 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-12-04 18:34
Interesting that Gibson says the self tuning feature is especially useful for beginners but I've never known a beginner who plays a Les Paul. And all those motors on the tuning pegs! Hardly seems a feature a Les Paul owner would appreciate. However, Ken, a tuning motor on a Click Barrel.....now there's a good idea.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2007-12-04 21:12
IIRC, Gibson has actually made a clarinet which was sold in Target stores for a while. I suppose I should say that there is a clarinet with the name Gibson on it, since I don't remember what factory made it for them...
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-12-04 22:52
Wasn't that the Henry Gibson model with the flower vase on the neck?
Bob Draznik
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Author: SolidRockMan
Date: 2007-12-05 12:47
Hard to see what the market is for this gadget. Great for beginners but most beginners don't spend $800 on their entire setup. By the time they're experienced, tuning is more or less second nature.
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Author: DougR
Date: 2007-12-05 14:33
Yeah, but this is only the initial market intro. As with all new technology, it'll come down in price as it expands into the market, and as more demand asserts itself. The demand will come partly from people with tin ears, but mostly I'd bet from people willing to pay a little more for the convenience of instant tuning (for example, so an audience doesn't have to sit through interminable tuning and re-tuning of a guitar). As miniaturization improves, the technology will probably end up being adapted to individual tuning machines, so you could theoretically have a self-tuning Martin D-28 in time, without screwing up the headstock or the appearance.
Just as an aside, I'm a little surprised nobody's yet invented a clarinet tuner that uses LEDs and clamps around the center body ring as a semi-permanent installation. It'd be switchable on/off, and small enough to sit there all the time, and you'd be able to check absolute tuning to 440 or 442 at a glance, any time, whether the horn is warm or cold.
Also as another aside (this comes from the Dept. of Arcane and Ancient Knowledge Best Left Forgotten Anyhow) Conn once upon a time (in the 70s) made guitars. Or rather, they paid a Korean company to make them, entirely out of plywood, with nice-looking wood veneers and the world's glossiest finish (shoulda been a warning right there). Unfortunately, the top wood was too thin at the bridge, and the bridges either pulled off the instrument entirely or bellied out to the point where you were playing on a dobro-esque string height after a relatively short time. They were cheap, so I bought 2. They lasted maybe a couple of years, about right for the price if you were an absolute beginner (as I was then).
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Author: stevesklar
Date: 2007-12-05 15:56
maybe the technology will propagate to beginner violins, violas, cellos ...
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Author: LeeB
Date: 2007-12-06 01:32
<<<Hard to see what the market is for this gadget.>>>
As far as professional guitarists are concerned, it would really be handy for people using a number of alternate tunings. You could automatically retune a number of strings in-between numbers.
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Author: jwiseman114
Date: 2007-12-07 15:20
Interesting that this came up here as we just had the first one come into our store. It had been in a cold truck and the guitar tech gaffed and didn't allow it to adjust to the room temperature so when he turned it on, all of the strings broke. Do you think that could happen to a self tuning clarinet (not a serious question).
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The Clarinet Pages
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