At the Cherry Picks event on press day (Sunday), Gibson showed its Robot Guitar. The name is a bit misleading, as it conjures up images of a self-playing guitar. That isn’t the case. The Robot Guitar is a self-tuning guitar, which is still impressive. You strum the strings. It analyzes the degree to which each string is out of tune. And it mechanically adjusts the strings to the correct tuning.
Six factory presets are provided. You can also manually tune the guitar to any other tuning and save that tuning by overwriting one of the presets. The owner’s manual provides instructions for restoring the factory defaults in case you want to go back.
Color LEDs provide user feedback during tuning operations. A solid red indicates a string is not tuned. A flashing yellow indicates the Powerheads are tuning the strings. A solid green indicates an individual string is in tune. And all LEDS flashing blue three times indicates all the strings are in tune.
Based on the demo I saw at CES, the process appears to be easy, fast, and accurate. For guitar players who like to switch back and forth among various tunings, the Robot Guitar should prove especially valuable. The retail price is $2,499. Even with that high price, there’s a waiting list of eager buyers.
Currently, there’s only one body style, though we were told at Cherry Picks that — once they catch up with the orders — Gibson will introduce different designs with the same technology.