Gibson Proudly Presents The Robot Guitar: 2007

The Gibson Robot Guitar, a new limited edition first-run Les Paul, continues two great Gibson traditions: cutting-edge innovation and a limited edition first run that will surely go on to become a highly sought-after Gibson instrument.

Since the dawn of the instrument, musicians have come to accept the guitar’s imperfections and lack of tonal precision as necessary evils. Onstage and off, guitarists have fought to stay in tune. Every music lover and performer has had to suffer through the show—halting, mood-killing atonal droning of a loudly amped guitar being brought into tune. And in the studio, or at home, imprecise intonation throws the guitar in and out of tune, up and down the neck, as the instrument requires tweaking with each season and at times with each string change.

For as long as the guitar has existed, guitar lovers have had two choices—live with a temperamental and out-of-tune instrument or make frequent trips to the shop for setups. Not anymore. All you have to do is play it. These limited edition Les Pauls, featuring Gibson’s amazing self-tuning robotic technology, launch globally on December 7, 2007, at select dealers, each of whom will have only 10 of these beautiful guitars. If previous limited run releases are any indication, they won’t have them for very long.

Each limited edition, first run Gibson Robot Guitar will feature a dramatic Blue Silverburst nitrocellulose finish, created especially for this limited run. It will never be used on any other Gibson guitar. Also featured is a certificate of authenticity, a power adaptor for the system’s rechargeable lithium battery, and a limited edition first run case with silver tolex and a plush silver interior. Each Robot Guitar’s serial number will also be sequentially exact, beginning with RG0001 and continuing through the end of the limited run.

Many of Gibson’s limited run models of the 1950s-guitars that could be purchased for as little as a few hundred dollars-now command huge sums of money as some of the most desirable collectables in the industry, and the same is proving true with Gibson’s recent limited runs. If history is any indicator-and it usually is-the Robot Guitar will soon join the ranks of such models as:

1958 Flying V (only 81 produced; typically sell for $100,000 and up) 1958 Explorer (only 100 produced; one example with original Bigsby and Custom made plate cover sold for $611,000 at a Skinner Auction in Boston in October 2006; it was purchased new in 1958 for about $250) 1958 Les Paul Standard (only 434 produced; typically sell in the $50,000-$250,000 range) 1959 Les Paul Standard (considered the Holy Grail of guitars; only 643 produced; typically sell in the $100,000-$500,000 range, and up) 1960 Les Paul Standard (only 635 produced; typically sell in the $50,0000-$250,000 range)

2004 Gibson Custom Shop Duane Allman Signature Les Paul (only 57 produced, and rarely available for purchase) 2005 Gibson Custom Shop Eric Clapton “Crossroads” ES-335 (250 guitars produced, sold out in 72 hours) 2006 Jimmy Page Custom Authentic Les Paul (first 25 were signed, played, and numbered by Page himself; $25,000 original price tag, but now typically sell for $80,000-$100,000) 2007 Custom Shop Jimmy Page Signature EDS-1275 Doubleneck (25 Aged, 250 VOS models, sold out in less than two weeks)

The limited edition, first run will certainly follow in the footsteps of these legendary Gibson instruments. True to the spirit of innovation that inspired Gibson to invent the legendary Tune-o-matic bridge, the powerful humbucker, and the revolutionary Digital Les Paul, Gibson proudly presents the Gibson Robot Guitar—the world’s first guitar with robotic technology. On December 7, 2007, Gibson will change the guitar world forever. Again

A Crash Course in Open and Alternate Tunings

For many generations, great guitarists have understood the power of alternate tunings and open tunings—alternate tunings being deviations from standard tuning’s tried-and-true EADGBE, low string to high string; open tunings being any tuning which forms a full chord when all open strings are strummed together.

To the uninitiated, however, these departures from standard tuning can be anywhere from slightly confusing to utterly baffling. It’s easy to get into a mindset that says that standard is “normal” and anything else is “not quite right,” and certainly it might seem that way to your fingers and ears when you first venture into uncharted musical waters. The truth is, however, using an alternate tuning will actually make it a lot easier to play many styles of music, and chances are you’ll feel at home with the changes a lot quicker than you might expect after just a short time of dedicated practice.

Check out these basic chords for some popular open and alternate tunings. Notice how they put melodic runs within easy reach, for certain types of fingerstyle playing in particular, by putting open strings within the key or scale of the song in question, and also how they make slide (bottleneck) playing much easier by creating chords that can be played on all open strings together or on any barred fret.

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Traditionally, one of the things that has discouraged many players from exploring alternate tunings thoroughly is the sheer work of changing the guitar from one tuning to another and back again. Professional performers who regularly use more than one tuning generally keep a number of different guitars on stage in different tunings, at arm’s reach and ready to go, just to ease the work of all that tuner twisting. But all that is a thing of the past, and here’s where one of the great beauties about the Robot Guitar comes into play: just rotate the Master Control Knob to the desired preset, strum, and you’re ready to play in Open E, Dropped D, DADGAD, Open G, Hendrix Tuning, Double Dropped D, or any of your own custom tunings that you program into the system. When the song is through, twist the MCK knob, strum again, and you’re back in standard tuning for the next number. Explore, play, create … it couldn’t be simpler, and you’ll be amazed at how your musical horizons expand.

Correct intonation is a necessity for great guitar tone. Guitars that are not fully and correctly intonated don’t ring with the full spectrum of harmonics, frequently sound out-of-tune on chords (even when they are supposedly “tuned up”), and throw out clunker notes even in simple single-not scale runs, higher up the neck in particular. But the time and skill required to achieve correct intonation mean that many players limp along with imperfect tone rather than going to the trouble of perfecting it. Doing it right usually means going to a professional repairman, surrendering your guitar for however long the shop’s worklist is backed up, and paying a hefty charge for the time-consuming work. Doing it yourself, if you don’t have the training and experience to do it right, risks throwing your guitar even further out. Until now.

In addition to its automated tuning and alternate/open tuning functions, the Gibson Robot Guitar offers a unique Intonation function, which guides even the most tweak-phobic player through the simple steps of achieving perfect intonation on this revolutionary instrument. No tools or external tuners or other gadgets are needed other than a small screwdriver and the Robot Guitar’s own Master Control Knob (MCK). The guitar itself “talks you through” the entire process, resulting in a correctly intonated guitar in a fraction of the time it takes even a professional guitar tech to do the same job.

To access the Intonation mode, you simply pull out the MCK and turn it to “I,” then activate it by pressing the control button for three seconds. Pluck the desired string, and the Robot Guitar system tunes it up. Then fret the same string at the 12th fret, pluck it again, and the MCK tells you exactly how to adjust that string’s bridge saddle to correctly intonate it: for each green LED illuminated, turn the saddle screw half a turn clockwise, for each red LED turn it half a turn counter clockwise. Repeat with each string, and you have correctly intonated your Gibson Robot Guitar to within 0.2 percent accuracy… in a matter of minutes.

Play a guitar that is correctly intonated, and suddenly you will realize what you have been missing. Chords and scales ring true, harmonics resonate in sympathy, and your overall tone sounds bigger and richer thanks to the absence of the dissonance and harshness that was formerly working against you. Intonation, easily, automatically-only on the Gibson Robot Guitar

It took Chris Adams 10 years to perfect the lightweight and foolproof auto-tuning system on the revolutionary Gibson Robot Guitar. Aggravated by the never-ending tuning process, he devised a system that would automatically tune a guitar in no time flat. While he was at it, Adams developed the robotic technology that allows the Robot Guitar to switch effortlessly between multiple tunings, keep a guitar perfectly intonated, and even change strings.

What were your feelings about partnering with Gibson?

“It’s a dream come true. I’m proud of it because Gibson is the Mercedes of guitars. It’s not just any brand; it’s the most high-profile guitar manufacturer in the world, so it says something about the tuning system. It’s a high-quality innovative product. That’s why it fits so well with Gibson because Gibson’s always cutting edge and a leader in technology.”

What kind of guitarist do you think the Robot Guitar will appeal to?

“It appeals to every type of guitar player. The total beginner can use it. It’s so much more fun to have a guitar that is in tune from the start. The pro players are also very intrigued about the system because they can do so many things that they couldn’t do before. A guitar tech can tune their guitar at the side of the stage, but the show happens on stage and a good guitar is very sensitive to changing conditions, concerning the climate and temperature. So no matter how good it was in tune on the side of the stage, it’s not going to be in perfect tune on stage. This system gives the control back to pro guitar players. You have to think about so many things already when you’re a guitar player that being in tune is one less huge hassle to think about.”

Which famous musicians are already using your system?

“Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins, he loves it. Matt Bellamy from Muse put it in his guitars. Uli Jon Roth, former guitar player of The Scorpions, says he actually can’t live without it anymore. Steve Vai couldn’t believe it unless he saw it, and once he saw it it was still very hard for him to believe. He’s telling everybody about how great it is. Steve Lukather really loves it. I showed it to Pete Townshend, and he wants to get to know more about it. That’s just the start of it.”

How long does it take the average guitarist to feel comfortable with the Robot Guitar?

“It takes less than two minutes to understand how to be in tune. Start with the basic stuff first. The only thing you have to do to start is pull the knob, strum the strings, and when everything on the display is blue, you are done. We checked the guitar out with some nine-year-old kids, and they picked it up immediately. It doesn’t come easier than this—pull the knob, strum, push in, done.”

How often do you have to turn the system on when you’re playing?

“Once you get this system, your tolerance for a guitar that’s out of tune is lower. You get used to it very fast. After two weeks you hear so much more because you always have a guitar that is in tune. So you tend to turn the system on much more often because you have become much more aware of when you’re out of tune. Who wants to be out of tune? Nobody. Now that it’s no work, you tend to use this much more often. Once you get used to the system, it becomes second nature.”

So there you have it, straight from the horses mouth… This guitar will change the sound landscape over the coming years, expect the unexpected, listen to those records carefully and maybe you won’t just hear something new, you’ll hear something revolutionary. But remember, technology is a tool that is used to enhance, not replace; it’s always good to know how to ride a bike when your car is broke; knowing how to manually tune a guitar is still an essential part of any guitarist’s make-up. Gibson Guitars, stars of the past, and of the future…