Guitar that stays in tune forever?

teleplayer

Anybody seen this?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/08/31/wolf.technovation.evertune.cnn?hpt=hp_c2

ParadoximA

Interesting - what happens when you bend a note though? If it's purely mechanical and maintains string tension, bends won't work - perhaps it has a locking mechanism too? Unlock to tune, relock to play? Google time...

teleplayer

There's lots on youtube, apparently you can bend, just got to set it up correctly.
Seems super interesting though.

ParadoximA

The official site FAQ: http://evertune.com/overview_faqs.html

First question: Can you bend notes with EverTune? Yes. ?

deefstes

You would think that a video which features a revolutionary concept that keeps your guitar in tune would show how it actually keeps a guitar in tune but no. All I'm seeing is a lot of yadda yadda, an iffy explanation like "it's based on a spring technology and constant tension" and a reference to three of the "biggest names on stage" who use the device, complete with pictures of them playing their guitars conspicuously devoid of said device.

I don't know, I'm not all that impressed just yet.

ParadoximA

I had a thorough look at it, if you want to understand how it works their website has a good explanation. Here's what's important though:

# The first is that it's expensive (at the time of writing this), $330+.
# It replaces your current bridge, so it will change your tone. (Could be for better or worse.)
# There is no trem version at the moment, but it's coming soon.
# Even once they bring in a trem version, there will only be 3 ways to set it up:
1. Bends work but whammy dives don't.
2. Whammy dives work but bends don't.
3. Neither bends nor whammy dives work, so the strings will stay in tune no matter what.
# If you set up according to their instructions, the very first bit of bending you do won't change the pitch at all, so you'll be moving the string more to get the same bend - and the feel should be quite different to what we're used to. It'll be easy enough to set up their current system so that bends are the same as what we're used to, but then the device won't be able to prevent the strings from going sharp. It will allow us to tune without a tuner though (just by looking at the motion of the device while turning a tuning peg), in a fraction of the time it would take to tune by ear.

All they need to do is modify their design so that there is a string lock/unlock mechanism between the device and the bridge, then playing will feel exactly the same as our current guitars, with the exception that all we'd need to do to tune is unlock the strings so that they "drop" bank into tune, then lock them that way again. Anyone keen to work on that? (Now that I've just blown everyone's chances on getting a patent for it...)

Hammeron

Mmmmm...no.

G-Man

It all sounds great, but what happens when you break a string on stage? Not much help then hey?

nicovlogg

I think some of you just need to get on youtube and watch the demonstration videos.. This is an amazing piece of gear. ?

Bob-Dubery

G-Man wrote It all sounds great, but what happens when you break a string on stage? Not much help then hey?

Well if you break a string and you DON'T have an Evertune bridge then what are you going to do? Either way you don't have more or less options.

ParadoximA

G-Man wrote It all sounds great, but what happens when you break a string on stage? Not much help then hey?

You replace the string as normal. Tuning it up will be faster though 'cos you just keep tuning up until you can SEE that you've tuned high enough. The big difference is that the string won't go out of tune as you play it in, as could happen with a standard guitar.

This really is a brilliant system, especially for rhythm guitars/guitarists that don't need to bend notes when playing live - and let's face it, there are a lot of those.

This video shows everything you need to know:

deefstes

I don't know hey. I've watched some videos of it and I am still very underwhelmed. However revolutionary the technology might be, could we just take it back a few steps again and answer this question;

What exactly is it about occasionally having to tune your guitar that is so unbearable that one would consider routing 6 holes into the back of your Gibson Les Paul through which you can thread your strings, slapping this very unsightly carbuncle onto your guitar and leaving gaping holes visible on the top where the saddle used to be? Nope, I'd rather leave my guitar as beautiful as it is and resign to having to occasionally tune it the old fashioned way.

Out of curiosity, what is that dreadful fret noise this Les Paul in the video has? Have these guys just not bothered to set up the guitar properly or is that an artifact from installing this Evertune?

Bob-Dubery

deefstes wrote I don't know hey. I've watched some videos of it and I am still very underwhelmed. However revolutionary the technology might be, could we just take it back a few steps again and answer this question;

What exactly is it about occasionally having to tune your guitar that is so unbearable that one would consider routing 6 holes into the back of your Gibson Les Paul through which you can thread your strings, slapping this very unsightly carbuncle onto your guitar and leaving gaping holes visible on the top where the saddle used to be? Nope, I'd rather leave my guitar as beautiful as it is and resign to having to occasionally tune it the old fashioned way.

Well exactly. You watch enough of those youtube clips and you start wondering how musicians, not to mention the poor audiences, managed to survive so long with guitars having to be tuned ?. Which, of course, is exactly what they want you to think.

Do decent, well set-up guitars actually go out of tune that badly and that often anyway?

Out of curiosity, what is that dreadful fret noise this Les Paul in the video has? Have these guys just not bothered to set up the guitar properly or is that an artifact from installing this Evertune?

Ja, I was wondering about that. It's very odd. Demonstrating this thing with a badly set up guitar that is buzzing like crazy doesn't make the contraption look any better.

Agreed about the installation as well. The pictures I've seen suggest that there's a non-trivial amount of wood to be removed. And the tone has got to change. Sure it's subjective and all that, and I'm sure they've used very good quality materials, but there's a good chance your guitar will sound different. But I think the idea is to use this with your gigging guitar, not your vintage Broadcaster.