Robo Tuners

[Inspector #20]

I'm way too simplistic and basic for all that fancy stuff....

 

[67plexi]

I have never played a robo tuner guitar didn't Gibson put them on their entry and mid level guitars

 

[smitty_p]

One of the fun parts of my guitar synth is that each string is treated independently so one can do 12 string, alternate open tunings, drop D, or do half or whole step flat etc. But has to be through one of the tone settings, cannot simply run that to the front of an amp.

We do “Here For The Party” by Gretchen Wilson. The main riff to that song is done in drop D.

I don’t have a guitar synth, though. I swap guitars for that song.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

We do “Here For The Party” by Gretchen Wilson. The main riff to that song is done in drop D.

I don’t have a guitar synth, though. I swap guitars for that song.

Drop D is really easy mind you unless you have a locking nut. Low E drops, I usually just do it by ear quickly. Faster than a guitar swap!

 

[Amp Mad Scientist]

I remember a few years back, robo tuners were popular. I remember some Gibson models coming with the robo tuners and there were mixed opinions about them Purists were replacing them with standard tuners and selling to robo tuners. Other people were jumping on the chance to purchase the slightly used robo tuners to install on their guitars. Anyone here using the robo tuners?

I was surprised that Gibson would install such a thing on a guitar..it's laughable.
It's more like something you expect to be made in China.

The only people who would want this are people who have no clue how to string and tune a guitar....

It is after-all, the way that the strings are put on the guitar, which will stop them from slipping out of tune...

Properly installed, strings tend to stay tuned and don't slip out so often- even after extreme bending.
I know this is true when installed the correct way. (I bend the crap out of my strings)

As far as Robert is concerned, all strings beware and tremble.
There is such thing as hopeless (for strings anyway).

 

[fitz]

My Firebird V-HP came with the G-Force robo tuners.
I'm not a gigging musician, and struggle with playing in standard tuning, let alone needing to change to alternate tunings.
In my experience, the robos never got the tuning quite right and always needed a little adjusting.
A little adjusting is all I really ever do, so I yanked the robos and put Steinbergers on.
Never actually had to charge the battery a second time...
I'd give away the robo set, but the backplate will only fit Firebirds with the tuners in line with the strings.

 

[Col Mustard]

Long ago in a galaxy far away, I used to play in bars from 9-1 four sets a night.
This was pre-internet, pre-cell phone, only propeller heads used computers
My guitar was badly set up and I didn't even know. Prolly didn't care. we got
the gigs and we got invited back. Sometimes we'd get lucky. Boogie nights, man.

This was pre- clip on tuners, pre-stomp tuners, we tuned to a harmonica.
Some players used a tuning fork, but the dives we played in were too loud for that.
In the studio we used a Peterson strobe... a big scary one. We used two inch tape
too... *laughs

Sometimes on hot sweaty nights when my guitar was misbehaving and my very human
ear was mis-calibrated, I would raise my eyes to the spider webs on the ceiling and proclaim
that whosoever should design and market a little servo to mount on the back of the headstock
of working mens guitars and tune the strings to pitch would become very rich.

Thirty years later, Gibson announces one. I thought, "COOOOOL"...
and then I thought about how happy I was with my stomp tuner and my clip on Snark...
and decided I didn't need to spend any extra money on a robot
tuner. I figured if I bent a string, the tuner would bend it right back to pitch.

So I never bought one. I played a friend's Stratocaster that had the Fender version of it
and I thought I was coooooool.... but I've never cared for Strats, so ....
The best part of a robot tuner would be the ability to save alternate tunings as presets.
That would be useful indeed. But I like to bring more than one guitar, so I don't need that
either.

Now I'm retired from the biz, and I don't need a robot. From a working pro's point of view,
simple is best. Keep it simple onstage. Only buy technology that's proven to be dependable.
The robot tuners never proved themselves onstage in sweaty smokey roadhouses where
a lot of music gets made. I'm like, " if it stops working right in the middle of a set, what do
you do?" I think that's why a lot of guys (and music stores) would remove them right away.

I think they were made in China. So what, eh? So are Grover tuners and CTS pots and a lot
of other stuff. I wouldn't be surprised to see guitar companies outsourcing their vaunted pickups
to Chinese makers. When the robot company comes out with Robotune 2.3 and you bought
a guitar that has robotune 1.0, what do you do?

Regular tuners are better, because they rarely fail. The self locking method of installing strings
is better, it's low tech. Stomp tuners are better because the human ear has good days and bad days.
At least mine does. Clip on tuners are better because they weigh nothing and you can keep one clipped
to your mike stand.... and a spare in your shirt pocket.

 

[Amp Mad Scientist]

Yup I remember those days of no digital anything...no cell phones....no guitar tuners....no fuel injection...
In a way I miss those days.
I think in many ways, I wish to go back to the typewriter and think of computers as a bad dream.
Thinking machines are evil, the mind of man is holy.

 

[Col Mustard]

well and so... I don't miss those days. I really like my 21st century guitars, and my 21st century
amps. People worship old guitars and amps but I don't. I don't miss my old IBM electric torpedo...
yes I do. I thought the whirly ball was coooool. But I like my apple 'puta better.

And the stomp tuner solved most of my issues... so did getting my guitars set up by a good luthier.
Modern amps sound really good. I don't care if they don't sound like amps from fifty years ago.
I can make good music with them. So I'm happy with what I've got.

 

[jtcnj]

I always thought it was a solution to a non existent problem, more of a gimmick.
I never used or played one though.

Simple is always better to me, unless the technology is proven as a better method far enough out weighing the standard accepted methodology.

 

[iblive]

I always thought it was a solution to a non existent problem, more of a gimmick.
I never used or played one though.

Simple is always better to me, unless the technology is proven as a better method far enough out weighing the standard accepted methodology.

To a point I agree. I’d say for the overwhelming majority of the folk on this forum….. it’s a gimmick. We don’t need it. But there are people out there that cannot accomplished something fairly simple like tune a guitar. These were made for them.

 

[jtcnj]

Right, I need a tuner. If the robos work for some, then great. But it did not really catch on, in part at least to not being enough of an improvement over a clip on or pedal.

I can't reasonably see someone sticking with and learning to play if they cant learn to turn the machine heads and tuning the guitar with a pedal or clip on.
Those folks would probably be better off sticking to Guitar Hero.

Then there is adding extra mass / weight to the headstock of a guitar like an SG - not an improvement.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I have a set sitting in the parts box unused. Bought them years ago for next to nothing.
Might still use them someday, if I ever get around to setting up a guitar specifically for slide playing.
Having various open tunings on tap live would be very handy in that situation.
Otherwise, I consider them a pain to deal with, for little practical advantage.