Gibson, the maker of the world’s most famous solidbody electric guitar, the Les Paul, is pursuing the future of instrumental design. One of their newest prototypes is quite unique. The beta model is known simply as the Gibson Robot Guitar. The prototype was officially launched on December 7th at a retail price of $2,499.
The Robot Guitar uses technology to simplify the process of tuning and intoning the guitar. The real usefulness of the robotic technology comes into play when you need to quickly switch between tunings. By default, the Robot supports Open E, Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Hendrix style tuning, and Double drop D. However, you can program any tuning you want into the guitar’s system.
The regular model of the Gibson Robot Les Paul will be released in late 2008. Pricing has not been announced yet.
While the Gibson Robot Guitar definitely looks like a fun toy, how useful will the general market find the technology? Are we going to see a day when people no longer know how to tune a guitars themselves? Is this just an exceptional gimmick? The Robot certainly brings up some interesting questions about the future of instruments. One thing is for sure, though - this guitar wont be leaving the shelves until we see some famous names make the switch to robotic technology.
[...] thing to consider is the weight. Les Paul style guitars are heavy and rounded. The Strat neck, in my experience, feels like a deck of cards [...]
[...] made it very clear at the time that the guitar was a prototype, and that anyone that purchased the product would be investing money in the revised model to be released at a later [...]