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Now this idea has been around a while for sure - but they've actually got a working prototype headed to market. I'll be keeping my eye on this technology. It is certainly a luxury I would pay extra for : ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvLD58chkVc
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I thought it had been on the market--at about six kilobucks. There is an accessory unit that sells for about $120 that I heard of here, but I can't remember what it's called. Either way, it's an idea whose time has come.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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I started a thread here about two weeks ago, Joe, on this subject. You don't have to fork out big bucks to get the exact same tuning robot as a retrofit to a number of different guitar makes and models, simply remove the original tuners and install the robot. Is reversible as well. The outfit is TronicalTune and they make the thing for the Gibson guitar models as well. http://www.tronical.com/ --Mac
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Guess I don't get it. Isn't tuning our guitar about the first thing we learned?
Don S.
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Curmudgeon
Yes, we all know how, but what if it was not a worry?
Think of it like a keyboard .. you don't have to tune it, just plug and play.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Guess I don't get it. Isn't tuning our guitar about the first thing we learned?
Don S. Don, In all do respect, it is actually the 2nd thing we learn. 1st thing is how to make the right face while bending a string. Please try to remember this or you might have to stay after class again. Later,
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Guess I don't get it. Isn't tuning our guitar about the first thing we learned?
Don S. You can also store alternate tunings and shift to them with a button push. Imagine being able to do that onstage. No guitar changeout. Could even do it midsong. Sure it may be a crutch for the noob, but I'm certainly not a noob, can tune by ear, even setup a bridge by ear dead on, long ago mastered the art and science of instantly being able to know which string has slipped and correcting same while still playing, but I nevertheless want one of these devices on an axe or two. --Mac
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"Please try to remember this or you might have to stay after class again." Danny, I'm so out of date, I'll probably have to take the whole class over again.  Don S.
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In all do respect, it is actually the 2nd thing we learn. 1st thing is how to make the right face while bending a string.
This made ME laugh! Especially that octave G on a 12 string, after 35 years I still wince when i get close....i keep 2 spares just for that string.
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Ok - back to the topic at hand. Have any of our PG members forums tried one of these out and can give a firsthand review ? I don't personally mind an initial tuning of my guitar, but hate when it goes slightly out frequently (as mine often do - maybe I just have crappy guitars : ( though with new strings, I believe this happens to everyone until they're stretched out a little. And of course the idea of changing tunings mid-song is kind of cool, though I think it's probably better to just have a separate guitar for altered tunings for the sake of the neck and the strings. BTW - how long before consumer reports does a "we tried out the tronical tuner and in our test, tuned and detuned a guitar 10,250 times...our resluts....Actually, not soon, because I'm willing to bet there are not too many competitors thinking of doing the same (scratch that - maybe every current large guitar company will soon have there own to compete with each other on that feature). America - country of competition. Also - to keep the strings sounding springy, I try to tune up to pitch rather than go sharp in an effort to stretch them out and have the windings get tighter quicker (I'd be surprised if this hasn't been discussed here at some point). I'm usually a "late" adopter of technology, but an 'early' "on the lookout for what's new discoverer". Of course - many of you are ahead of me on the early discovery phase, which is -- one of the reasons I come here so often !!! But I won't jump into a new technology until it has been widely used, reviewed, and some of the early kinks are worked out (and any engineer knows, there are always lots of kinks to be worked out : ) I found a few demo links and reviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0D8k5TwtcIhttp://www.tronical.com/first-review-and-video-gibsons-min-etune-self-tuning-system/http://www.gizmag.com/minetune-tronicaltune-robot-tuners/27155/http://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-tuner/tronical/PowerTune/user_reviews/r.101893.htmlOn the site I see the price as 299 - not so sure I'm ready for the headaches of installing and tinkering with a new product given the payback, unless it's really 'idiot proof'. I'm sure it's prone to breaking, given the complexity of such a device.
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I'm excited about the possibilities of one of these things on a whammy-equipped guitar, given that the strings are interactive, meaning you have to go around several times to get them all in tune. I think it would be indispensable in performance.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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I don't personally mind an initial tuning of my guitar, but hate when it goes slightly out frequently (as mine often do - maybe I just have crappy guitars : ( though with new strings, I believe this happens to everyone until they're stretched out a little.
With Nylon strings, yes. With Steel Strings, however, Old Wives' Tale. The physics of the steel tell us that once the string is tensioned to pitch, the properties of the metal itself, compliance, elasticity, can not change, therefore the tension cannot change. What does happen, is usually involved with the WINDINGS around the tuning pegs. If these are not concentric, like a windlass, if they are too many windings that cross over themselves, or too little that slip around the post, the string will loosen, which means it goes flat, and people think the string has "stretched". Pulling the string tight on the post after a restring, several times, can yield a guitar with brand new strings that does not slip out of tune. The many pro Guitar Technicians who, out on the road, are often tasked with restringing a guitar mid-show, quickly, pulling the strings properly to eliminate post slip and possible bridge point slip, then tune to tuner, repull and check, redo above if it doesn't lock on, are testimonial to what I'm saying here. Then they toss said guitar to our onstage guitar hero, who proceeds to wail the bejonkers out of it - and it stays. in. tune. Gee, I wonder why... --Mac
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.
When I first saw this I thought that anybody who needed it had to be a completely tin-eared hack, and lazy to boot. Then I thought about some of the nightmares I have been through trying to tune up on dark, noisy stages.
There have been times when I thought I was in tune, only discover, halfway into a song, that something horrible had happened to my B string. And then, consider how breaking and replacing a string i the middle of a set can be a complete buzzkill.
I have been in audiences where the guitar players' tuning seemed to on forever. I sure would not want to subject my audiences to that...
..this thing is looking better and better...
Last edited by flatfoot; 07/20/13 07:26 AM.
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Nobody that thinks about it a little bit will be without one of these things as soon as they are easily, cheaply, and commonly available. If I want to do ear training - I'll do it on my phone and computer, not during my tuning.
Also, to Mac's point, I realized windings were part of the tuning issue, but there is also a 'springiness' and 'twang' sound that new steel strings have that older strings don't. Is there any scientific reason for that ? - rust maybe ?
Lastly, given the windings issue, I suppose the tuning pegs that lock/screw the string into place with minimal windings are inherently superior for those stringers that are doing more than 2 or 3 windings (of which I am always guilty)
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Also, to Mac's point, I realized windings were part of the tuning issue, but there is also a 'springiness' and 'twang' sound that new steel strings have that older strings don't. Is there any scientific reason for that ? - rust maybe? Metal fatigue, oil, and dirt. Corrosion isn't too much of an issue these days with modern phosphor bronze and stainless steel strings. Cleaning your strings after playing helps maximize life. (Just use a clean cloth--DON'T use liquid cleaners or lubricants.) There are also microcoated strings that are supposed to stay 'live' much longer than traditional strings.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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A common cause of strings going flat, is tuning down to pitch instead of up.
Tuners often have backlash, due to clearance between the tuner gear teeth,
or other excessive free movement in the parts. The presence of backlash means
that the tuning key does not maintain complete control of the tuning post when
changing direction from tuning up to tuning down.
Tuning up to pitch eliminates the effects of backlash. When you turn the key
to increase pitch, all of the backlash will first be taken up before the post
begins to turn. Then as long as the key doesn't move, the key (and gears) will
maintain positive support for the post.
When tuning down to pitch, friction will often prevent the post from immediately
following the key downward. The backlash will have to be taken up in the other
direction before the post begins to move. These leaves the clearance between the
gear teeth on the "wrong side". The key is no longer supporting the post. Friction
is supporting it. Sometime later, the post will slip and take up the backlash.
The string goes flat.
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