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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/29/2008
Posts: 105
Location: Finland
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Soon is the first year birthday for "GOR upgrade announcement"... Anyone heard anything about it? Is there gonna be more tunings? When it will be in the stores? Gibson Robot Les Paul 1st Run
Epiphone ES-295
Duesenberg Rocket II
Fender VG Stratocaster
Gretsch White Falcon LTV
Landola SD-11CE
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Rank: Member of the Month  Joined: 1/26/2009 Posts: 864 Location: Great Britain
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I wonder if Tronical can help here a tall? Matt
My Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/mattsuzoMy Myspace Page www.myspace.com/matthewsear75
Need something transcribed? E mail sear.1200@ntlworld.com for a quote. Transcriptions sent by post/email
Endorsee of Middleton classical guitars (UK), www.rikmiddletonclassicalguitars.co.uk
and Turkington steel strung guitars (UK). Classical/acoustics by Middleton, Contreras, Turkington, Johnson & Ibanez. Electric guitars by Gibson, Epiphone, Fender & Grestch Japan.
日本のギターはロックしている！(Japanese Guitars rock!)
Amps- Laney (VC-15), Peavey JSX head with Marshall 1960 A cab, Epiphone valve junior, Fender Champion and Ashdown AV-1
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Rank: Member  Joined: 9/13/2009 Posts: 28 Location: NYC
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I contacted them their reply was "its all up to Gibson" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Klaushouz Gibson 2008 Metallic Red Robot Les Paul ESP 1984 Custom Blueburst Strat with bananna headstock and EMG Alnico pickups Dan-Electro Silverburst single cutaway Wechter 3101 T Black thin-line Acoustic Wechter Elite Pathmaker Acoustic Gibson 1921 C - 3 mandolin Epiphone Mandobird VIII (Firebird) Mandolin 1951 reissue Fender Champion 600 5 Watt tube amp Mesa Boogie DC-5 50 watt 1 x 12 amp Marshall 800 series lead 50 watt 1x 12 amp 1977 Lab Series L - 5 100 watt amp with Celestion greenbacks Digitech 2120 Tube Valve Guitar Effects system Boss BCB 6 Pedal board with Slow Gear Pedal
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Rank: Member  Joined: 12/27/2008 Posts: 23
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Hey all,
Ok, I called Gibson today (Monday 26th Oct) about upgrading the GOR. Roger sent me an E-mail.
Here's what he wrote:
"I am told they are able to do the Darkfire upgrade now. We will need to set up a return authorization to bring your guitar in for the upgrade. "
I actually thought you could buy the kit. And do the upgrade yourself. He didn't mention what the upgrade included but I'm guessing it's just the smaller tuners. I was hoping it would also be the longer life battery. As for how much it would cost... He didn't say. I'll try to find that out.
-Tom
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 10/25/2009
Posts: 7
Location: earth
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I received this response to my query from Tronical, does not bode well for the GOR upgrade, unless their was a mis-commucniation. I asked if it would be possible to upgrade the GOR to Dark Fire Tuner Type. Maybe Tronical can clarify here.
From Tronical...
" we are sorry to say that such an upgrade is not possible because the Robot 1 has DC engines and the Dark Fire has got stepper engines."
Best regards
Stephanie Meins
Tronical GmbH
Alsterdorfer Str. 50b
D-22299 Hamburg – Germany
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Rank: Member Joined: 12/27/2008 Posts: 23
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From Tronical...
" we are sorry to say that such an upgrade is not possible because the Robot 1 has DC engines and the Dark Fire has got stepper engines."
If that statement is true there would be no way to upgrade the GOR at all.
-Tom
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Rank: Member
Joined: 5/23/2009
Posts: 13
Location: Hamburg
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Re:
" ..we are sorry to say that such an upgrade is not possible because the Robot 1 has DC engines and the Dark Fire has got stepper engines..."
This was an email reply by Tronical on the question, whether only the RoboHeads should be changed to meet Dark Fire specs. The DF RoboHeads are not compatible to GOR hardware.
An upgrade is certainly possible. It requires a complete exchange of all Robotic and electronic hardware.
Tronical
You play. We tune.
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Rank: Member Joined: 12/27/2008 Posts: 23
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"This was an email reply by Tronical on the question, whether only the RoboHeads should be changed to meet Dark Fire specs. The DF RoboHeads are not compatible to GOR hardware.
An upgrade is certainly possible. It requires a complete exchange of all Robotic and electronic hardware.
Tronical
You play. We tune."
Thanks Tronical for the quick answer.
I wonder if the cost of such an upgrade ("a complete exchange of all Robotic and electronic hardware")
is worth it.
-Tom
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 12/17/2008
Posts: 175
Location: MN
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I can't imagine it would be cheap. I for one, am a little put off and a lot pissed by this statement. Originally, it was stated that upgrades would be offered. If that's not possible then Tronical should remake tuner drive motors that can be put in place of our GOR slow tuners to at least give us the faster, smaller tuners. After all, we were the first to take a gamble on the Tronical system and shouldn't be short changed because of this. They could have kept us in mind and made the new tuners smaller, but have the same hole pattern so we could install them without butchering our GOR's.
2007 Gibson Original Robot
2007 Fender Custom Shop Strat '62 Re-Issue
1961 Martin D-18
Pedalman Landgraff 818 pro
Emery Sound Superbaby
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Rank: Member Joined: 12/27/2008 Posts: 23
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NEWS FLASH!!!
I spoke with several Gibson people today. A Customer service rep, a Gibson restoration & repair person and a person from the office of Mr. Henry Juszkiewicz. The restoration & repair part of Gibson is where they do the darkfire stuff.
There seems to be some confusion about an upgrade. The customer service guy did not know. The person from the office of Mr. Henry Juszkiewicz was looking into it. I was told by the R&R guy the an upgrade was not possible because to change to the new smaller tuners you need to also change to the dark fire pots which are longer and won't fit in an SG robot which I own. I'm not sure about a LP Robot or an FV robot. I still find this puzzeling?
So if the people at Tronical read this. Please clear this up.
Question: Is it true that People who own a SG GOR will never be able to upgrade to the faster smaller tuners because the pots have to be darkfire pots and there too long to fit in a SG body cavity??? And can the people that own a LP GOR or a FV GOR get the tuner upgrade??
I think this question must be addressed. We need to know what's going on here.
-Tom
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Rank: Member
Joined: 5/23/2009
Posts: 13
Location: Hamburg
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Re: News Flash
The new and faster RoboHead tuners are completely different from GOR tuners.
They need a different contacting PCB and CPU on the headstock along with the new CPU in the body and the battery. Simply exchanging the RoboHeads wont work!!
Again, all hardware parts would need to be changed for an upgrade, including all pots, the Jack plate, the contacting PCB and CPU, Body electronics, the Battery, the RoboHeads and so on...
As for the SG its true that the longer threaded Les Paul pots wont fit in the cavity.
Besides this, as far as I know (not sure though), the upgrade was supposed to be offered for the
First Run Limited Edition customers only.
At the end you have to ask Gibson.
Tronical
You play. We tune.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/29/2008
Posts: 105
Location: Finland
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tronical.member wrote:the upgrade was supposed to be offered for the
First Run Limited Edition customers only. You are quick to answer. I was just about to write that, "I thought upgrade was 1st Run Robot only". And I remember it was because 1st Run owners "invest money" to this new technology, so we get a special offer from Gibson. Nothing is free, so that's why it is OFFER to upgrade. In the begin I thought that upgrade isn't cheap. But it has to be something VALUABLE, because we put more money to upgrade - for example more tunings. I think it's not valuable enough, if it is only that the tuners are few seconds faster. But anyway, I'm waiting upgrade information with good feelings. If the upgrade isn't my cup of tea (=only faster tuning), I'm still happy, because I'm very pleased to my 1st Run Robot. Thank you Tronical!!! Gibson Robot Les Paul 1st Run
Epiphone ES-295
Duesenberg Rocket II
Fender VG Stratocaster
Gretsch White Falcon LTV
Landola SD-11CE
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 10/25/2009
Posts: 7
Location: earth
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Just a further clarification, my question was indeed regarding changing the tuning heads to the newer type and Tronical was both very fast and informative to reply (thank you Tronical) albeit probably not the answer we wanted to hear, especially the SG Robot owners :-(
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Rank: Member of the Month Joined: 1/26/2009 Posts: 864 Location: Great Britain
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Dear Tronical Thanks for all your input. Will a replacement kit, not an upgrade kit be available soon? My Robot works fine and dandy, but it wont forever, so I am thinking ahead Cheers Matt
My Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/mattsuzoMy Myspace Page www.myspace.com/matthewsear75
Need something transcribed? E mail sear.1200@ntlworld.com for a quote. Transcriptions sent by post/email
Endorsee of Middleton classical guitars (UK), www.rikmiddletonclassicalguitars.co.uk
and Turkington steel strung guitars (UK). Classical/acoustics by Middleton, Contreras, Turkington, Johnson & Ibanez. Electric guitars by Gibson, Epiphone, Fender & Grestch Japan.
日本のギターはロックしている！(Japanese Guitars rock!)
Amps- Laney (VC-15), Peavey JSX head with Marshall 1960 A cab, Epiphone valve junior, Fender Champion and Ashdown AV-1
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Rank: Member
Joined: 5/23/2009
Posts: 13
Location: Hamburg
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Sear,
I think this can only be answered by Gibson.
The replacement will be the upgrade, all other would make no sense.
Its true though, 18 tuning presets, all good for storing customized tunings + 1 standard tuning, along with calibration, intonation and reference tuning features, smaller and much faster RoboHeads AND the chameleon package as an add on... that would be really an upgrade!!
This is reasonable to put more money in!
Again, the decision is up to Gibson.
Tronical
You play. We tune.
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 10/25/2009
Posts: 7
Location: earth
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Dear Tronical, it has been stated above here on this forum that the darkfire system - if ever offered as an upgrade by Gibson (at least the tuning system, not chameleon sound) to GOR owners - simply will not physically fit in the SG Robot body. Can you provide some further info on this? What is the tolerance/clearance for the darkfire electronics. Is it a matter of a "really close" that it might work with some minor routing of the body cavity on an SG?
Thanks very much.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/29/2008
Posts: 105
Location: Finland
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Thousand thanks Tronical to clarify this. This is a very good news to me. I guessed it's Gibson's decision in a "last mile", but I'm ready to put money in! That package is worth of it!!! I believe and hope the Gibson's decision is right. Let's wait... Gibson Robot Les Paul 1st Run
Epiphone ES-295
Duesenberg Rocket II
Fender VG Stratocaster
Gretsch White Falcon LTV
Landola SD-11CE
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Rank: Member of the Month Joined: 1/26/2009 Posts: 864 Location: Great Britain
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Cheers Tronical Please call me Matt my new amigoxxxx
My Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/mattsuzoMy Myspace Page www.myspace.com/matthewsear75
Need something transcribed? E mail sear.1200@ntlworld.com for a quote. Transcriptions sent by post/email
Endorsee of Middleton classical guitars (UK), www.rikmiddletonclassicalguitars.co.uk
and Turkington steel strung guitars (UK). Classical/acoustics by Middleton, Contreras, Turkington, Johnson & Ibanez. Electric guitars by Gibson, Epiphone, Fender & Grestch Japan.
日本のギターはロックしている！(Japanese Guitars rock!)
Amps- Laney (VC-15), Peavey JSX head with Marshall 1960 A cab, Epiphone valve junior, Fender Champion and Ashdown AV-1
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 11/2/2009
Posts: 3
Location: London
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tronical.member wrote:Re: News Flash
The new and faster RoboHead tuners are completely different from GOR tuners.
They need a different contacting PCB and CPU on the headstock along with the new CPU in the body and the battery. Simply exchanging the RoboHeads wont work!!
Again, all hardware parts would need to be changed for an upgrade, including all pots, the Jack plate, the contacting PCB and CPU, Body electronics, the Battery, the RoboHeads and so on...
As for the SG its true that the longer threaded Les Paul pots wont fit in the cavity.
Besides this, as far as I know (not sure though), the upgrade was supposed to be offered for the
First Run Limited Edition customers only.
At the end you have to ask Gibson.
Tronical
You play. We tune.
It sounds like this "upgrade" would be like a whole new system! As far as I understand Tronical started out selling the PowerTune as a "modular system that could be retrofitted without the need for destructive rebuilding or re-working". Then Gibson bought the exclusive rights in 2007 and the press anouncements at that time said that Gibson would continue to sell it as a retrofit kit as well as make some guitars with it fitted. Then came the Robot models and then Dark Fire, but we still have not seen the retrofit kit up for sale from Gibson. I guess my point is that the stand alone kit for any Les Paul would not be very different to a Les Paul Robot upgrade kit and I would love to buy one to retrofit to my Les Paul Custom. Let's hope we see this available soon!
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Rank: Member
Joined: 5/23/2009
Posts: 13
Location: Hamburg
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Re: "It sounds like this upgrade would be like a whole new system!"
Thats correct, its a whole new system.
Its also correct that it has always been a "rule" for Tronical to design a modular system that could be retrofitted without the need for destructive rebuilding or re-working. If for some reason there is the need to remove the system and put in regular hardware to get a "regular" guitar, it would be possible.
The Original Robot System was designed to fit different models like LP, SG, FV , Explorer and so on...
The Dark Fire is a complete new design for Les Paul models only.
For example, the electronic cavity of the SG models is way less deep than the LP cavity. Also, the Toggle switch is located in this cavity, too. The new design of the Dark Fire System does not fit for SG.
It may be possible by moving the toggle to the LP toggle position, and by using short threaded pots...
Very likely that there are other points which I am not aware of at the moment!
All of this requires major routing work... I would call that "destructive".
Tronical
You play. We tune.
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