Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This from this morning's New York Times' review of the 10 best ideas of 2010:

The Guitar That Stays in Tune

In October, an engineer and a musician named Cosmos Lyles began selling EverTune, a guitar bridge that keeps the instrument from going out of tune no matter how hard its strings are strummed or bent. Self-tuning guitars have been available since the late ’80s but have failed to gain traction among players because of their complexity. Gibson’s Robot Guitar system, for example, requires a rechargeable battery to power an onboard computer and motors that retune the instrument. EverTune, however, is a purely mechanical spring-and-lever system: when a string stretches or slips, the springs apply the opposing force necessary to compensate for the shift, thus maintaining the correct tension and tuning. Lyles’s solution eluded guitar builders for decades, but he stresses that it’s not the product of wildly original thinking. “Ask any engineer how to flatten a tension curve, which is what EverTune does,” he says, “and 9 out of 10 of them will say you should use a spring-and-lever system like the one I designed.” — Tom Beaujour

It appears that the Gibson auto-tune system is the equivalent to killing a mosquito with a thermonuclear device.

Of course, I wonder how one could ever do those nice string bends that everyone does to add some character if it will keep "the instrument from going out of tune no matter how hard it's strings are strummed or bent." I suppose it depends on the response time of the system...

I like how they neglect to mention that bending the strings with this system won't change the pitch of the note being plucked. They also don't mention that if you want to fit one of these to your guitar you have to take a powerdrill to it and route out the back.

All the above, and what about the energy that this system takes away from string vibration?

jingle_jangle wrote:the equivalent to killing a mosquito with a thermonuclear device.

You mean there's actually an easier way to get rid of mosquitos?

You can use it to keep your Epi in tune

I have yet to see someone who isn't a paid mouthpiece with a big EVERTUNE advertisement infront of them using this system.

Notice as well, that no one during the entire video frets or bends a note.

paologregorio wrote:Notice as well, that no one during the entire video frets or bends a note.

Maybe this is more your video?



Kind of weird people are so negative about something they never tested
I'll make a judgement once I tested it, until then it's just another 3rd party replacement part!

Wildberry wrote:Kind of weird people are so negative about something they never tested
I'll make a judgement once I tested it, until then it's just another 3rd party replacement part!

Apparently they upgraded it, this has been floating around for some time. Regardless, it still requires that you route your guitar for it which means it's something i'll never use, and i'm not about to replace my beautiful tailpiece anyway. Of course add to all of that, the fact that I don't have trouble keeping my gear in tune.

That second video is a much better test of the bridge's capability.

I didn't mean to be overly negative about it, I just thought it odd that no one tested the system by doing bends or anything.

I won't be buying one due to the routing required, but for folks who want one, at least they know it definitely works. Thanks for posting.

Playing in-tune is so over-rated.

Bighouse wrote:Playing in-tune is so over-rated.

+1! For some people it seems to be the #1 priority. Others, not so much.

It seems that they couldn't get ANY manufacturers interested in this device, so offered it as an aftermarket item requiring major fitting...

I suspect that, in the end, Dan and Big House are closest to The Truth--to have to go through any of this nonsense is less basic musicianship and more Rube Goldberg. Learn to tune, develop your ear as much as you can, and enjoy!

Thanks for the vids!

My son has a Fender Cyclone. Has a tremolo. Can't remember the last time I had to do a neck adjustment or intonate. Stays in tune pretty darn good. I've taken a hammer to it, burned it...but not sure I'd wanna do the apparently unnecessary routes needed to install that bridge.

Actually, this was the worst problem, and it was fixed thanks to help from this forum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJJs9AKNXtM

Looks like an interesting gizzmo. I guess I don't need one. I've gotten along just fine in the past. I guess I'll continue getting along just fine in the future.
JimK