Les Paul Robot String Up Mode

[DjimiPaij]

I went to change strings for the first time and went through the string down process.

Threaded the new strings through, cut to length, tightened posts put Powertuners back in.

Turn the MCK to the string up mode and I get a flashing yellow tuner symbol. In the manual it says this means there's a short in the circuit so make sure no strings are touching and they are all cut real short out of the post.

 

There's certainly none touching, so what could it be?

[NeoConMan]

Wow.

I dunno.

 

I think you'll find yourself kinda lonely with stuff like this until a few more of them are sold.

I know of no robot owners.

 

Email Gibson Customer Service, eh?

They are there 24/7, you may get a prompt reply.

[daveinspain]

Hmmm... Never had that problem with mine change my strings one at a time.... try unloosening the posts take the strings out and do it one at a time... ONLY THING I CAN THINK OF...

[tepidy]

Dont have a clue. I like tuning my own guitar.

[elvendio]

Silly Neo there's lot of us robot owners here (well a couple anyways). But i haven't had that problem. When removing all the strings off the robot make sure the bridge doesn't slip. There is a ribbon wire connecting to the bridge. Will it still tune up in regular mode?

[NeoConMan]

Hmmmm....

No quick and easy answers.

 

I'm watching this thread with a good deal of interest, hoping my skepticism is unfounded.

This should not be a huge mystery, any guitar owner with half a brain should be able to make it function.

If it takes a PhD to solve, or standing on your head while juggling with your feet - it's a failed product.

 

I fear the worst case scenario, immature technology, insufficiently developed, and eager buyers left with a pricey turkey.

 

Anytime a radical leap in "technology" appears, there are always consumers who encounter simple issues that dozens of engineers with millions of dollars never considered. Why does it take the real world to expose products when they turn out to be less than advertised?

 

I've been one of those unwitting victims more than I care to admit, I never liked being an R&D lab rat.

Should be either a quick, free and easy fix or Gibson riding to the rescue like a gallant knight in shining armor.

 

DP, a short in the circuit after you simply restring your guitar sounds like bad news to me.

Here's hoping you find a simple resolution to your blues.

 

Did you contact Gibson?

[Eracer_Team]

I thought there were plastic isolators in the bridge, so don't rule out the bridge shorting out the string.

[DjimiPaij]

OH MY GOD.

 

I tried the advice of stringing one by one, that didn't work.

 

I phoned Gibson, and explained the issue. He mentioned about making sure strings aren't touching etc., however more interestingly he said to make sure ball-ends are all the way in the tail-piece. I did wonder about this because I'm a stickler to manuals and documents and it says funnily enough they recommend Gibson strings - well I'd bought me some Gibson LP strings. They have a red stringy winding near the ball end and I did think it made things a little awkward. The Gibson guy got the irony so I said I'd try some Ernie Ball Slinkys I had that are metal all the way through.

 

Put one in, tried the individual string-up, still got a flashing tuner symbol.

Ah well, I ploughed on putting them all in to try them all at once. I went for the group string-up mode and then... some success! The two E strings started being whirred around by the powerhead tuners. Then the A and B strings... going fine until they stopped and there was a flashing white tuner symbol. On inspection, the space between strings up at the headstock is pretty marginal and some were touching. So I remove the D string and individually string up the A. Worked fine. Same with the D string.

 

Then, I tried the B string and I had a flashing white tuner symbol because it was touching the G string (I thought there was enough space between them which is why I hadn't taken one out). Took the G string out, and set the B string for individual string-up. Whirring away, I thought it was going fine until SNAP! My left eye nearly gets taken out (seriously) as the broken B string flies around. With my remaining eyesight I could see the little bit of string shrapnel from the other side of the tuning post somewhere on the body, and, more critically, the little white plastic or ceramic cone thing for the G string from the neck side of the tail piece has popped out.

 

I've tried the Gibson hotline, but I've been cut off twice mysteriously. Maybe they know what's coming?

Well they're lucky I don't think I'm hurt. Can you imagine the lawsuit? All future Robots would have to carry a health warning about wearing goggles.

 

I'm not amused. I actually don't mind the robot electronics being new and maybe not perfect, but what is disappointing is that I don't actually think the fit and finish in places for a guitar of this price (or even a normal LP Studio's price) is good enough. As far as I can tell, although it is less intricate, my Yamaha Pacifica 112 is superior in this respect. I am royally p1ssed about nearly losing an eye though, what with generally enjoying seeing stuff and all.

 

If the promo videos are anything to go by, maybe the Robot really has a mind of it's own. I was wearing a t-shirt with the Ghost In The Machine logo of The Police on it, and we all know what guitars Andy Summers plays in that band.

In future, I think I'll be buying PRS, Hamer or G&L, if not the big F.

[niemepet]

DjimiPaij, I had same experience. First the strings didn't string-up. I read the manual and saw that strings can't touch each other. I tight the strings, so that they aren't touching. Wow, it start to string those up.

 

The highest e string didn't go tight enough. It's loose. So I order Robot (with the MCK) to check if some string is loose. It start to check - seven seconds later, *SNAP* and the highest e string was near my eye.

 

I took another e string and order MCK to tighten it. It's also stay loose. I wind it manually to close and tune the guitar.

 

Now it is ok - except 6th string (the lowest e) is buzzing up to 7th fret, because I drop the strings from "sky high" to near the fretboard.

 

Now I have decided to change this guitar to another brand, because I can't stand this kind of features. Not on the guitar in this price category. ^_^

[FreedomStain]

C'mon Neo. How can you say that Gibson has released premature technology? Gibson claims they have been working on the Robot for the better part of a decade. We all know that Gibson would never lie about the reliability of a new product to turn a profit in a competitive market. They would also never release several limited editions of a product to encourage sales. NEVER.

[Bluemoon]

Now I have decided to change this guitar to another brand' date=' because I can't stand this kind of features. Not on the guitar in this price category. [/quote']

 

It's not the brand, nor it is the guitar. It is the stupid technology. Why would you want a self-tuning guitar. It is really that hard to string your own guitar and either tune by ear or with the help of a guitar tuner. I guess I don't get why people would want this.

 

The more technology you put into anything, the more likely things are going to go wrong. Take a modern car. One of the first things to go is the electronics.

 

Perhaps you should trade in your Robot for a LP with less bells and whistles.

[NeoConMan]

I asked my dealer about this issue today.

He kinda laughed.

 

I asked him if he knew anything about them, he replied that he did not - and doesn't want to.

They refused to carry them though their Gibson factory rep was pushing them to buy a few.

 

The only thing he would say is that Gibson isn't pushing him so hard to sell them now, maybe they aren't moving well.

 

I asked a few hypothetical questions about the tuning, his remarks were less than kind.

He said Gibson is pushing the guitar for beginners. Well, beginners don't buy $1,500 guitars.

Gibson said they were for technology/gadget/gizmo types. They're busy playing Guitar Hero.

 

He predicts they aren't destined for a long production run, and that a beginner should KNOW how to tune a guitar.

I agreed with him on that one point for sure.

 

I'm so spoiled with an electronic tuner, it's a real pain in the *** to tune by ear. When my guitar sounds a little off, I simply step on the tuner and do what the little lights tell me to do without giving any thought to which string was out.

 

In the early seventies, Chevrolet built a car called the Vega with an aluminum engine. Remember that?

Aluminum engines are common now, but that first one....

[niemepet]

 

It's not the brand' date=' nor it is the guitar. It is the stupid technology. Why would you want a self-tuning guitar. It is really that hard to string your own guitar and either tune by ear or with the help of a guitar tuner. I guess I don't get why people would want this.

 

The more technology you put into anything, the more likely things are going to go wrong. Take a modern car. One of the first things to go is the electronics.

 

Perhaps you should trade in your Robot for a LP with less bells and whistles.

[/quote']

 

Yes, I know it is not the brand because there are so many people that likes Gibson guitars. It's just me. I had a Les Paul which I trade to this Robot. Which wasn't a very bright idea. But anyway, I didn't play that Les Paul very much because I have other guitars that I play a lot.

 

Maybe someday I'll buy another Gibson, but for now it's out of my guitar rack. It seems that they don't fit my glove.

[DjimiPaij]

 

It's not the brand' date=' nor it is the guitar. It is the stupid technology. Why would you want a self-tuning guitar. It is really that hard to string your own guitar and either tune by ear or with the help of a guitar tuner. I guess I don't get why people would want this.

 

The more technology you put into anything, the more likely things are going to go wrong. Take a modern car. One of the first things to go is the electronics.

 

Perhaps you should trade in your Robot for a LP with less bells and whistles.

[/quote']

 

There will always be people resistant to new technology. In some respects, I'm one of them, for example I plain refuse to own a mobile (cellular) phone.

However, there will always be advances in technology that will make things easier that people just won't adopt. Look at cars, nowadays automatic gearboxes will shift faster, get you more miles per gallon and get you from 0-60 faster than a manual gearbox, yet there are people who will still insist that changing their own gears makes a better experience. Some people hang onto film cameras. Vinyl never disappeared.

Same as in the future when (hopefully) this self-tuning technology is more widespread and more robust, the idea of having an axe that can go into DADGAD et al tunings in seconds and string itself up quickly will become a normal mainstream thing, while at the same time guitarists will still be able to tune by ear if they choose too.

New technology in our capitalist market driven world just gives us more choice.

 

For now, it's just disappointing it's not quite there yet, but I applaud Gibson for the innovation. That's why I bought it and probably why some of us choose to buy Gibsons and not Tokais.

[NeoConMan]

Hah!

I have 500 lp's still!

 

I don't know how old you are, but automatic transmissions from 50 years ago were unreliable, inefficient, horribly expensive, and lasted maybe 50,000 miles if you pampered them.

 

By the seventies they were more durable and cheaper to repair.

By the eighties they were making great strides in life expectancy and performance.

Took a long time, and millions and millions repaired.

 

There's all sorts of automotive things I won't own.

Many because they are unneeded, many because they aren't worth the cost, and some good ones that are just too expensive when they fail.

I will not own a sunroof/T-top/convertible (Leaks, theft, noise, maintenance....)

I will not own a front-wheel drive car (ever pull a transmission out of one?)

I will not own a manual transmission (with autos as good as they are now)

I will not own all wheel drive cars because it never snows here (There must be a million awd cars in Phoenix!)

I have 4wd on only MY truck, not my wife's.

I never add big stupid wheels and tires or jack up/lift/drop/lower anything.

I add no spoilers or ground effects or stupid sh!t that forces you to drill holes in perfectly good sheet metal.

 

I always get way over 100,000 miles from my vehicles with minimal cost because I avoid problems up front.

Our 19 year old is still walking because he can't keep a vehicle running and insured...

 

 

 

Any new technology has to work.

If it's a piece of sh!t, it's a piece of sh!t.

Doesn't matter how much you like it, doesn't matter how much you spent on it, it HAS to work.

 

I hope your robot issues are minor and soon solved, but if it doesn't work...

 

I feel for you, I really do.

[DjimiPaij]

NCM, hmm, I can understand what you're saying but I'm not exactly sure of the point you're making.

Anything man-made fails at some point, even your bestest Lexus saloon with its 8-speed auto gearbox.

 

As for the Robot, well I took it back to the store I got it from and explained what happened. After a bit of chin-scratching they had a go at mending the tailpiece by sticking the white cone shaped thingy back in. One of the guys was supposed to be quite au fait with Robots, and he tried to restring it after that, initially by manually winding it a reasonable amount, at which point I said no, it should be able to string-up by itself as it's supposed to. So I got it started on the individual wind-up, covering my eyes with my arm. It went on ok. And so did the others. Relieved to see that it is capable of working, I was secretly wanting it to have to go back to Gibson. In the manual it mentions a way of checking the software update your Robot has. I don't know how this gets updated if Gibson don't do it.

 

Seems like things aren't so bad, apart from a buzz on the D string caused by what the tech thinks is a too low nut groove making it hit the first fret when plucked hard. He recommended a blob of glue there next time the strings are off.

So I'll try and play it more often so I can get through some more string changes and see what happens.

I've also come to the conclusion that tuners in a line is a superior arrangement.

Yep, come on Gibson, bring out a Firebird V Robot.

[NeoConMan]

I'm not exactly sure of the point you're making.

Keep it simple!

As simple as possible anyhow...

 

I should have added, my one concession is tube amps instead of solid state.

I'll accept the maintenance needs as they arise.

:-)

 

Glad it's working, glad you learned more about it!