Guitar Licks and Tips

Now we are getting to the end of my Tronical PowerTune segment. This revolutionary tuning system I’m sure will be the standard for years to come for very serious musicians and ones with deep pockets.

This revolutionary approach in tuning ones guitar seems to be a dream come true for most players. The most nerve wracking part of playing live is that, in your mind, you are taking way too long to tune your axe. While doing this many times through out a show, you feel the attention that you may of had from the crowd float away, right in front of your eyes!

Some of the main technology that is used for this system is embedded in bridge. The bridge is also known as the tail piece or saddle to some. This part is basically the ears of this process. Here with the help from piezo pick up technology, a well insulated bridge has been designed to the highest of spec’s. It here that the actual calibration for each string is generated.

This function is of the utmost importance to the tuning of the guitar. Each individual string gives off a sound or vibration when you hit it. Now this is where it gets crazy, each and every string has to be perfectly isolated from each other in order to focus the tuning controller on each and every string … at the same time no less. This is no small feat to have achieved!

If you don’t play guitar, the next time your around an acoustic guitar, strum down VERY HARD on all strings and place your pinky finger across the bridge (where the strings are attached to the body of the guitar, where you strum it in other words) of the guitar. Have your thumb pointing upwards to get the best results. You will now feel all the strings, going through this bridge and it vibrating like crazy! So imagine what it must take for a technology to baffle or insulate each vibration, which is each string, all at once. Now I hope that you are getting the overall picture.

Keep on Jammin’

The next aspect of the Tronical Powertune that I want to talk about is the PowerHead-Locking Tuners.

The tuning heads/headstock processor/tuner’s that are used here are custom built obviously, and they are similar to your standard guitar ones… except that they are powered! This is the aspect of the Powertune that affect the winding and un-winding of strings for tuning.

This part of the technology is basically located directly on the back of the headstock(tuning peg). They can be placed into any standard drilled tuner holes on any guitar, so this will not a problem that you will encounter. In my mind, this should be installed by trained professionals! {Personal note: just like my many attempts at home renovations, I tend to eventually pay someone re-do/un-do what I had just done!} I’m not for certain here, but it looks like it can be disassembled if not needed in the future with minimal damage to your guitar.

The headstock looks a lot bigger/larger then the standard size, but I’m sure that they won’t wear you down!

The electronics are produced by a number of different companies. They are Texas Instruments, NXP, Silicon Labs, Linear Technology, and Rohm. As we’re all aware, these companies have been around for a long time now and have a proven technological track record!

The motors they use here are referred to as the Servo pegs.

Each unit consists of a motor, high-performance gears along with intelligent servo electronics. The servo motor control electronics use an intelligent ‘learn’ capability, this allows you to optimize your tuning requirements, even accommodating different string tensions.

Tronical Technology

So in case your wondering, Gibson states that the batteries will last for around 200 individual tunings. Not all that bad I’d say!

So that is a very rough overview of the PowerHead Locking Tuner system. I don’t want to get too technical for most of my readers because I might be viewed by some to be too much of a techie, which I am not. I just want to help plant a little seed in your mind, then you can pursue it in greater detail on your own! So I hope that you enjoyed a bit of this and …

Keep on Jammin’

The TuneControl-MultiKnob is the only hands on part of the Gibson Robot Guitar/Tronical Powertune system that you actually touch.

It looks just like any other of the control knobs that you use on a electric guitar. The best thing about this is that it comes in a kit form. If you do get this kit, I would highly recommend that you let a highly repretable guitar techie install this for you. This will set you back around $800.00 (US).

Here is what it looks like all stripped down.

To say this is just a regular multi-functional pot is an understatement! This is the real brains behind the product. It holds a tiny processor inside this pot.

Basically it controls all the pre-set tunings for your guitar. It allows you to personally program any type of open tuning that you may wish to use and implement it at a moments notice. They say that you can have 11 different tunings but they don’t say how many personal settings you can set up for yourself. I guess how many tunings does one guitarist need anyway?

Once you choose your tuning setting here, tiny LED lights will flash until your guitar is tuned perfectly to your desired requirements. This takes around 5 seconds to complete once activated. Once all the tiny lights, each light represents individual strings, are lit up then your new tuning is done!

These programed instructions are then sent to and performed by the tuning heads that have tiny motors is them. This topic is for another post for the future.

You WILL NOT ruin your guitar in any way once you have this installed! It is a modular system that you can be retro fitted to any guitar set up that you might have. You can also restore your guitar back to it’s original configuration very easily if need be.

They come in multiple styles and finishes to compliment your guitar so don’t worry about it making your axe look hideous! That’s one of the first questions that I had going through my head when I first read about this.

Just a side thought here, I wonder if you could apply this form of tuner into an acoustic? Humm, interesting. I’m just kiddin’ here all you acoustic purists out there!

Keep on Jammin’

The Nanohead from this company called ZVEX, is considered the smallest Tube amp in the world. For those of you tired of lugging those big heavy mothers up and down stairs, this puppy could very well save you from back problems later on in life (Ha, ha)!

This little baby comes in one colour, has a universal adapter for use in any country. It has a tone(both high and low) control, a brightness control (only works @ low volume) and comes with a 1/4 inch plug for your external speaker hook up (8 or 16 Ohm cabinets only).

The thing that I got a laugh from the video is that it comes with an internal speaker. It has a self resetting fuse, which I like. There is a tiny little light that tells you that you’ve blown the fuse on it.

It has a 12 volt power supply and a mini fan to cool this hot little puppy down when your axe is pushing it to it’s limit!

A perfect little gift for all you camping rockers out there!

Keep on Jammin’

The Gibson Robot guitar takes the hassle out of tuning your guitar. This new revolutionary technology seems like something right out a science fiction novel.

Imagine the freedom to have the ability to tune your guitar while playing live.This allows you to talk to the crowd without pauses. Now this is something that I just had to investigate further! This is what Gibson says!

The company that the license for this aspect of the Les Paul is called Tronical, a German company. This seems to be some very cool and yet, useful technology that can be used as a remedial tuning system that even my mom could use.

All you have to have are good eyes and know which tuning that you would need to be in to work. You simply have to turn the dial(TuneControl-MultiKnob) to the appropriate letter, indicating which tuning you need, and the the Powertune technology does the rest. It’s that easy. I’ve only heard of this lately and I’ve never seen or have used this, but to me it looks like a no-brainer!

The only drawback could be the price … about $2500.00 (Can).

If anyone out there has one of these beauty’s, can you please give us an insight into this new world of guitar innovation? We’re waiting to hear from you and your experiences very soon.

Keep on Jammin’