Guitar Pick

As Bob Dylan once said, “The Times They’re a-Changin’ and once again a new device is bound to change the musical landscape in years to come.

Well in this particular case, thanks to the latest robotic technology, make that “Powertune System” which was developed by Tronical Gmbh in partnership with Gibson Guitar Corp and was incorporated in its latest Les Paul model with Blue Silverburst’s finish can tune itself in about two seconds.

According to the gospel of Gibson or the people behind it, it is the world’s first self- tuning technology that eliminates the challenges of fine tuning your guitar which is a constant source of headache for beginners and musicians alike thereby getting rid of the extra guitars set with different tunings that is often seen in most gigs and concerts.

Here’s more from Powertune--

Powertune is also listed online for about $800, and Tronical says it can be installed on many different models of electric guitars without leaving a mark.

Gibson guitars with the technology come preset with six types of tuning to play different kinds of music. They also can remember a player's additional original tuning styles, by listening with a microphone to the sounds of the strings.

To set the instrument to a particular tuning, the user pulls a knob, turns it to the desired style, indicated with a blue light, and then pushes the knob back in. An electric signal travels up the strings to the motors on the tuning pegs. The system is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.


By the way, the Les Paul Silverburst model will sell for around $2,780 in Japan and $2,499 in the U.S., with an extra $900 extra for the self-tuning device.

Whoa, that’s a lot of moolah for a guitar if you ask me but not really that much for the ones who can afford it. But in this age of computers, digital music and instruments, anything is a welcome addition in the music world, revolutionary or not.

Still, I’ll take my old less high- tech electric guitar anytime…

For now, at least.