Is Henry listening to Gibson fans?

[Pilgrim]

Truth is, the auto tune thing is the classic engineering driving marketing rather than the other way around. Simple as that and it fails much more than it succeeds.  Successful products are typically developed based on market demand.  Simple.

They must have been taking lessons from BMW. "We removed the dipstick and you will now use the sensors to find your oil level.  You will enjoy it - that's an order."

[uwe]

Any bets that this will be de rigeur with guitars in, say, ten years time? Man's inherent laziness is the driver of all invention.

[Dave W]

I don't see it ever becoming common. Most of us want things the way they were at the dawn of the solid body electric era, and that attitude hasn't changed since the 70s.

[uwe]

I remember people saying in the 70ies that tuning gadgets like the electrical Korg tuner were wholly unnecessary, for talentless musicians only and bad for your pitch ear.

How many members here do without an electrical tuner today?

With the advances in microsizing, there will be electrical tuners/machine heads in a few years that won't look too different from old style ones. You tell me that people will then not accept them!

I would have no issues with a bass that features a voice control that would trigger the machine heads at the command "tune up!"  Execution of a "change strings"-command will however still take some developmental time I guess ...

[Granny Gremlin]

I agree that people will eventually accept them, but only if bypassable.  Tuners for example don't prevent you from detuning.

[doombass]

The automatic tuners would be accepted today as long as they are installed on special series of guitars. Like the Robot guitar which of course got ridiculed, but the problem now is you can not buy a standard LP without them. They would probably be more than well accepted on entry level models (both by experienced musicians and beginners). While we're speaking of the 70's I'd say the automatic tuners will most likely catch on better than the sliding pickup.

[Highlander]

Fretless is the way to go then... half tone, semi tone, hittin' the note... don't need to go near the tuners... just use the ears...

A "tuner" is de rigeur these days and that I can understand but auto-tuning for a bass...? Not been following this accurately... I know they've been pushing them for sixers but is there a bass loaded with these yet...

You got one yet Uwe...? If it exists you'd probably "need" one... Maybe this is where you could make a stand and say Nien! Someone has to make a stand, don't they...?

[uwe]

The only bass I own that could benefit from automatic tuning is my alu neck Kramer because as the neck warms up when being played, the bass goes a little flat (or was it sharp, I forget!) overall. Generally takes two to three songs, after that it stays in tune solidly.

[Highlander]

Sharp... ally would expand when warmed...

[Dave W]

I remember people saying in the 70ies that tuning gadgets like the electrical Korg tuner were wholly unnecessary, for talentless musicians only and bad for your pitch ear.

How many members here do without an electrical tuner today?

With the advances in microsizing, there will be electrical tuners/machine heads in a few years that won't look too different from old style ones. You tell me that people will then not accept them!

I would have no issues with a bass that features a voice control that would trigger the machine heads at the command "tune up!"  Execution of a "change strings"-command will however still take some developmental time I guess ...
...

Give me back my tuning fork and pitch pipe!   

No, you can't compare it to electronic tuners, they aren't made a part of the instrument and they don't replace the manual tuning heads. And I never heard anyone call electronic tuners unnecessary back then. Every player I knew loved them.

Today you have remarkably accurate and cheap digital tuners, including clip-ons. You don't have to buy one for every instrument, either. Now TC-Helicon has introduced a $50 clip-on polyphonic tuner that's accurate to +/- 0.02 cents. If that performance gets surpassed someday, you can just buy a new one, you won't be faced with replacing all your tuning heads due to outdated or non-working electronics.

[Highlander]

They must have been taking lessons from BMW. "We removed the dipstick and you will now use the sensors to find your oil level.  You will enjoy it - that's an order."

It's been standard on every vehicle I've operated... usually red, and called the "oil warning light"... when it comes on, add oil... (yes, I know... philistine... )

[nofi]

if you own a ford truck you will notice the 'warning lights' have a mind of their own.

[amptech]

if you own a ford truck you will notice the 'warning light' have a mind of their own.

Like in the movie 'Maximum overdrive'?   

[Pilgrim]

It's been standard on every vehicle I've operated... usually red, and called the "oil warning light"... when it comes on, add oil... (yes, I know... philistine... )

Aaaaaggghhh!   

[drbassman]

I agree with Dave.  We've always needed a pitch source to tune and I never rejected the electronic tuner as it just provided an automatic way to tune.  But it's a choice to use one.  No one made me throw away my pitch pipe.  At home I use a piano, at practice a tuner.  Putting it on all guitars and upcharging for it is just plain stupid IMHO.