Today is Friday September 10‚ 2010
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| Attack of the Killer Robots - Gibson Robot Les Paul Studio Reviewed | |
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By jeffwith1f Originally published on my review of the Gibson Les Paul Studio |
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| I hate tuning guitars, in particular, at gigs. As any semi-pro musician knows, on gig night, moving the instrument around, and having it sit on stage at various temperatures, as well as shifts caused when you handle the instrument cause tuning to waiver. Anyone with half an ear for music abhors an out of tune instrument. Unfortunately for me, like an idiot, I have created a litany of music which involves trucking around 5-6 guitars to cover all the alternate tunings that I use. Needless to say the prospect of an instrument that not only tunes itself, but will also tune to a variety of alternate tunings held a certain amount of appeal. Being a Gibson fan, and that this system is strapped to a Les Paul Studio works for me as well. Oh yeah, did I mention that my favourite colour is green? The instrument itself:  The instrument is described as a Les Paul Studio; however, this is somewhat misleading as its appointments get progressively dressier as you approach the headstock. Typical for a Studio, it is lacking in body binding and pick guard, but once at the neck we find crisp white neck binding and block inlays not unlike a Standard. At the top of the neck is a bound headstock which is a Custom style appointment, although instead of split diamonds, it is adorned with a crown inlay. The overall impression I was left with was like looking at a person wearing a top hat and jacket with track pants. It is a blend of trim levels that can throw off someone used to traditional sets of Les Paul appointments.  This is my first hands-on experience with one of the new “chambered” Les Pauls. It is somewhat disconcerting to pick up an 8 lb Les Paul, and my immediate impression when the instrument was handed to me was: “Is this made of particle board?” All worries of tone robbery were swept aside when I played it however. The instrument has a reassuringly solid feeling and I don’t get a sense of any loss of tone or sustain caused by the body routes. You can tell that the routes are there if you tap on the top as there are a couple of locations on the lower body either side of the bridge where you can hear that you are over a hollow area, but beyond that (and the lightness), I have found very little tonal evidence that the construction of the body has changed so radically under the Maple top.  The general standard of construction is quite good, but not without faults. The first that I noticed on close inspection is that there is some rough finishing a couple millimetres on either side of the neck on the top of the body, beyond this, the green metallic finish is excellent, including up along the side of the headstock where many people complain of “orange peel” finishing issues. Interestingly the green metallic colour still allows the grain of the wood to show thorough, if faintly, which is particularly apparent looking at the back. It is a lovely expanse of wood and glossy finish, completely unmarred by belt rash, as the instrument is brand spanking new. The choice of these metallic finishes for the Robot models (purple and green, and recently, red) struck me at first as very unconventional, but on reflection I realized that the first Les Pauls were all Gold in colour, so there is a historical precedent for metallic finishes on Les Pauls.  I also noticed that when I look at the heel of the neck, the shaping is distinctly non-symmetrical, with a bulge out towards the treble side of the body. I believe Gibson necks are hand-shaped in the final stages of construction, and as such are prone to subtle differences from instrument to instrument, but this is the first time I have noticed the shaping of the heel to be so lopsided.  Neither of these affects playability and the instrument plays exactly like I would expect a Les Paul to sound without the extreme heft. This is a good thing, as if the instrument is not only going to replace one instrument in my preferred guitar line-up, but several, based on its ability to quickly change between tunings, it had better sound pretty good and it should be light for comfort. I must say, in the two weeks that I have had this instrument I have used it pretty much exclusively, both at home, and at rehearsal. It is good to know that should the Tronical components completely fail me, I am still left with a well built, good sounding, if somewhat overpriced, Les Paul Studio, albeit with one very complicated tone knob Tonally I have compared it against a number of my other Gibsons, but primarily, my Wine Red 1997 Les Paul Standard. My first impressions in a direct comparison are that the Standard and the Robot sound remarkably similar. I recall hearing more difference between the two Reverse V’s I had, which were built 1 day apart, than these two instruments, which were built over a decade apart, and aside from sharing the same body shape, and pick-ups (490R & 498T) are constructed quite differently. In spite of this, a close listen does uncover subtle tonal differences. The Robot Les Paul has a bit less in the mid range and more highs which gives it a sound with more bite over the Standard, which has a tone that could be perhaps described as more throaty. All in all, it actually reminds me somewhat of the characteristic bark of a Flying V, but subtly, as if layered onto a more typical Les Paul tone. This is not a bad thing for me, as for years my primary guitar has been a trusty 1990 ‘67 R.I. Flying V, and many of my core amp tones are built around it, as such, this new Les Paul fits into my existing amp set-up even better than my Standard. Now what about that complicated Knob?  The Tronical system is a wonder of Teutonic engineering and really works quite well, but is also not without some shortcomings. The way the system works is ingenious. A set of piezo sensors built into the bridge saddles (cleverly disguised as an ABR-1 in this case) tell the system the frequency of each string. As changes are required, a signal is sent to the tailpiece and up through the strings where it is received by the tuner through the tuning peg. The information is then processed, and the alarmingly large yet somehow light tuners mechanically altering the strings to the desired pitch. Both the bridge and the Tail piece are connected to the system’s brain in the control cavity by wires that run though small holes drilled through the top of the guitar. While the bridge comes with some small Allen screws that will keep it anchored to its posts, protecting the wire connection, the tailpiece is not, and I worry that should it come off its posts, there is a risk that the connection could be disconnected. A similar set of Allen screw anchors would be useful on this component as well.  Using the core functions of selecting and switching between standard or any of the 6 other altered tunings is quite simple, however, the system will also do a number of other things, if you are willing to take the time to follow the steps as outlined in the accompanying manual (or found online at http://www.tronical.com/home/downloads) A preselected tuning (standard is default) can be tuned to, simply by pulling the Tronical knob out, and lightly strumming the strings. Don’t want standard tuning as a default? No problem. You can assign this “default” tuning it to any of your 6 other programmable altered tunings.  There are 6 other altered tunings that come pre-set with the system, specifically: “Drop D”, DADGAD, “Open G”, “Double Drop D” (a.k.a DADGBD), “Open E”, and “E flat standard” although you are able to replace any of these 6 with custom tunings of your choice, with, as it turns out, some limitations. I was somewhat surprised and disappointed to find out that each of the 6 strings has a usable range of possible frequencies that can be stored into it, effectively preventing me from loading in some of my more esoteric tunings. I contacted Gibson support to find out if the range for each saddle was fixed, or if the piezo was smart enough to be able to sense a thicker string in different positions. (i.e.: if I had the nut cut to handle it, and I put 6 low E strings in, would it accept a tuning of EEEEEE?) They were unsure, so I swapped in a thicker gage string into my A string slot (a .42) and tried to get it to accept a tune down to a low F, as that was the string which it claimed was “out of range” on my DFDFAE tuning using a normal set of 10’s. It did not read in range, so it appears they have fixed ranges.  As best I can tell these are the actual ranges the saddles with support. (This info was not provided in the manual, nor did the Gibson representative I dealt with know) E – C to G# A – F# to C# D – A# to F# G - E to B B - A to C# e - C to F# Should you not use A = 440 Hz as your reference pitch, the system can be calibrated in a range from A = 435 Hz up to A = 446 Hz, or alternately, you can manually tune to a reference pitch on a single string (say, to an off, but relative tuned piano), and then save that pitch as reference and have it apply either to the current tuning, or across all your programmed tunings. This is a well thought out and indispensable tweak mechanism that works well as well, and is very easy to set. The Tronical system also has an Intonation mode, although when I tried to use it, I found that it was quite sensitive, and very difficult to get it to read a string as properly intonated, in spite of following its directions.  The system has a “String Up” and “String Down” mode that is of questionable usefulness, as even after the system has unwound, or wound the strings there is still a reasonable amount of manual winding that needs to be done with the tuners in a disengaged mode to get the strings fully slacked to be removed or up to pitch. Tuning accuracy can be adjusted, with a trade off of increased speed with an accuracy range of 0.2 cents (most accurate) to an accuracy of within 2.5 cents (least accurate). I timed the system moving from standard tuning to DADGAD at both extremes, and there are indeed gains. When the system was set to tune to its most accurate range, the switch took 21 seconds, and when it was set to its least accurate but fastest setting, the switch took 8 seconds. As a final note on the system, I find that the tuning posts on the Tronical tuners, with its screw down pins to lock the strings, is difficult to use, and I am unsure of the benefit being gained from the pin. More vexing, the holes in the pegs are very close to the bottom of the post, so that there is really no room on the tuning pegs to get more than 1-2 wraps around the peg using the thicker strings before the string starts to overwrap itself, which is no good for tuning stability. In order to get it to work best, you need to be very accurate in your string wrapping lest you end up with either an over wound or under wound string. I think the system would work just as well, with a more conventional tuning post.  Final thoughts. I love it. The system works well, and perhaps most importantly, it is attached to a solid, good sounding and feeling instrument. I wish it would have taken all of my tunings, but even though it doesn’t it is still going to be a very useful tool for me moving forward. So far, nothing about using this system gives me pause to take it live, and use it to replace several other guitars I would have had to bring to a gig. At the price point that the instrument is being offered, I don’t think this is going to become a crutch that leads to the next generation of guitarists failing to learn how to tune their instrument. I think it can be a useful tool for the semi-pro or pro level guitarist that uses several tunings over the course of a show or rehearsal, who do not want to be bothered with the hassle of moving around a raft of instruments. Even if this guitar does not replace a main guitar, it could always be useful to have at a show, as it can act as a back-up instrument for other guitars in a variety of tunings at the drop of a hat. I think Gibson would find that guitars equipped with the system would have broader appeal if they start to attach it to instruments with more conventional finishes.  I think the only real remaining question on my mind at this point is how well the Tronical components will hold up over time, and if they fail, how hard will it be to get replacement parts. So far everything seems to work perfectly, but I am particularly concerned with the longevity of the following components: First, the battery. I know rechargeable batteries don’t last forever, and if after several years of regular use, when I have to replace it, I do hope that it is easy to do and not terribly expensive. Second, the tuners, they work great now, but how well will they work after 10 years of use, and again, how hard will it be in a decade or more to get a replacement part? Finally, the bridge. There is some sensitive equipment in there, and this is also where I rest my palm when muting the strings. I hope it continues to work well, and resists corrosion that I have seen occur on some of my other bridges after enduring several years of my hard chugging neo-math metal / hard rock playing. So, assuming the Tronical components stand the test of time, this is one Robot I don’t fear sharing my home with. Perhaps I will get it a Roomba to keep it company.  Comment on this article? |
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