave a very lazy guitarists

agreed.

[aperfectshot176]

nedavis wrote:

Hey man I'm down for any advancements in technology. I'm sure the soldiers in WWII were happy that the Thompson came out.

When I play guitar, I play by ear but use a tuner to make sure I'm playing the right keys. This is the same thing but built in. Totally cool.

Thompson was out well before world war two started.
back to this idea, its a good and bad one. It'll be sweet to have in the studio and the stage, but everyone should learn how to tune a guitar. its a nessesity, unlike my spelling

[leftintheashes]

Ha Ha Ha!

I cant wait till someones breaks on stage, and they don't know how to really tune a guitar!

[1h81337]

o wow, this will bring about a guitar REVOLUTION,im tellin ya

[james4]

what happens when you want a tuning that isn't a preset? can you still manually tune if you want to, or what?
I think it'd be a really usefull tool if it worked properly, especially in a live setting, but I think I'd still prefer tuning manually.

[james4]

an edit to my earlier post, by looking at the gibson site, it turns out that you can make custom tunings presets, which eliminates that problem, unless you need more than one odd tuning...

[Monolith295]

Ill stick with the old-fashioned manual way.

[TK1]

so can i get this installed on my flying v???

O.O *drool*

[joker_thief]

we'll see if it lives up to the buzz

[mesa5150]

heres a video on it...looks unbelievable!http://www.tronical.com/products

[mesa5150]

http://www.tronical.com/products

[Luncbox1]

Dude! I came up with this idea last year for my Enterprise and Innovation class! The exact same thing! lol, I should get some scratch on this one.

[kirkadolph]

Silent Potato wrote:

Hey, cool. I can't wait until they make a guitar that plays itself.

thats what it's coming down to

[Ash on fires]

only a 3500 price tag.. ooooo

[LEG_432]

I don't really like this idea. I'm kind of a beginner guitarist, and I have some trouble tuning by ear, but I think that's just one of the trials of learning to play guitar. This thing is fine for people who are already pros at tuning, but for those who aren't, how will they learn? I think it kind of makes that skill "obsolete". It just seems like taking the easy way out.

[mesa5150]

LEG_432 wrote:

I don't really like this idea. I'm kind of a beginner guitarist, and I have some trouble tuning by ear, but I think that's just one of the trials of learning to play guitar. This thing is fine for people who are already pros at tuning, but for those who aren't, how will they learn? I think it kind of makes that skill "obsolete". It just seems like taking the easy way out.

its not a skill its a necessity. it is not so difficult to learn how to tune anyway, dont worry you have plenty other things to learn daniel son

[boobookittyfukc]

soon every guitar will be like this..

[insinu]

wow that is really american way to do something... just have it do it for you.
lazy.
all it is, is lazy.

[insinu]

boobookittyfukc wrote:

soon every guitar will be like this..

Sorry for double post, but I really hope not.
If guitars were all made to tune themselves then nobody will ever learn to tune a guitar.
truthfully, I believe this is the most useless invention gibson has come up with yet.

[Slash15]

The idea is great bt the new guitarists r gunna bcome lazy but it would b awesome if I could get dhat on my prs.

[ZepoLed]

Guys, you're all forgetting something. GIBSONS ARE DEFINITELY NOT ENTRY LEVEL GUITARS.

Not to mention as stated in the article, Gibson will sue anyone who copies them.

Also, I'm pretty sure the "Bashing" of Fenders' auto tuning system was justified. In truth, the gibson article is only comparing it's system to the next best thing.

[mesa5150]

you can buy it for strats at their online store..wish they would do 7 string floyd roses lol

http://www.music-king.com/modules/shop/product_info.p hp?products_id=85702&cPath=&showpage=1&new=0&location_id=46

[mesa5150]

oops

http://www.music-king.com/modules/shop/index.php?loc ation_id=46

[PieceOfMind666]

If you can't tune your damn guitar you shouldn't have a gibson. Just my opinion...
But whatever, it looks cool, just extremely unnecesary.

[Diamond Dave]

i hope they develop a system that tunes a floyd rose system and levels the trem unit so its parallel to the body.

[killer puppy]

insinu wrote:

boobookittyfukc wrote:

soon every guitar will be like this..


Sorry for double post, but I really hope not.
If guitars were all made to tune themselves then nobody will ever learn to tune a guitar.
truthfully, I believe this is the most useless invention gibson has come up with yet.

useless?? uhh dude it tunes itself!! thats not useless. its like a tuner but you dont have to mess with the strings yourself.

[EVH_iS_g0d]

Be a man! tune your own goddam guitar

[martyr1130]

I only think the crazy price on this would be justified if you were a professional musicain, playing night after night for the rest of your life. If that were the case, i could see spending over 800 dollars on this

[Anarion614]

I...like tuning...

[wesciante]

This is another gadget to take away another essential skill that all guitarists should have. Id rather tune my guitar then hope a little motor gets it right...

[funkybluesrocks]

haha wut happens when in 30 years few ppl know how to tune their guitars because of this then say... emp bomb goes off n kills all electricity for years....no more guitar players lol but other than that this kicks ass my point is someone should learn how to tune by ear before getting this...just so they could have the skill

[thycrusader]

now if they only made this for bass. and is the automated tuner just for standard tuning, or can you put in your own tuning desires?

[bmurphy317]

Yeah, and how many of my organs would Gibson like for this? I'd probably need to sell a few to afford this. There's something like this in the automotive world, too. Lexus has a car that can parallel park itself. Audi's response, was that they have an extremely comprarable car, for about 20,000 dollars less, for people who can park themselves.

[mesa5150]

funkybluesrocks wrote:

haha wut happens when in 30 years few ppl know how to tune their guitars because of this then say... emp bomb goes off n kills all electricity for years....no more guitar players lol but other than that this kicks ass my point is someone should learn how to tune by ear before getting this...just so they could have the skill

i dont understand these comments pretending that tuning the guitar is a highly trained 'skill' which will lose part of your personality in playing the guitar. Its like saying that since the microwave, no one has been able to cook with a conventional oven and it has lost that traditional important skill of being able to turn on an oven. If you play guitar professionally you will see the benefit this has but it is not perfect tuning...key point

[slayer7666]

i can tune my guitar decently
but it takes awhile
id probably buy this if it wasnt too much.

[o d y s s e y]

Circle wrote:

in a few years time we will be able to say to the younger guitarists: 'you know, back in our days we had to tune our guitars manually'. and they will be like 'wtf?'

lmao man so true

Checked.

[guitar_hero543]

lol it doesnt matter with me im my band's drummer so..i still play bass though and a bit of guitar so i guess this is pretty sweet

[6sic6_blank]

Sounds like witchcraft.

[alter7fold]

frankv wrote:

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.Things like that are only sad when tuning is necessary, you probably don't know how to build a guitar, while in the early days of guitars, guitarists probably made them theirselves.

yeah, and it'll be expensive, so it'll take a little while to filter down into the less expensive guitars.

[Hanrahan]

Heh- I always looked at it like I need another guitar for a new tuning I better not let the wife see this article....

[ReaverNightwing]

all i can say is as great as it is, they need to put this on Dean brand guitars, maybe a B.C. Rich but they'd both have to be left handed, then i'd buy it, otherwise i'll never play a different band again

[H(i)SS]

SurfinWithSatch wrote:

I just think it'll be funny in 30 or 40 years, when someone who is currently 18 or so has a kid who plays one of these auto tune guitars, hands down their vintage 56 fender strat (they won the lottery you see), and the kid looks up and says "wow thanks dad, but where's the auto tuner?".
Nice idea. But personally I'd rather it remain the old fashioned way, using your ears.

lol so true. i'd disown my kid if he said that to me. I hope it stays exclusive to gibson though, cuz it'd piss me off if they started doing this to all guitars. IMO if you can't handle a pile of wood, wire, and tense metal you should a)stop playing and b)kill yourself. matter of fact i would never allow my kid to buy a guitar like that. or maybe i'd let him but then put a floyd on it just to screw with him

[Pertenozzo]

This is for lazy people. I disagree. The musician should know everything about his instrument, and if not, he should be killed

[nakki]

That's pretty great. But Gibson guitars usually keep in tune, but now you have to press a button? Cool.

[Vampyre_Punk]

I don't like this, I mean, I'm sure it'd be good during gigs and performances, but still...it seems so...'new age', which isn't bad but....ugh, it just puts my years of work down the drain ya' know? As in getting a good ear and stuff...

[rocker20]

mrryan wrote:

paddypower27 :
kids ain gna b able 2 tell naturally by ear hw a string is outa tune in 10 yrs cos of this, n its 1 of those fings u gta kno off the top of ur head!

sounds sweet tho =] wud b gd 4 on stage only rle.


Tell me about it... Look at what spell check has done to today's youth.

hhahahhahhahhaha goood one

[henza_x]

yeah this is for kids. a real musician should be able to do it by ear.
Come on, next they'll have guitars that can play eruption while you just need to hold it. REALLY it takes the human touch out of music

[Underglow]

I have question/concerns:

If/when a string breaks, whose fault will it be, now? Will the PowerTune System buy me a new string if it breaks a perfectly good one?

Will this thing be keeping your strings in tune as you play? On the off-chance that someone thrashes the shit out of their guitar and brings their strings out of tune fairly easily, is this going to be some freaky robot guitar that's always re-calibrating and so on?

For the time being, does this mean bass players will just have to know how to tune? As if some guitarists need more elevation to their egos... now they simply stand there soaking in the crowd's adoration while their magic guitar tunes itself... meanwhile the bass player's gotta struggle through the whole pedal-electronic display-self-check process. Sad...

What happens when the batteries die and the guitarist's forgotten how to tune the "old-fashioned" way?

Prepare for our robot masters, ladies 'n' gents.

[RadioMuse]

Nice trick; I think I'll stick to Fenders, Rickys, and Heritage guitars though.

[USAPeavey]

I think this is great!
Not everyone can tune by ear you know...what about those of us who are completely tonedeaf (almost :P). I never tune by ear because I CAN'T do it, and I've been playing for 8 years.

[tanguyen]

I think like most new gadgets, the awesomeness of this thing will last for a week or two, then you'd get over it and wished you didn't spend an extra X amount of dollars for something that isa bit unnecessary.

[Guitar_Poet]

it would be cool if they could just tune every time you hit an open string... then if your guitar happens to go out of tune during a solo or something, just hit an open string and it tunes back up.




however, there is a downside to this. what if the mechanism goes haywire, and tunes your strings so tight they snap, or tunes them so low they dont even make sound anymore? hahahahaha...

[sykguitaryst]

is this device gonna change your strings for you too? xD ill stick with my schecter. hope this turns out good for whoever wants it.

[sykguitaryst]

Underglow wrote:

I have question/concerns:

If/when a string breaks, whose fault will it be, now? Will the PowerTune System buy me a new string if it breaks a perfectly good one?

What happens when the batteries die and the guitarist's forgotten how to tune the "old-fashioned" way?

good questions.

[jwinger]

It's gonna be over-priced, go figure it's gibson

[t3xas_dood88]

this sounds awesome, but im sure its gonna be high priced, but sweet stuff anyways

[soulflyV]

I like the little dig they have at Fender at the end.

[hendrixfanatic]

Nice for people who can afford a Gibson.

[Midian_Galaxus]

Circle wrote:

in a few years time we will be able to say to the younger guitarists: 'you know, back in our days we had to tune our guitars manually'. and they will be like 'wtf?'

lol

All in all, the applications to something like this are endless, and the statement has already been made. A pianist usually doesn't have any idea how to tune one. Guitarists before use usually had to make their own guitars. It's an advancement in the evolution of the guitar itself. The ability to change tuning instantly in the middle of a song is gonna lend itself to some great variations in music in the future. I'd look out for this idea to take off and become standard for all guitars down the line.

[Feel bad inc.]

I have a feeling its going to be filled with bugs for about 5 years, then I may consider it on a guitar to record with... I would never use it to preform, I wouldnt want my guitar going nuts and tuning everything wrong while im trying to play...

[kud666]

6sic6_blank wrote:

Sounds like witchcraft.

yeah , lol damn thoe crazy kids and their inventions lol

[merfsullivan]

I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

I work at a Guitar Center, and let me tell you, there's already plenty of people like that.

[Serial 177]

i checked it out on musiciansfriend.. their price is 899.. but the list price is 1200 i think...

[Danis1]

for some reason i dont like the idea. i cant even put my finger on it, i just dont.

[nick_b]

hmmm $300 extra bucks, or a $20 tuner. you do the math

[dann_blood]

I like this idea for the sole purpose of being able to switch to any tuning in a matter of seconds. Fine tuning standard tuning is fine, but putting it down to drop A# or C is a pain manually.

[les_paul_01]

it would work fine, but being able to get your guitar in tune manually is a skill i would hope most guitarists have or would want to have.

[life_247]

I could teach an ape in 5 minutes how to tune a guitar with a quick tune. I dont see people's bitching about people not being able to tune.

I think the piano argument holds a lot of water tbh. Very few painists know how to tune their instruments but no one would call them a weaker musician than a guitarist for that fact.

Also I'd imagine this is meant for stage rather than home practice use.

[Masterbeefy]

If it becomes standard on all guitars ill have to resort to making my own There is no way i will ever depend on auto tuning cus it takes the love out of the music. I mean c'mon, it takes half the work out, thats half the effort put in, half the love in there. Music is a way of life, and the tuning of a guitar is part of that for me (and bloody well should be for all guitarists). I love every bit of it, even when the strings snap cus its all part of it. They take that away from us and replace it with machines, what next? They make auto shredding guitars, or play-a-guitars so that families can sit in the family room pretending to play a song while singing out of tune? THey may have killed the piano that way, but damned if they gonna take the guitar that way!

[les_paul_01]

life_247 wrote:

I could teach an ape in 5 minutes how to tune a guitar with a quick tune. I dont see people's bitching about people not being able to tune.

I think the piano argument holds a lot of water tbh. Very few painists know how to tune their instruments but no one would call them a weaker musician than a guitarist for that fact.

Also I'd imagine this is meant for stage rather than home practice use.

very few pianists know how to tune, because tuning a piano is tuning something in the area of 264 strings, as opposed to the guitar's 6.

hence why piano tuner is a profession.

[xxdarrenxx]

Ppl don't need to complain about bad ear:

That means that all keyboard players have bad ear, and all piano players to cause they rarely tune their instrument. This is good, cause you will constantly hear good pitch.

[Cafas]

When I read the stupid shit a lot of you people are writing about this, I can't wait for common sense and basic reasoning skills to be something you can easily download.

[soapalot]

Jeez, Fender got the piss taken out of it a bit towards the end

[breadstick]

looks awesome.....

[raj_j_i]

pretty soon, the guitars will be doing all the playing and song-writing... how fun!

[Joshuar]

Just imagine when it goes wrong and you can't physically change the tuning. Gibson are always right ..@_@

it's a good invention but i'd rather tune it myself. it's a skill i've had to learn over years and i don't want some little gizmo making that redundant.

[Seth Shadows]

Amazing. this would come in handy in alot of places.

[EZLN libertad]

i trust my ears more than a machine

however i would use this for my 7 string with a floating bridge considering that takes hours to tune...

[Joshuar]

Looks good for performing. The guitars its on are gunna be pro ones anyway so i think we could assume that the guys playing will know how to tune in the first place.

http://www.tronical.com/mediacenter/videopopup/1

[Fumbles]

I think this is rather lame. It'll make the guitar extra expensive and really tuning is not that hard a technique. I could tune a guitar within a couple of days of playing.

[jam-man]

Eh...where's the magic of tuning there...in a few years they'll come up with a guitar that plays for you...

[nightwalker903]

you can still tune manually if you want you just have the option so you can still learn to keep in tune but say if you were playing a gig and went from standard to d standard it would save time or standard to Eb standard.

It doesnt totally take away the choice of manual tuning it just helps save time if needed.
If i can ever get the chance to play a guitar with this installed i will and if it is a good piece of equipment i will invest in it cause we mainly pay in standard but one of our songs sounds better is Eb and is annoying tryin to tune it down half step quickly. especially live, i end up just leaving it in standard.

[gonegonegone]

It's suspicious how none of the pictures show the knobs of the guitar? Are we gaining a 5th knob on the LP, are we losing a tone knob? Will the knob be down near the volume/tone knobs at all??

Gibson's giving a lot of hype and not much details.

They're bashing the VG Strat, when I'm positive this Powertune will cost at least double, maybe triple, what the VG Strat does.

[kornflipsk8er]

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

I am comming across that uite often already.Even without these tuning systemsI have come across people that are decnt enough players but don't know how to tune.One great benifitfrom tuning your guitar yourself is that it trains your ear and you will eventually be able to decifer what note is what with just listening.I'm not saying this system is bad or anything.It is a technological acheivment but it also leans toward that side of What I will call "Lazy Guitarist's Syndrome." =)

[kingjiyoon]

wow freaking awesome but i'm still a bit confused on how this works. i'd rather tune "manually"

[geluidsterroris]

How ****ing difficult is it to tune your guitar using a normal tuner? I'm pretty sure that is a lot cheaper and you UNDERSTAND what you are doing. Why not buy a guitar that plays guitar? a built-in mp3 player or something.

come on guys, what is the next step?

[Carrot]

Circle wrote:

in a few years time we will be able to say to the younger guitarists: 'you know, back in our days we had to tune our guitars manually'. and they will be like 'wtf?'

LMAO thats gonna be so true
i cant wait to do that

[carlsbad]

Wow. I'm pretty sure it'll take the tuner longer to tune the guitar than an actual guitarist. What's next? A guitar that can play music without you!
But seriously, seems like a good idea sorta but I don't think it's gonna be really accurate. If it is then awesome, I'll wait till Ibanez makes one.

[BoF]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WI934KFn1Ls to see the powertuning on vid

[SurfinWithSatch]

I've just noticed that to use this powertune thing, you have to get rid of the volume control on your guitar.....not very good if you ask me

[Jonomir]

"Other tuning systems require either the use of an external gadget, extensive and obtrusive modification to your guitar, or are extremely limited in their capabilities. Fender claims to have automated tuning on its VG Stratocaster, but it is far from being a genuine self-tuning system, and lightyears from having the capabilities of Gibson’s Powertune System. "

NYEEH NYEEEH NYEEEEEHHH
we're so much beeetterrr

"other tuning systems...like the fender strat" ...nice list of other systems

just for this I'm gonna get a strat to spite gibson

[Jonomir]

fenderbender111 wrote:

whats next?

auto-arpeggio?

http://www.korg.com/gear/info.as p?a_prod_no=AX3000G&category_id=6

[DopeDanny]

i played the VG strat it looks nice and isnt bad at all idk if anyone else asked how the hell much is this gibson gonna cost?

[Daslimyone]

I use a lot of alternate tunings and it is a time consuming, annoying thing having to retune guitars frequently. it would be so much easier to turn a knob, strum the strings lightly and be in any tuning within seconds. The powertune system isnt for lazy people, its for conveniece. Whether gigging or just practising you want your guitar to sound good and be in tune. And with the Powertune System costing around $899 uninstalled it ought to work just as Gibson says.

[AU79 XY]

not_dead_enough wrote:

Within a year or two Gibson will sue some company for using the idea like they do every other guitar manufacturer.

But sounds like a cool idea.

tim311mahoney wrote:

That is really cool, i'm sure it will have some flaws at first. Technology seems to be taking general knowledge out of music though. I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.
I agree its a bit hack to not know how to tune a guitar if you play one, but it doesn't have a huge impact on your musical theory knowledge. It doesn't change how u learn chords, arpeggios etc and I know great piano players who don't know the first thing about tuning one.

Pianos need tuned about once a year.

How many times do you need to tune a guitar in a year?

[paul_wilson]

All innovation stems from lazyness. Why else did they create the TV remote?

[StaindFan420]

lol.. like driving an automatic car from a standard.. Life becomes easier for everyone!!!!! now i can eat more with the time i save from tuning my guitar!!!!!

[DezFoxtoN]

Sounds kinda cool,, The guitar for a lazy man ^___^

[yM.Samurai]

The only good thing I can think of here is when a guitar goes out of tune at a concert you won't have to take ages to fix it

[NoiseBox]

wonder what ridiculously high price they want for this nifty little system....

[nickrocksg]

in 20 years people wont even realize when thier guitar is out of tune because if the guitar does it for you they will expect it to be right and it wont be and people will be ignorant. because thier guitar doesnt tune right they will be mad and have to take it to a shop to get it fixed another moneymaking scheme that cant be perfect all the time like your ears.

[nickrocksg]

tuning is everything

[GreenSaosiner]

I know how to tune and everything, seeing as I have the shittiest guitar known to mankind, and I have to tune it up almost daily... This would save me a shit load of time, and I want one.

[fiendcracker]

umm... this is odd..... this story is like, from a month ago.

[toxic_monkey]

wow sounds pretty neat.
How much would it cost?, thats the real question.
But like everyone said, it would be bad if all the future kids can't tune their guitars properly.

Checked.

[Me2NiK]

The tuning system costs 900 dollars. I theorize that because I am capable of tuning a guitar, I could charge people 900 dollars to stand beside them and retune their guitar the instant it gets detuned. Genius, no?

[Dunjma]

yM.Samurai :
The only good thing I can think of here is when a guitar goes out of tune at a concert you won't have to take ages to fix it

my thoughts exactly

[Gib-Gib-son-son]

tim311mahoney wrote:

I can't wait to see a kid 30 years from now who can shred like crazy but doesn't know how to tune his own guitar.

thats gonna be the exact case, there are gonna be guitarists as big as slash or satriani are today that can play insane licks but no they aint gonna be able to tune there guitarr

[davidmcintosh03]

Genius!

Although i can see some old traditionalists burning Gibson at the stake for witchcraft!

But if they get past that, then its an amazing idea.
I know people think it will stop people from learning how to tune, but its not all that hard to learn. I can tune a guitar in about 30 seconds... Its not really a skill.

But I can see guitar tutors wanting these on guitars just for ease.