FRObotic Guitar Update

[Rip Rokken]

My boss just walked into my office to tell me he bought TWO (2) of these things! Apparently there are only going to be 4,000 made, and only 10 in my city (which are now all gone but 1 before the release date of 12/7). He figures they will be a good investment "whether they suck or not" (his words... ) One of them will not even leave the box. The other one... I'm going to break it onstage!

If you haven't seen the videos of how thing thing works, check this out... http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/Robot ... oting.aspx

I'm on my way to Guitar Center right now, as he said they still had one left...

[Rip Rokken]

Got to play it -- it's very cool! You lift the knob and twist it to select which tuning you want to play in, then just strum it every few seconds while the tuners work their magic. Once all notes on the knob light up in blue, it's in perfect tune!

Those guys at Guitar Center want me to buy that last one soooo bad, but I'm afraid I would only do it as a short-term investment. People are already listing them on eBay for much higher, and they aren't officially been released until this Friday. Opportunists! I have about 30 minutes to decide if I want it... Any advice?

Only 4,000 of this limited edition are made, and will be the only ones with this blue/silver finish. 1,000 of those went overseas. They will all be gone within 72 hours, they think, and the production models won't hit stores until late 2008.

[conversationpc]

If you can swing it, go for it. You can always get some decent money for it on Ebay.

[Rip Rokken]

If you can swing it, go for it. You can always get some decent money for it on Ebay.

I think I will.... Thanks! It's probably a safe bet... Doubt there is any way I could LOSE money on it if kept in the box, and if I change my mind in a week, I'll just return it.

[Rip Rokken]

I'm now the proud owner of one of these. Had to make a very quick decision, as there was only 1 left in the store (the other 9 sold within 48 hours), and they can't officially be handed out until Friday at 5pm. While I was there, 2 other people called asking about it. Can't lose for the decision, because I have a 30-day return policy w/o a restocking fee, and 15 months no payment AND no interest. It's not leaving the box... if I decide not to keep it, I'll return in within that 30 days, or will hang on and see what happens with it. Absolutely worst case, I get stuck with a very cool guitar.

Or maybe I'll keep it for 20 years and then sell it for $100,000!

[StevePerryHair]

I'm now the proud owner of one of these. Had to make a very quick decision, as there was only 1 left in the store (the other 9 sold within 48 hours), and they can't officially be handed out until Friday at 5pm. While I was there, 2 other people called asking about it. Can't lose for the decision, because I have a 30-day return policy w/o a restocking fee, and 15 months no payment AND no interest. It's not leaving the box... if I decide not to keep it, I'll return in within that 30 days, or will hang on and see what happens with it. Absolutely worst case, I get stuck with a very cool guitar.

Or maybe I'll keep it for 20 years and then sell it for $100,000!

I know this is unrelated, but I wondered if you got your "Secret Society" cd and what you thought?

[Rip Rokken]

I know this is unrelated, but I wondered if you got your "Secret Society" cd and what you thought?

Actually, I just got it today! That and the first of my Journey CDs, "Departure". The CD was described by the seller on Amazon as "LIKE NEW", and it's anything but... case is very rough, booklet has wear, and the CD does have some scuffing (fairly light -- nothing major). I would grade it as G to VG. Still, I'm a little ticked that it was misrepresented, but no big deal... I'll had a new case and maybe get it buffed a tad. It will be as good as it can get.

"Secret Society"... Just popped it in today and it's definitely different than "Start From The Dark", right from the first song. I did like what I heard, but for different reasons than the previous disc -- I think this will be more of a grower. In typical fashion, I got stuck on track 3, "Getaway Plan", and like it so much I'm having trouble advancing. I will try to listen straight thru tomorrow.

[StevePerryHair]

I know this is unrelated, but I wondered if you got your "Secret Society" cd and what you thought?

Actually, I just got it today! That and the first of my Journey CDs, "Departure". The CD was described by the seller on Amazon as "LIKE NEW", and it's anything but... case is very rough, booklet has wear, and the CD does have some scuffing (fairly light -- nothing major). I would grade it as G to VG. Still, I'm a little ticked that it was misrepresented, but no big deal... I'll had a new case and maybe get it buffed a tad. It will be as good as it can get.

"Secret Society"... Just popped it in today and it's definitely different than "Start From The Dark", right from the first song. I did like what I heard, but for different reasons than the previous disc -- I think this will be more of a grower. In typical fashion, I got stuck on track 3, "Getaway Plan", and like it so much I'm having trouble advancing. I will try to listen straight thru tomorrow.

Yeah, I think Start from the Dark was much better, with only about 2 songs I usually skip. Secret Society does have a few good ones though so give it a chance. Always the Pretenders, Let the Children Play, A Mother's Son, and Devil sings the Blues are all pretty good. Wish they would tour here again.

[Rip Rokken]

Yeah, I think Start from the Dark was much better, with only about 2 songs I usually skip. Secret Society does have a few good ones though so give it a chance. Always the Pretenders, Let the Children Play, A Mother's Son, and Devil sings the Blues are all pretty good. Wish they would tour here again.

Same here! Anyway, really looking forward to the rest of the disc. Heck, I think I'll pop it in right now. No, my new "Departure" disc (time to mellow out a bit). I have so many discs on the way, I won't know what to do -- 4 JSS discs, and another 6 Journey discs. Early Christmas present!

Man, these Robotic Guitar videos are funny... click here and check out the one called "Psycho" (take-off of the movie with the same name):

http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/Robot ... oting.aspx

[lowdbrent]

My boss just walked into my office to tell me he bought TWO (2) of these things! Apparently there are only going to be 4,000 made, and only 10 in my city (which are now all gone but 1 before the release date of 12/7). He figures they will be a good investment "whether they suck or not" (his words... ) One of them will not even leave the box. The other one... I'm going to break it onstage!

If you haven't seen the videos of how thing thing works, check this out... http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/Robot ... oting.aspx

I'm on my way to Guitar Center right now, as he said they still had one left...

Gibson bought a German inventors technology. There are better systems out there that are more robust and less complicated. If this non-custom-shop Les Paul is like the others they make, that thing will constantly be tuning. Anyway, Gibson is a money whore and will have other offerings. Don't buy into the hype. If you are a good player with really good tuners, then this thing is a waste. Unless you switch tunings for songs live often.

[Rip Rokken]

Gibson bought a German inventors technology. There are better systems out there that are more robust and less complicated. If this non-custom-shop Les Paul is like the others they make, that thing will constantly be tuning. Anyway, Gibson is a money whore and will have other offerings. Don't buy into the hype. If you are a good player with really good tuners, then this thing is a waste. Unless you switch tunings for songs live often.

Thanks for the info, L.B! I'm lucky to still have 30 days to make a full return. I did question the hype on their site where they offered a history of other Limited Editions for which the values had skyrocketed. My first observation was that for many of those models, only a few hundred or even less were made vs. 4,000 of this first-run guitar. The last people I would ever buy hype from is the manufacturer... haha! It's really hard to tell what will happen, especially long term, but I will keep an eye on the current response to see if it's even worth holding on to. I know one thing... my boss is a pretty smart guy, and seems to have a talent for spotting stuff like this. I did it mainly on his luck for doing so, and between he and I, we took about 1/3 of the guitars they had available at that location.

Thanks again!