THIS COULD BE A BOON TO RESTRINGING?

[Ken Byng]

This device looks really interesting. Automated string tuners been available for several years, but as with all technology it moves on. I am away from home for a couple of weeks, but when I return I'm going to look into the practicalities of using this for pedal steel. If sweetened tunings can be kept in the memory of this device it would be a fantastic way forward.

https://cloud.video.taobao.com/play/u/1 ... 500733.mp4

[Gretschnut]

Very interesting Ken. Further feedback and costs would be useful.

[Donny Johnston]

Looks good, I look forward to what you find out Ken.

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Amazon have it at £129

[Zebedee]

This gadget is probably destined for the bin, along with all the other 'must have' steel goodies, so save yourself some time, and bin it immediately that it arrives

[simon_f3]

This gadget is probably destined for the bin, along with all the other 'must have' steel goodies, so save yourself some time, and bin it immediately that it arrives

I decided at the start of this year that I would try to avoid distractions (I can easily spend hours online trying to find certain gadgets) in order to spend more time just sat at the guitar with the [perfectly adequate] kit that I already have. My playing is still clunky, but it's less clunky than it used to be

Ken, I'd be really interested to hear how you get on if you end up with one of these, and especially regarding the spec. as to whether or not it could cope with sweetened tunings. How does it compare with the likes of a Peterson strobe tuner in terms of cost? That may be my next investment, although as previously stated I think my playing may need to get to a level where being in tune makes a significant difference to the overall outcome!

Thanks for posting - it was a very interesting video, and good to see how technology is moving forward.

[Danny Mitchell]

The cost looks much the same as the Peterson HD.
Tremendous concept, and I look forward to seeing if it gets adopted by the steel community. I had a shuffty at the specs, and it mentions a 2 cent accuracy, which I think may not be accurate enough for the demands of our beloved instrument.
After a long period of distraction over the tuning, I got a Peterson, and spent some time tweaking it to my own preference. I'm finally over that hump (now any current tuning issues spring from my bar hand.)

[Ken Byng]

I haven't indicated that I am going to purchase one of these devices, but I will keep an open mind. The lead guitarist in a band the I play in has a smart string winder and he loves it. At the moment when re-stringing, I use an Ernie Ball battery powered string winder in conjunction with a Peterson tuner. The automated string winder is a combination of powered winder and tuner, but I am trying to find out whether it can be customised to tune a complex instrument such as a pedal steel. I suspect not, but if it can get a newly wound string in the ball park area for the player to then fine tune it with a conventional tuner then it may worth consideration for some.

Back in the 70's most of us in the UK were using tuning forks to tune our steels. We'd seen adverts of the latest tuning devices in steel guitar magazines, but the first time some of us actually saw one at close hand was when I brought Maurice Anderson to the UK to do a series of seminars. He brought over a fully chromatic quartz tuner, and we thought it looked like something from Jodrell Bank! When we saw the ease and precision that a steel guitar could be tuned (even in a noisy environment), we had to have one. There were still diehards here who poo pooh'd the idea of reliance on a gadget to assist them in their tuning procedure, and stuck to their tried and tested method of tuning fork and their ear.

The Roadie 2 can be purchased direct from the Chinese supply chain for $139.99 inc free shipping, and a similar unit made by VertecHNK is $53.59 inc free shipping. If the exchange rate was better against the US dollar, I would buy the latter one on spec. I buy lots of bits and pieces direct from Chinese factories, and apart from having to wait 3 or 4 weeks, it's a painless process. My next move is to contact the manufacturers to see if their units can retain a sweetened tuning in their memories.

[RonMc]

Interesting, it would be beneficial to know if it would retain 'sweetened' settings and how sensitive it was to ambient noise, it doesnt appear to have a direct input, I can also agree somewhat with Richards 'bin' solution as my bin is crammed with indispensable gadgets I've bought over the years (probably one of the reasons I cant move in the workshop aka shed)

[Mr W]

Makes me think of my old gigging days when you arrived at the venue to discover Jed Ford needed you to back him. He would come over to the band with his Guitar and ask who was the best musician. We would all point to the drummer.