Guthrie Govan endorses Tronical robo tuners (same as Min E Tune)

johnnyurq

Did anyone see this coming?

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/guthrie-govan-signs-up-for-tronical-600212

A bit left field but interesting as more folks might look at this tech closer, so shrewd move from Tronical.

Tronical used to be contracted exclusively to Gibson and designed the other Gibson Robo Tuners setups and Min E Tune stuff but since a year or so are selling direct.

richardhomer

He's getting a bit 'Bonamassa' on the endorsement front, isn't he? (I obviously mean this in a tongue-in cheek manner - he'd have endorse a couple of thousand more products before he really starts to rival Jobo....)

monquixote

I suspect he's endorsing it because he needs it. 

I would imagine he's been asked to go on a tour where he can only take one acoustic guitar and has to use a number of tunings. 

impmann

Sorry but Rory Gallagher did that without the need for servo motors strapped to his headstock

monquixote

impmann said:

Sorry but Rory Gallagher did that without the need for servo motors strapped to his headstock

People got around on horses. It didn't stop them buying cars.

johnnyurq

I tend to agree with @monquixote and he does find it genuinely of use for what he has it in mind for.

Great for Tronical though and as a Dark Fire owner I have experienced the robo tuners (2nd Gen) first hand and they worled excellently and quickly.

Maybe it will lead others who haven't thought of it before as a possible addition to one of their guitars.

Then poeple will not dismoss it out of hand as the sperm of satan having never tried it or even seen a demo.

The post by @impmann aptly demonstrates some of the knee jerk reactions out there.

If it is not for you fine but why dismiss it as having no merit for anyone else, thankfully we are all different.

I fancy one for my Epi EJ200CE in the fullness of time as I think that is a natural home for this tech, great on electrics too mind.

As it is faster, better and only at the headstock end than then 2nd gen ones so based on my experience it should be pretty decent. At £250 approx and easily fitted it is not nuts money.

guitargeek62

The more Soundgarden I learn, the more this idea tempts me...

kelvinburn

I have no experience of the technology personally. I always wonder how the same set of strings / set up and action can cope with constant retuning and stretching. Does it not mess with intonation etc.

axisus

He's endorsed it but I bet he doesn't use it!

monquixote

axisus said:

He's endorsed it but I bet he doesn't use it!

I don't think that's what he does. 

I can't imagine him using it on his electric, but I bet he needs it on his acoustic for a specific tour.

johnnyurq

kelvinburn;242117" said:

I have no experience of the technology personally. I always wonder how the same set of strings / set up and action can cope with constant retuning and stretching. Does it not mess with intonation etc.

@kelvinburn

From my experience with a 1st Gen LP and my Dark Fire Intonation was always just fine and never needed attention, The only things to be mindful of was a heavier guage of strings was needed for any Baritone type tunings so as it didn't sound like ass or the strings feel like loose elastic bands.

The setup on the Dark Fire etc was different as it had tech at both ends of the string peaking length so it had a function for tweaking the intonation easily. When you wanted to check intonation the LED display would let you know if any strings were flat or sharp and tell you which so you could adjust it. As I say in over 4 years it never needed any tweaks and the neck etc was pretty standard LP construction.

The other thing was in terms of creating a virtual capo you couldn't really do much more than the first 3 or 4 frets without causing too much stress if used a lot. I never went aboce 3 frets and that was just fine. Conversely for flappy strings reasons it was similar on a downtuned virtual capo.

The newer Tronical setup is faster and more accurate but is only at the headstock so most likely has a different setup for checking intonation and the like.

If feeling the tension of the strings correctly and having the strings at the actual pitch of the alternate tuning is key for you then Robo Tuners and this setup better compared to digitally shifted ones like the Roland VG or Variax alt tunings.

Plus if you are playing low volume enough to hear the strings acoustically then there is no aural clash between standard tuned string and alt tuned modelling. Of course at volume it is not an issue beyond no change in strung tension.

ThePrettyDamned

I've tested a guitar with these tuners and they are pretty

axisus;242157" said:

He's endorsed it but I bet he doesn't use it!

I imagine he will, but perhaps not much.

Or perhaps he's genuinely enthusiastic about it. I think it's a great idea, when I saw Andy mckee he spent quite a bit of time tuning to all different things. He was fine, very entertaining, but it still provides a bit of a stop to a performance.

JookyChap

I've tried them on an electric I was setting-up for someone, and they worked beautifully. The owner played a lot of slide and it was perfect for him as he was switching between tunings on different songs.

I agree with @johnnyurq though, for most I would imagine they are more useful for acoustics rather than electrics, but for the price of a posh pedal they offer a lot of scope, especially if you are writing.

As for Guthrie, I would imagine in his situation, endorsements offer an alternative to having a day job, so good luck to him, and from what little I know of the geezer I can't imagine him endorsing something he wasn't impressed with. As for Rory, christ he was even seen with an Eggle at one point

johnnyurq

Interestingly @JookyChap I have a friend who was Rory G's personal guitar tech for a good while back in the day and he did indeed use The Eggle and plan to use more because he was helping him integrate it into his rig. He also said he remembers him using it live on a few ocassions, Must ask if he used it on any recordings or such.

I quizzed him on it after the thread here and forgot to find and post the info on that thread.

He even used a Boss ME-5 for a while when new ish, apparently he wasn't averse to a bit of new tech at all.

impmann

Not a knee jerk reaction. I just genuinely do not see the point of an auto tuning guitar.
But hey, each to their own.

Interesting about the Eggle and dear old Rory. Shame he passed when he did - on so many levels.

JookyChap

We shouldn't be surprised really - I think I mentioned before that when I was first learning in the 80s I was around my Dad's mate's house and he said he'd show me some guitars he'd got from when he used to play in the 50s. It turned out he'd worked on a tour with Eddie Cochran (can't remember the details but not as a player, though it was the err, final tour) and he'd ended-up with two of his guitars. One was a Gretsch - but not the Gretsch - and the other was a Strat. The Strat was apparently the one he played all the time off stage, and he also had a few others as he was a bit of a magpie, always wanting to try something new.

I got to play the Gretsch at the time (au clare de la lune, probably being the best of it but obviously Strats were old men's guitars and I wasn't very impressed - especially as it was proper old - so didn't bother.

johnnyurq

@impmann

That is fine as you say it is each to their own and I meant it half jokey and half making a serious point.

But to rubish something becasue it is not for you in my eyes is an odd approach.

But it isn't actually Auto Tune as in the famous way we know of it is more about the alt tunings, the user has to press the buttons to tell it to get in tune for standard or otherwise. It takes seconds and is great at gigs for rapid accurate tuning in a couple of strums as all 6 strings are tuning by the robo tuners at once.

I realise you may not be one of the ones who believe it is autotuning in realtime but it is something I have heard a lot form detractors who by doing so demonstarte ably they no SFA about it.

I have had people at gigs (other guitarists mainly) saying isn't that cheating it being auto tune (once againa a perception fail) or "can't you tune it yourself?" well yes I can tune as well as anyone else who has been playing for over 40 years but at a 3 hour gig it is a bonus on top of the alt tunings to be able to tune between songs rapidly and accurately so keeping the momentum going.

YMMV of course but detractors should at least be accurate in their perspective of how it works and what it actually does. Just making a general point and not aimed specifically at you, but your use of term Auto Tune aften suggests that it is doing so in real time which is not the case..

If you were aware of this then please ignore my ramblings.

Yes it is interesting to know that Rory was not was not tech averse as most with myself included wold have presumed until I knew he used an ME-5 of course, I bought one on release and he seems to have too or shortly after anyway.

Cinversely I like old school too and always have a bog standard rig option or two for just dirty rock and roll etc, options are always good in my book.

Next time I am at his studio I will see if I can get any more gear gossip, he has told me a few salty anecdotes and general touring hilarity, he was some dude for sure in many ways.

johnnyurq

JookyChap;242370" said:

We shouldn't be surprised really - I think I mentioned before that when I was first learning in the 80s I was around my Dad's mate's house and he said he'd show me some guitars he'd got from when he used to play in the 50s. It turned out he'd worked on a tour with Eddie Cochran (can't remember the details but not as a player, though it was the err, final tour) and he'd ended-up with two of his guitars. One was a Gretsch - but not the Gretsch - and the other was a Strat. The Strat was apparently the one he played all the time off stage, and he also had a few others as he was a bit of a magpie, always wanting to try something new.



I got to play the Gretsch at the time (au clare de la lune, probably being the best of it but obviously Strats were old men's guitars and I wasn't very impressed - especially as it was proper old - so didn't bother.

Very true indeed and I reckon guitarists in whatever era tend to be inveterate tinkerers, modders and GAS fiends. Must be inbuilt into our psyche.

axisus

My mate saw Michael hedges live many years ago (wish I did!), and he said that the retuning between each song was very entertaining, it sounded great and there was a lot of banter as well. Actually if it works on acoustic I could be interested as I use several tunings and can't always be assed with swapping.

Monkeybone

I am quite tempted by the version for the GS Mini, saves using one guitar for standard and one for DADGAD/open G.

octatonic

kelvinburn said:

I have no experience of the technology personally. I always wonder how the same set of strings / set up and action can cope with constant retuning and stretching. Does it not mess with intonation etc.

Yes, it does, a bit.

Not a lot though.