Band members who have had to suffer long hours of listening to their tone deaf guitarists helplessly trying to tune up their instruments will be delighted to learn that guitar makers Gibson have launched a new Min-ETune automatic tuning system.
Billed as an ‘affordable, compact, modification-free automatic tuning system for everyone,’ the self-contained gizmo mounts to the standard tuner holes at the back of the headstock.
Previously available only on Gibson’s full-scale “Robot” guitars, the Min-ETune is offered as an affordable upgrade option on a wide range of Gibson 2013 guitars such as the Les Paul and SG ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and Future Tribute Series, as well as on the Les Paul Signature “T” and the Les Paul Studio.
The system lets guitarists instantly set their guitar to any one of 12 popular factory-stored preset tunings or one of six user-programmable presets, with the process taking around three seconds.
No doubt these speedy tuning abilities will please singers who often are reduced to nervously cracking jokes and blabbering away onstage for the near-eternity it takes some guitarists to get back in tune.
The tuner also throws up lots of possibilities for guitarists to change their tuning mid set, as Gibson explains:
Need to go from a song in Standard tuning to a blues-slide piece in Open D, then to a country-rock rave up in Open G? No more changing guitars or losing the crowd’s attention while you laboriously re-tune on stage. In less time than it takes to set one guitar on a stand and strap on another, the Min-ETune™ takes you where you need to be, enabling a dynamic and seamless flow to your stage show.
The device can be bought from authorised Gibson dealers and according to this review adds $400 (approx. £249) to the guitar’s MSRP and “requires a (supplied) rechargeable battery pack and, judging from early videos, makes a slightly annoying whirring sound when tuning.”
