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

axisus

Well, I've watched the video now and I am seriously considering getting that for my Taylor acoustic. That could be really useful to me and may well get me back into acoustic playing. I have a stash of GAS money and I'm not wanting any more guitars or basses. Will be investigating more ....

steamabacus

I first saw these a good ten years ago at a guitar show (before Gibson got involved) and thought they'd be useful for acoustic players using lots of tunings, although they were only fitted to electrics back then. Does anybody have any idea how well the little motors and moving parts hold up after years of use? I could see that maybe being a weakness?

stickyfiddle

I met the main Tronical chap at a London guitar show when they were just starting out. Very nice guy and brilliant tech even back then (2005 at a guess). I don't want it on a new Gibson SG or Martin, but if you're a working-but-not-mega-rich guitarist using multiple tunings live then I can 100% see the appeal as it means you can take 2 guitars on the road rather than 5, hire a smaller van, load less in/out of venues and generally have less docking about and more playing.

I would actually be interested in it on acoustic as I find I'm using more and more tunings on that side, but I haven't seen it used on acoustic yet.

Also, even with all that, I don't really care what Guthrie uses. Same for Jobo, Slash and co.

EDIT: Google tells me you can now get a J45 with Min-E-Tune. Interesting. I wonder what "proper" acoustic players (which I most certainly am not!) think of of it.

JookyChap

axisus said:

I have a stash of GAS money and I'm not wanting any more guitars or basses.

WTF Right @axisus - Lad card, on the table, front and centre, and you can't have it back until you sort out your priorities.

Man, some people, sheesh.

stickyfiddle

This video actually makes it look quite useful. It even has a string-change mode for fast changes. 

guitargeek62

impmann said:

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

It's not worth it if you only use E standard, & Drop-D tuning.

Can anyone confirm if you can program in new tunings, or is it just presets?

*edit* Mounting information for those interested;

http://www.tronical.com/uploads/TronicalTune_PCB_Template.pdf

axisus

JookyChap said:

axisus said:

I have a stash of GAS money and I'm not wanting any more guitars or basses.

WTF Right @axisus - Lad card, on the table, front and centre, and you can't have it back until you sort out your priorities.

Man, some people, sheesh.

Actually I need to substantiate my statement: The guitar that I built last year was so amazing that I have no intention of buying any more guitars. From henceforth I intend to build any guitar that I want. I have one on the go at the moment, plan complete and neck in progress.

JookyChap

axisus said:

JookyChap said:

axisus said:

I have a stash of GAS money and I'm not wanting any more guitars or basses.

WTF Right @axisus - Lad card, on the table, front and centre, and you can't have it back until you sort out your priorities.

Man, some people, sheesh.

Actually I need to substantiate my statement: The guitar that I built last year was so amazing that I have no intention of buying any more guitars. From henceforth I intend to build any guitar that I want. I have one on the go at the moment, plan complete and neck in progress.

OK, suspension revoked. Welcome back brother

johnnyurq

steamabacus;242449" said:

I first saw these a good ten years ago at a guitar show (before Gibson got involved) and thought they'd be useful for acoustic players using lots of tunings, although they were only fitted to electrics back then. Does anybody have any idea how well the little motors and moving parts hold up after years of use? I could see that maybe being a weakness?

@steamabacus

Not too sure about the 2st Gen but the 2nd Gen (Dark Fire and newer) are pretty reliable 5 or so years in and most of the small numbers of failures were within the first few weeks and were mainly down to Gibsons cack handedness.

Tronical were great at replacing warranty ones as opposed to the big G.

After warranty if you are unlucky to have a failure you can get a spare/spares from Tronical, I bought 2 fvor my Dark Fire as a precaution and never needed them after 5 years.

They were easy to change and maintain because the Dark Fire user supprot group we set up shared all the relevant info making it easy for even DIY newbies. We did that in answer to Gibsons indifference.

Tronical on the other hand were stars for any pilot error issues or small tech glitches, on the whole though they were very reliable and I gigged, rehearsed and well used my Dark Fire plus I even naughtily mounted a GK3 on it for fun and wierd shizzle.

The tuners pop off the PCB and the only gotchas are making sure the contacts are clean (Gibson never hence early issues as well as cracked PCBs from over torque nonsense) and not over torque the robo tuners, they have torque figures and they are at the DF support site (now an archive) too as well as some circuit maps and such.

I doubt they will last forever but the signs are good so far.


@guitargeek63

As far as I am aware as with the older Gen 2 kit you have user locations and can overwrite the presets too if you wish.

The new ones are now a very mature tech and thriving now Gibson do not have exclusivity on Tronical's wares.

The templates are great to make sure before comitting to a purchase and well worth using.

kelvinburn

@johnnyurq thanks for taking the time to explain. I potentially could have a lot of use for these.

thomasw88

guitargeek62;242593" said:

impmann said:

Not a knee jerk reaction. I just genuinely do not see the point of an auto tuning guitar.

But hey, each to their own.











It's not worth it if you only use E standard, & Drop-D tuning.



Can anyone confirm if you can program in new tunings, or is it just presets?

*edit* Mounting information for those interested;

http://www.tronical.com/uploads/TronicalTune_PCB_Template.pdf

You get 12 standard presets and 6custom in which you can store your own.

johnnyurq

kelvinburn;242844" said:

@johnnyurq thanks for taking the time to explain. I potentially could have a lot of use for these.

@kelvinburn

No worries you are very welcome and thanks. For once my experience hopefully gives an idea of the systems capabilities.

Slightly sad they removed the ability to overwrite the presets because I preferred to replace ones I knew I would never use with my own. It was so easy to reinstate them in any case it was a no brainer.

On the plus side they are lighter, need a smaller battery etc so not a bad pay off. Not that the 2nd gen ones were overly heavy and caused no neck dive. But every little helps weight wise at my age LOL.

deano

Anyone know if Tronicals will fit to a Variax JTV-59? It might seem a bit odd given the variax does alternative turnings, but that only really works if the volume is up high enough to mask the acoustic notes, otherwise you get dissonance happening.

johnnyurq

@deano

Only the JTV-69 is officially listed.

But as the JTV-59 is made by World Music it may be a similar model of theirs for other manufacturers may work.

Download the templates nearest the same shape and then check the dimensions to be certain.

http://www.tronical.com/downloads/

If not trade for JTV-69 if you like them as much as the JTV-59.

EDIT

Meant to say ping them an email because as new guitars are fiund to be able to use one or other set they test and add as I understand it. A set may work but has not been officially added as yet.

kelvinburn

@johnnyurq is there a list anywhere of the tunings in them? I would have a few quite specific tunings I would need that are outside the norm

johnnyurq

kelvinburn;243122" said:

@johnnyurq is there a list anywhere of the tunings in them? I would have a few quite specific tunings I would need that are outside the norm

@kelvinburn


They have indeed and here is a link to the PDF's.

http://www.tronical.com/downloads/

The 4th PDF down is the one that has a table of the tunings but bear in mind you also have 6 user location to save your custom ones too for the same easy recall. If you need more than 6 it will be an issue which is why it is a shame they never allowed overwriting of presets in this iteration.

Worth checking these vids especially the one on custom tuning.

http://www.tronical.com/tutorials/

fretmeister

I really like the idea. Even if just for automatic tuning checking in between songs.

If the product genuinely keeps guitars in tune with that level of ease then I don't see why I wouldn't have one.

johnnyurq

True that and it was a boon for me in a 3 hour set covers band and took literally 2 or 3 strums for all 6 strings once you get a feel for the strums required but no more than 5 or so gentle strums if rushed. The alt tunings didn't take long either so no delay when compared with just tuning a standard guitar in between songs which took longer than say switching to DADGAD or Blues G and E.

It held tune well so it mostly just a quick tune for ultimate comfort of being in tune and it could be done easily in between every song if you get OCD about it..

In busy and noisy places being silent etc it was great, plus when playing Marquees and pubs with side doors that get opened and closed by smerkers easy to compensate for temperature differences acting on the strings.

kelvinburn

@johnnyurq Thats brilliant. Ta muchly. I will check those during my post work pub time

steamabacus

@johnnyurq ; Thanks for all the feedback - that deserves a wisdom.
=D>