The axeman cometh

Gibson will launch the world’s first self tuning guitar on December 7, with an innovative controls system developed by German company Tronical. The ‘axeman’ first pulls out the traditional volume knob, which also functions as the selector for a range of tuning options, including traditional A440. Then, tiny servo motors in the neck begin to tune the strings and their frequencies are monitored against each setting’s ideal by piezoelectric sensors in the bridge. These then feed back the appropriate tuning action to the neck. The biggest design challenge was to integrate the electronics – including a large number of pcb mounted microcontrollers – in packages that were small, but robust enough to do the job without affecting the guitar’s traditional physical design. Just how ‘traditional’ a result has been achieved is something Gibson has underlined by launching self tuning in a limited edition version of its classic Les Paul design.