Goo Goo Dolls Rzeznik Helps Gibson Launch Robot Guitar

Johnny Rzeznik, lead vocalist and guitarist for the multi platinum Grammy nominated Rock band The Goo Goo Dolls, helped Gibson Guitars unveil their latest innovative creation, The Robot Guitar. Rzeznik gave a demo of The Robot Guitar and all its uses at the famed Guitar Center in Hollywood, California on December 3rd for a handful of fans and invited guests. With a limited run of only 4,000 Robot Guitars available, Gibson's first edition version features a Gibson Les Paul coupled with a first of its kind electronic tuning mechanism that helps guitarists eliminate tuning problems. The Robot Guitar automatically tunes the guitar to standard tuning and it also allows the guitarist the ability to switch to many different alternate tunings on the fly with the push of a button. The Gibson Robot Guitar stays true to the spirit of innovation that inspired Gibson to invent the legendary Tune-a-matic Bridge, The Humbucker Pickup and the revolutionary HD 6x Pro Digital Les Paul Guitar and no doubt guitarists around the world will be impressed with Gibson's latest creation.

Video clip :

We caught up with Rzeznik, just after giving the demo to get his thoughts on what a useful tool The Robot Guitar is, especially for guitarists who frequently play in alternate tunings.

Rzeznik On Gibson Robot Guitar Being A Useful Tool

"I think what impressed me most about this particular guitar is that I play a lot of alternate tunings and this guitar can store six tunings on it and automatically recall them, just on the fly. Just strum it a few times and it tunes the guitar. And it keeps the guitar in a very clean standard tuning as well. So, all around it's as useful tool."

One of the greatest advantages of The Robot Guitar would be for the touring guitarist who often travels with numerous guitars tuned to specific tunings for specific songs. But with The Robot Guitar, changing the tuning is a button away and only takes seconds to get in perfect tuning. Rzeznik also talked of the advantages of only having to travel with 3 or 4 Robot Guitars, instead of a dozen or more guitars all set to different tunings.

Rzeznik On The Advantages Of Having A Robot Guitar On Tour

"I could bust down to two or three of four guitars with this kind of technology and it's very discreet looking. It's still a cool looking guitar. It looks exactly like a Les Paul and plays exactly like one. They did a really nice job hiding all the moving parts on it. There's no stigma attached to it 'Playing this is amazing but I look really foolish playing it.' It just looks great! It's a Les Paul! It's great!"

Rzeznik and The Goo Goo Dolls have just returned from performing in South Africa at The World AIDS charity concert at Ellispark stadium in Johannesburg on December 1, 2007. The concert, which coincided with World AIDS Day, is an offshoot of similar shows that have been held in South Africa, Spain and Norway. The Goo Goo Dolls will be performing in Las Vegas on New Years Eve December 31st, 2007 for a performance at The House of Blues. The band will then be heading into their Buffalo, New York studio in the beginning of 2008 to begin recording the 9th studio album.

Comments

[Lt hilsdorf]

If anyone needs that guitar, it's Rzeznik!! They do use alot of alternate tunings, so it makes sense he would be the one to demo it...

[thedarkblues06]

Goo Goo Dolls' Iris on the robot guitar, a lot faster with the weird ass tuning lol.

[Ace5gt]

Very cool idea, but I would think you'd be breaking strings left and right with all the constant tuning changes.

[r3conmarine90]

man i would love if they atleast changed the color of the robot guitar. not really a big fan of the light blue and white combo. but its an awesome innovation. 20 years from now the entire guitar market is gonna be flooded with robot guitars. we're gonna be the last generation of guitarists that can actually tune and string a guitar by hand. everyone after us will be reliant on tech.

[Nebblacktip]

I wanna see the guys from Sonic youth endorsing the robot guitar. Who the hell uses F# F# F# F# B E as a tuning?

Still, it's nice to see major rockers actually endorsing the robot guitar. I hate retuning my instrument, and if this takes off we could see runs on all sorts of guitar, plus a price drop.

Well, except its Gibson, so price drop is relative. But i sitll think its a great invention.

[Illigx]

I don't think the robot guitar will catch on for anything besides live shows, and only for its tuning storage. As many guitarists like me understand, tuning and caring for your guitar by hand, restringing it and getting the tuning perfect by hand is something that is really part of the whole experience of playing guitar, and for that reason, I don't think this technology will catch on for many people aside from shows which use a lot of alternate tunings.

[AerialOverdrive]

there needs to be another company to compete with Gibson and then we might see one of these at an affordable price.

WooHoo for the Goo Goo Dolls though

[Metal_Rich]

Ace5gt wrote:

Very cool idea, but I would think you'd be breaking strings left and right with all the constant tuning changes.

That's what I thought... fair play to Johnny his use of alternative tunings is brilliant.

[cedaguol]

AerialOverdrive wrote:

there needs to be another company to compete with Gibson and then we might see one of these at an affordable price.

WooHoo for the Goo Goo Dolls though

right now the fender vg strat is competing with gibson... but the vg uses some kind of digital tuning where ur strings remain the same... it has some kind of pitch shifter

[Revalk]

Illigx wrote:

I don't think the robot guitar will catch on for anything besides live shows, and only for its tuning storage. As many guitarists like me understand, tuning and caring for your guitar by hand, restringing it and getting the tuning perfect by hand is something that is really part of the whole experience of playing guitar, and for that reason, I don't think this technology will catch on for many people aside from shows which use a lot of alternate tunings.

I've gotta agree with that. It's part of being a musician, haha. And I'm not gonna lie, the name "Robot Guitar" is a horrible name.

[zapatista89]

i dont like this idea, i enjoy tuning my instrument.

this comment will now probably get deleted

[guitaringsailor]

hmm anyone knows how much one of theese cost?
It soounds soo cool but i guess i will never have the honor of touching one =P

[sappy-box]

I think this will catch on as soon as it becomes affordable. People are incredibly lazy these days and a lot of them have guitars that they don't even know how to play let alone tune. I'm going to have to agree that one day all new guitars made will have this kind of feature.

[Kingyem0c0re]

If they'd make it for acoustics too, I'd bet Dashboard Confessional would be in the run for one too with the tunings they have.

[tamargoguitar]

Illigx wrote:

I don't think the robot guitar will catch on for anything besides live shows, and only for its tuning storage. As many guitarists like me understand, tuning and caring for your guitar by hand, restringing it and getting the tuning perfect by hand is something that is really part of the whole experience of playing guitar, and for that reason, I don't think this technology will catch on for many people aside from shows which use a lot of alternate tunings.

Me too, tuning and having to set up your instrument its part of being a guitarrist, but i dont agree with the only live shows part, i can assure you once you start using this robot guitar,playing a normal guitar will be annoying

[ketiov]

There's been tuning systems like this around for a while now...

[dark_gilbert]

i HOPE this doesn't catch on...
i think it would just take away from the guitar is a whole if you had tunings stored on every guitar. And it would mean any idiot can say "yeah i play guitar" and proceed to play smoke on the water on the e string over and over, instead of "i don't know how to tune it." which is a relief for those of us who can't stand that rubbish, aka me.

[dark_gilbert]

*AS a whole. To keep some of it's allure i think a guitar needs to have to have somebody know how to tune it to play it.

[italyjerry]

johnny rzeznik endorsing a guitar is basically on the same level as billy joel endorsing a car

[Savage Animal]

italyjerry wrote:

johnny rzeznik endorsing a guitar is basically on the same level as billy joel endorsing a car

I lol'd

[aliceinnirvana]

He could "bust down to two or three" guitars?
Why the hell does he use more than three?
Just how many guitars does he need?
Oh well, I wouldn't mind having a robot guitar around.

[Powerhouse]

What a stupid commercial to play before the video....


I'd love to try one of these guitars. Not just because I'm a big GGD fan, but I think it looks quite interesting and helpful.

[dunkelblau]

benjistar666 wrote:

lol at that guy
OMG I WONT HAVE THE HONOR OF TOUCHING ONE
for **** sake
its a les paul
there crap for the price
****ing overrated
ovepriced crap
OMG IT TUNES ITSELF
so ****ing what
what else is so fantastic about it
bollocks all
shitty les pauls
does gibson realise that it actually makes other guitars
FUCK LES PAULS

that was eloquent

and it is an intriguing idea, i'll say that. but of course there are drawbacks. setting up your guitar is a part of finding your own unique tone as well. this kind of takes that away

[MAYNARD]

Pretty nifty, but I think the Transperformance deal, like on the original Page signature, was cooler, if you could put the 12 buttons or whatever for the different tunings somewhere else.

[slashedaxl103]

He uses 12 guitars for a live show??? damn i guess he will need this guitar then lol, anyone know the price on these robot guitars? 20 grand or something lol

[tamargoguitar]

slashedaxl103 wrote:

He uses 12 guitars for a live show??? damn i guess he will need this guitar then lol, anyone know the price on these robot guitars? 20 grand or something lol

actually is like 2.5 grand....a surprisingly low price.. I mean a les paul alone costs like 2 grand right?

[Ktulu Master]

LMAO @ the Rhiannah ad, totaly out of place!

On topic: It would be interesting to see Gibson maybe make a robot SG, Flying V or an X-plorer.

[thedarkblues06]

Illigx wrote:

I don't think the robot guitar will catch on for anything besides live shows, and only for its tuning storage. As many guitarists like me understand, tuning and caring for your guitar by hand, restringing it and getting the tuning perfect by hand is something that is really part of the whole experience of playing guitar, and for that reason, I don't think this technology will catch on for many people aside from shows which use a lot of alternate tunings.

I completely agree 100%

[l3xbi]

Ace5gt wrote:

Very cool idea, but I would think you'd be breaking strings left and right with all the constant tuning changes.

I've not bothered to re-string my guitar in ****ing ages, maybe 6months+, I play it often and I play e/drop d/drop c#/drop c so I guess depends on how quickly u decide to change and what gauge they are etcetc.

[slashedaxl103]

tamargoguitar wrote :

actually is like 2.5 grand....a surprisingly low price.. I mean a les paul alone costs like 2 grand right?

Normally yes.

[dsotm73]

thedarkblues06 wrote:

Illigx wrote:

I don't think the robot guitar will catch on for anything besides live shows, and only for its tuning storage. As many guitarists like me understand, tuning and caring for your guitar by hand, restringing it and getting the tuning perfect by hand is something that is really part of the whole experience of playing guitar, and for that reason, I don't think this technology will catch on for many people aside from shows which use a lot of alternate tunings.

I completely agree 100%

ME TOO

[Rock_Bassist]

I'll have to see it before I'm convinced, no offence to Gibson, but something like the tuning of a guitar mid-show is not something to take lightly, in fact it's one of the more important things, to me.

That and what's the weight comparison with this and a normal LP? an LP isn't a light guitar, and I'd hope this was lighter if possible.

[rebreh]

goo goo dolls are considered one of the worst music groups ever by spinner

[Multiplayerjon]

Well Yeah I agree with most of ya but like it's got a cool ice look but if it had other colors i would love that sheat! i mean like Yeah AUTO tuning but the VG from Fender looks like a fender with a punch of sound and automated tuning and it doesn't like break the strings... if you need to like tune it get a good What ever Fender makes amps like the one with like all the different sounds but i think after the robot and the VG, Dean and other Companies will start the tuning stuff and that would be the TUNING BOOM but like yeah... just get the cheapper and cooler VG from fender... not like i have seen or played it though... that would be sick for like 400 dollars and unlike the robot's 2 grandish??!??! who needs a guitar that bad for like that much... MONEY MANAGEMNT PEOPLE!! Yeah and Like how do play Sonic Youth songs... well yeah JUST TUNE THE DAMN GUTIAR... ROCK ON! Listen to Vailent Thorr!Peace out- JOn Clarke

[coolio_89]

What's up with that rihanna ad man?

anyway, i think the robot guitar would be cool for bands who often use alternate tunings. Yeah, and that's it, otherwise, it's not much different from a standard les paul.

in the event that the robot guitar does catch up, i think it'd be cool that we are the last generation of guitarists that have the ability to tune a guitar by hand.

[Sean-Man]

i'm mixed on this, it is a cool idea, but i just got this itch in the back of my head that just doesn't like it. i guess i just fear change

[ilikebass]

"Back when I was a kid, we had to tune our guitars by hand!"

I can hear it now haha. This is cool, but it's a shame that if this catches on it WILL be another way for lazy people to be better at guitar, like some other guy said before me. I hope they don't invent a guitar that holds down the frets for you after this =O

[jakstar]

lol..."yep, 20 yrs ago i had to tune my guitar by hand"

"tuning...by hand?...wtf does that mean?


still think its a cool idea, but like all new things, i would wait at least a yr to buy one so there is time to work out any kinks and bugs

Checked.

[mp3stalin]

the robo-pocolypse begins.

[smalRaptor]

I'm just afraid of when robots overthrow man kind. =s I take pride in manually tuning my guitars

[tunasband]

lmao!

Guys, these guitars... its gonne be like "I Robot". Or not. =/
Terminator anyone?

[demondown666]

alternate tuning takes a long time and hard to rememeber what you need. that would help in that aspect.

[the_concierge]

I really can't understand why some of you think this guitar is a 'bad idea'. While I agree that you should learn to tune your instrument properly, once you can do it who really cares? If every guitar had this mechanism I would love it. Some of the elitist comments are really ridiculous - yes in the future, it is likely that auto tuning guitars will eventually become a widespread reality. So what? Most modern cars can perform self diagnostics and self maintenance routines. Does that mean the modern day car owner is any less than the old fashioned one? Come on here.

[drumpat]

Nice gimmick, but not invented by Gibson. Yep, it's licensed and has already been around for years. Thus, nothing new except for the design and the expensive name. http://www.tronical.com/

[CobenBlack]

aliceinnirvana wrote:

He could "bust down to two or three" guitars?
Why the hell does he use more than three?
Just how many guitars does he need?
Oh well, I wouldn't mind having a robot guitar around.

1 in all of the different tunings, then a second set in the various tunings in case of string breakage, then if your gonna be really careful 1 set for any other problems. plus sometimes you need a floyd rose - so thats another guitar. this is a live show, not playing in your room.

[Ace5gt]

The guitar will retail for $3,400.

$900 less if you get it without the self tuning thing.

[pdq13]

Gibson should create a guitar comparable to the Stratocaster in price and performance!If you can't play a 500.00 guitar what makes you think your going to play a 2500.00 guitar!Unless your one of those people that buy an expensive guitar an stand it up in the living room like its a piece of furniture!

[XAkitAX]

AerialOverdrive wrote:

there needs to be another company to compete with Gibson and then we might see one of these at an affordable price.

EPIPHONE!

WooHoo for the Goo Goo Dolls though

[buddytyree]

CobenBlack wrote:

1 in all of the different tunings, then a second set in the various tunings in case of string breakage, then if your gonna be really careful 1 set for any other problems. plus sometimes you need a floyd rose - so thats another guitar. this is a live show, not playing in your room.

Yes you understand GGD like I do. Only one thing though, Johnny never has and never will use a Floyd Rose bridge. He's never even used a tremelo bar. But you're right, it isn't playing in your room :-p The Edge tours with 47 guitars.