I Can't Believe I'm Defending the Gibson Darkfire! 

I’m with you!! I think this guitar tech came too soon before the technology was refined and reliable. If it was done today, I truly think it would be a whole other experience and that the tuners wouldn’t be massive. Part of me has hoped they’d try this again for the younger crowd - like 40’s and younger. Boomers are generally less accepting of change and innovation. The rest of us could actually benefit. The Roadie 3 Tuner is a similar concept that works with any guitar and isn’t built in. It’s extremely useful. I always hope a guitar company will reach out to them for a built-in solution - or better yet, maybe they’ll create their own replacement tuners. That Roadie 3 thing reminds me of the NASCAR pit crew. It tunes perfectly, and best yet, it also stores all the tunings you could want for a boatload of guitars, has a metronome, and helps get strings on and off the guitar super fast. I had the first two versions, and Roadie 3 is light years ahead of v1. I am totally excited to see what Roadie 4 will be capable of. Yep, so I’m with you. When the tech works, it is extremely useful. When it doesn’t, you get a free guitar. Seems like a win-win! I never used one of these guitars, but I know people who have. They are dope. I hope a company will try to do this concept again.

Consumer: "Gibson doesn't do anything to innovate, they just always play by the numbers". Gibson: "Hey friends here's some innovation" Consumer: "We hate it!" 🤦‍♂

You almost had me ready to buy one until the reliability thing came up. Love the versatility but I prefer having a reason to have so many guitars - "because of all the tunings"! ROCK ON BENNY!!

Great informative video bro. I really enjoyed it. Cheers from NZ 😎🤘🎸

Benny, thanks for your passion on this media. You have reignited the fire in my heart for music again. I had a 1/2 ride to a college out of HS for music but I went Army in 1990. I steadily pulled away from music in my life over the course of the next three decades. Seeing your fire about music and the honest takes you try to bring across made me want to get back in again. Listened to Lost Symphony and went out and bought an Epiphone LPS2 to dive in again. Thank you for bringing me back, and thank you for all you do, sir!

I get it can replace all the different guitars on a set but a wise man once said “changing to your secondary is always faster than reloading”

Grammar always counts! lol I had one for a short while. Got rid of it for another reason. I was worried though the battery would eventually not hold a charge. I see you addressed it in the vid. Love your attitude man. Keep up the great work!

I bought my Dark Fire in 2009 because I wanted a Les Paul and I'm a bit of a techno geek and loved the idea. I played it in the shop and loved it but when I got it home I found out that the MCK didn't spring back as it should when given a light press, I took it back and it was repaired(ish), but I still love it. And the battery still works, great tip for a replacement though.

Did you ever try the variax? The piezo works for modeling and alternate tunings.. no phone functionality but the variax facebook group figured out how to use midi to control it all..

These will be so rare at some point they will be highly collectible. I just love the pickup combo, the multi-function selector switch, the red and ebony and carbon etc. Tuning, ok, if it works. Hope the grammar is ok in this comment. 😂

I really loved this videos since i do own a Dark Fire but never figured out exactly how to use the chameleon tones or the Gibson Rip. Plus i don't feel so bad anymore for having one ❤

Even if you use a tuner, you still have to learn how your tuning pegs feel which is a good skill to develop. And most teachers encourage students to tune the first string then use their ears to tune the rest via the 5th fret etc or natural harmonics. But aside from standards tuning, this this is sick for alternate tunings. I would be experimenting so much more on different tunings with this!

Ben..a nice diversion fm all te war news plying around...all i can say ' each one of tos looks bomb, absolute eye candy 🤘🤘Rock on 🤘

I don't care whether its electronics or tuning work or not, the black binding on that Les Paul is beautiful looking. Love the headstock, wish those guitars were offered with normal hardware.

Hi Man. Just discovered your channel and I love it. Funny thing, I actually DID smash my Gibson Dark Fire one night, screaming and bashing it on the floor as hard as I could, 5 or 6 times in a row, with my girlfriend crying next to me, begging me to stop, and you know what ? THE GIBSON DARK FIRE IS VERY HARD TO BREAK !!! I felt really stupid afterwards, because now it's broken, but I doesn't look like it's broken. I didn't get the Pete Townshend effect... at all... I miss this guitar. I hope I'll get it fixed one day... Thanks for your review man.

I have never used the Robotuners but I want to experience this, I have seen them on Ebay now and again and fancy buying a set, can you get access to the wiring to change the power socket to a standard one?

Great video. The Darkfire guitar's only flaw was it was released way ahead of it's time. The looks and sound are amazing on this guitar, there hasn't been anything released by Gibson that looks remotely this good. Is lightweight too. Electronics aside, if you are lucky enough to find one and not deal with the robot tuners it can be modified and you will have a standard kick @ss one of a kind Gibson. Side note, Fender released the "VG" guitar in 2007 with similar features that were also too advance for some folks. Though that Fender VG guitar doesn't rely on robot tuners but on synth technology from Yamaha that gives you 25 guitars at the turn of a dial including 12 string acoustic or electric and all types of alternate tunings that sound real. There is zero down time, just turn the knob and ready to go.... the best thing about that guitar is they used an American standard Fender body/neck as the base which is the equivalent of a Professional II tier. In other words, if you can find one snag it as you will be paying less than half for the same quality built with a ton of features. Fender just recently released a similar guitar the acoustasonic and it has been well received.. .weird how it is the same exact concept packaged in different guitar. I hope Gibson revisits the robot guitars and releases something similar because they were onto something great.

Hello, I'm from Italy I also have a dark fire and I removed all the crap , one thing I'd like to know from you , how do you cope with the Neck P90H pickup? I really don't like it , really too dark and "nasal". Thinking bout swapping it to a regular P90 , what would you put instead of it?

If anyone is even remotely interested in something like this, I highly recommend checking out the Line 6 James Tyler Variax models. They can do alternate tuning modeling at the flip of a switch, instead of physically tuning the strings. It also models acoustic guitars, strats, LPs, banjos, sitars, and a ton more.

I actually like the dark fire! I was bummed when they stopped making it. Also, there’s a business opportunity somewhere in there with those Dark Fire Amazon Battery adapters

Love that look .....Robot is a funky idea.....it's innovative.....but remember most of us guitar players are stuck in .....how many windings are in a 50s PAF.......love the look but I would gut it and change the parts

Had no idea this existed. Well, than again I don’t play electric but holy shit I want one now. Subbed. You made me laugh. Thanks dude

Took me two years to find a dark fire. These are becoming highly collectable and sought after

Listen my friend, i love when the traditional companies work to innovate. Fenders eccentric neck carves or these robot tuners appeal to me. Do things differently and bring new fans to the fold. Love this guitar. As strange and inefficent as it can be, i love the effort. And i love the guitar. Thank you for the perspective.

19:00 Perfect Intonation.........(unlike a certain Les Paul Supreme)😉👍

Well that makes me excited that soon I can just auto tune my guitar and can just really quickly set it would save me so much time when I want to record like 3 cords... now if I can get this on my Viola lol

I own the successor 2010 Les Paul Limited Edition in the Fireball finish. Awesome looking guitars and the Piezo Pickup with the blend knob in the TogPot Switch are great. But the tuning feature and the voicing options are rubbish. Hence, I removed the Tronical E-Tune Tuners and use it with regular Klusons.

Great guitar man with some tweaks on the electronics this will be a life saver on gigs its better than its previous model(robot guitar). Great invention. Great video man thanks for the info.

I cut the plug off the original Tronical battery and soldered it to a Samsung camera battery!! Worked an absolute treat and still fits comfortably.

Nice video! I always learn something when I watch a video here or on your website. Thanks!💙

Maybe a dumb question but can you set it somehow to reatune automatically when by just quickly pressing the button or even during playing? During playing would be magic to be frank because the guitar won't be able to know which fret you're at... but maybe it could ... it does know the string so it would know the base frequency and since frets are fixed it could calculate the "nex plausible" frequnecy it should be at but that would be wild lol.

Damn fine video! Thanks.

Cool! I'd love one. Especially that blue one

What a great Video. I have no doubt that somewhere in Gibson (or another manufacturer or probably just at apple) that some one just went ah when you said if I can go on my phone and make it do this. That they are now in creation of exactly what you said. I would go as far as to say they should come out with a guitar The Neurotic model and make you the spokesman, because of this video I am looking for this exact guitar and looking for a new model that they may have released Or someone has released. Being a new guitar player this is perfect for some one who just wants to get lost in their basement and enjoy the last 60 years of music, no gigging no jamming just have fun in your basement in fantasy land in front of 30,000 make believe fans in your mind as you rock out to your favourite tunes on a Saturday night. Thank you for your honest video on this guitar nice to see a video that isn't just going for clicks and likes. I also didn't use to or too in this excerpt as I didn't want to be part of your next video lol. kidding of course. (no I'm not I'm too bashful) Thanks again loved the video. and yes I did push the like button and did subscribe. your newest fan. cheers

Where can I buy these I hate tuning my guitar

You also need to have great eyesight to see the knob so you can select your options. Do you remember the Photon pickup system? Henry was big on that too. It did work but for most guitarists, getting into midi and synth modules at the time was counter intuitive to buying more guitars. The Photon had its glitches too. I’d love to hear your take on that system from Gibson. Basic Hammond organ stuff was fun. It didn’t track like it was advertised. 😂

Man... the less batteries the better.

Dude…you make great videos 👍

Another killer video. Thx man.

Never came across one them. I saw one for sale guy wanted waaaaaay to much. I had a 15 standard with the “auto tune” system. Meh. The specs on the 15s were top notch though. I did my LP black beauty the same as Jerry Cantrell piezo power bridge and a blend. It rocks

I never has an issue with the idea. I think the issue is that gibson made every model a robot guitar during that period when really there should have been a traditional range and futuristic range. Which ironically, they went onto do lol Please do a video on that All Wood LP

I’ve got a 2015 Les Paul Junior, that had the mini tune robot tuner on it. It wasn’t until this year I actually replaced that back some Manual tuners I really enjoyed how easy it was for band practice or on my own. But recording I found it wasn’t accurate enough and then manually tuning threw it out of whack

Wish a pedal steel guitar was made that would tune itself. I'm moderately tone deaf and listening for vibrations to slow to a minimum sometimes takes several minutes let alone the 433 to 440 pitch differences on some strings, pedals and levers. Then the bar position is another problem so I have to be sure I stay on pitch even tho I can't hear the difference until the vibration gets fast.

it strips the tuner if you use it manually?

I usually change strings or guitars to change tuning... TY for confirming by your story that these are fancy trash for people with more money than sense.

I have 18 guitars in different tunings, I just can't remember which one is which. Notice I didn't say "witch one is witch". Respect!

Great video, great energy. It seems your detractors in the comments are mostly purists and folks who can’t be bothered with little things like the difference between “then” and “than”. I think this guitar is an awesome concept which Gibson simply doesn’t have the QC to make into a reliable gigging machine. Oddly, a company like Ibanez (with its swirly paint jobs and monkey grips) could probably make a gig-ready version of something like this guitar, but THEY are too “traditional” (and shrewd) to do so.

Dig the locking cord mechanism too. Much better design then it's prior

ive ben tuning my guitar by ear since i was a teenager..

I love the idea. Hope they get it right some day. I say servo-up the truss rod, too.

I have used tuners before but 9/10 it’s by ear. Just hit an E on the piano and tune the guitar to that. Why people have an issue with these sorts of guitars will remain a mystery to me. Surely it’s easier to not buy it?

That Gibson LP limited edition all wood looks amazing!

The difference between using a tuner and using the robot guitar is a bunch of extra hardware and moving parts that are likely to fail over time, adding a ton of weight to the headstock (as if gibson didnt already have enough trouble with that) and the fact that using a tuner is way faster and more reliable. I dont even understand acting like its the same thing there are tons of downsides to the robot guitar that you dont deal with using a tuner. The only way in which they are similar is that they are both some kind of assistive technology, but they definitely do not work equally well

I had a dead dark fire and I want to fix it but the pick up selector is broken also and I'm pretty sure no one at Gibson knows how to fix it or has the parts so I might be fucked unfortunately

Has anybody noticed a namm exhibit lately that’s a modern go at this concept? Seems like we might be that bit further in knowledge to have the kinks worked out and have a reliable polished system.

This has to be the coolest and most efficient looking guitar ive ever seen (the wine red goes hard)

Your energy is awesome!!!! That guitar is beautiful but sadly severely flawed as you demonstrated. I am hoping to see more of your vids.

I can tune a guitar perfectly with no tuner , but being able to change tunning that fast is awesome ,I want one😂

A self-tuning guitar is one of the best ideas I've ever heard of. BUT - if you're gonna pre-program 18 different tunings within the guitar, how is Drop C - the most common metal tuning of the last 25 years - not one of them? Odd

Great vid...i have bad grammar alot but mostly from exited thumbs on my phone ❤😂

My favorite guitar. I love it.

Interesting stuff!

The only thing that stopped me from buying one of these back in the day was the reliability issues.

Always wanted one

What’s the song played at 23:09?

Beautiful guitar

i pre ordered one of these and the shop gave me my money back and refused to sell it to me. they said they were doing me a favor

"DATS A B4! BUT IT'S A QUARTERUVA TONE FLAT! MERGHGH!" bahahahahaaa!!!!!! that shit made me laugh so hard

Man, i just wish gibson made a standard edition because that finish is absolutely beautiful. The blood moon is similar, but i think these dark fires look better

The piezoelectric it’s actually Ken Parker’s idea!! Same with the carbon fiber! It’s amazing how Parker guitars have influenced new modern guitars. Gibson included. Those auto tuners are still very unreliable!

You can't tuna fish but you tune a piano

If that came out now it would be a big seller. I would love to have one of those

Personally I don’t mind the robot tuning system, if anything it’s the art of convenient tuning built into the instrument. It’s the wider nut width and neck shape that I’m not a fan of.

I hope they're listening and the tech will be on our phones. I would buy one if it wasn't over $5K

Since it's a pain in the ass reliability wise but a great sounding guitar why not remove all the non-working tech-y stuff and put regular tuners etc? It would see more playing time in the end which would be deserved because it's beautiful and sounds great. Btw I had the robot tuners on a '13 signature t and they were shit. The guitar wasn't the best lp either though, my subsequent dearly missed '21 Slash and my current '21 Custom black beauty are miles ahead, especially the LPC

why not use a tuner. because the justonic bro. we not tuning guitars to tuners becasue that ruins a guitar. tune a fender to a tuner , the headstock will look warped. when you tune justonic, the headstock looks perfectly straight

Someone needs to design an upgraded robot circuit that lets you control the tuning with your phone. It has to be possible.

It is a very beautiful guitar, I think it would’ve looked better without fret markers though lol

The contra cheat code reference made this video worth it

its unreliable because you hooked it up wrong when you repaired it? and please dont be smart enough to put regular tuners on it.

about time someone besides me likes this guitar ..

Exactly!

'Hey look, I found this great guitar gadget, it is an automatic tuner. You just put it on one of the tuners, and then it will automatically tune that string. And it was only about 60 buck' Gibson: .`Nice idea, but it does need some further development and innovation. What if we built six of them inside the guitar headstock, so you don't have to bring an extra gadget.` 😂

So you showed the Stones and Bowie when you said songs went out to recording out of tune, tell me when and what songs, I never heard the Stones or Bowie music out of tune, Idt Mick Ronson would have played out of tune, maybe and it’s a big maybe if The Stones were out too!!

I'm too ugly for Mila Kunis, and I'm too dumb for the Dark Fire...but I enjoy seeing them both...😂

A lot of people seem to complain and moan that Gibson is a "boomer" guitar company and never innovates or does anything new. Funny thing is, this isn't even the first time Gibson has done something to better their guitars...they have always innovated and done new things. I have a 1976 Les Pau Standard. It's got a three piece maple neck with a volute... an innovation to address the complaint that headstocks/necks break... and everyone seems to hate those. They all cried for Gibson to go back to the way they used to make them.... just like they did after the robot guitars came out.

Wild that it doesn’t use a 9-volt battery 😮

It's a guitar. I play guitar. The end.

For me, I avoid most things electronic/digital. If somebody else likes it, GREAT, use it. I just find it unreliable. If it's working, it's AWESOME. If it isn't working as it should, I've spent too much money on a "better mouse trap" that I now have to pay someone to fix & hopefully have an analog back up that hasn't failed me. I think it's a personal choice & so far with all of this technology, I'm staying as analog as possible. It works & I don't want spend money technology that, for me isn't really any better than what I have. You like it, go to town on it 😄

just sharing my one time live tv show fcuk ups😂 ... and I can't really hear the guitar as I plug it to my old TU-12h ... dropped it one too many times and I just go with the lights ... when I hit the whole strings, its out off whack and we're about to go on air, I just turn my volume off, pretend to play it and messing up first 3 songs b4 we go to a commercial break .... even the crew came up and says my amp not working😅 .. I told them wat happened but I do have a spare Seiko tuner dat looks like a thumb drive and just picks up on vibration ... I only brought 1 guitar, don't ask. Since then, kinda have a PTSD on tuning without hearing it properly. Anyway, I can't even afford a LP Standard or any new guitar, all my guitars were bought used and 3 new guitars were given to me as a suprised gift😂

Or Gibson could decrease the angle of the stock so it'll stop going out of tune every 5 seconds.

If I love a guitar and it breaks love will find a way to fix it bro😂

The crazy thing is T-pain is an incredible singer. He didn’t need auto tune he just used it anyway

Great content my bro but as I bake one off, we should be expecting Gibson to make guitars that STAY IN TUNE LOL NOT TUNE ITSELF! HAHAHAHA HAHAHAAH HAHAHAAHAH HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAH HAHAHAAH HAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAH

This is a very Gibson solution to a Gibson problem

You’re very funny and entertaining

I just think it's a waste of money, not like, a stupid feature, I can't believe people are actually mad about a self tuning guitar, like, guys, it doesn't play itself?

Its a chalice with fire in it ^^ kinda wicked hehe 😮

Ive never heard of this model, its pretty cool! The fake carbon fiber is pretty cringy though. Also Gibson should have came to you for the marketing direction with these, recording use is much more logical than in a live setting.

The term neurotic guitarist is redundant. Ever hear drummers or bassists argue about inane bullshit like us psychotic superstitious guitarists ? Me neither.