IT’S coming and it’s out to get all Fender-loving guitar players, hahahaha (laughs like The Count).

Now would you love to have a guitar that tunes itself? I would. I think Gibson has read my and the rest of the axe-toting crowd’s mind when it comes to making a guitar. With this new rig, you can quickly switch to alternate tunings with a flick of a button/knob. Woah! Excellent! Wanna play like Slash, just whip out the guitar and let the guitar tune itself. Or Jimmy Page in Led Zep’s Kashmir? Or perhaps be like Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix who often play in the E flat tuning (sounds warmer). It really takes a lot of time to detune those strings, hoping you’re in tune.

If you don’t believe me, watch this video to see it live in action. Gibson has also created several interesting videos of the robot guitar. The “Psycho” version is just hilarious. An instructional video is also on YouTube:

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PHILIPPINE music will also be showcased at the University of California, Los Angeles Spring Festival of World Music and Jazz.

Here’s an interesting story from the Los Angeles Times that shows how music strikes a common chord that brings together different cultures:

While the ethnomusicology groups allow some players to use Western instruments, the vast majority perform on the traditional ethnic instruments collected by UCLA or lent by its instructors, many of whom have the expertise and connections to find authentic instruments.

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AHH, the good old days.

For those of us who couldn’t afford to buy an imported acoustic guitar, the next best thing was a Lumanog. In a recent article on PhilMusic.com, Gerry Diwa takes us back to his days of hunting the best local custom-built guitars. Apart from the Cebu-made types (not those made out of plywood, of course), the Lumanogs became very popular because of their distinct sound. (If you can’t relate, blame the generation gap, heh).

There were other brands at the time. But the Lumanog guitars became popular among budding musicians who wanted a custom-built acoustic guitar that was truly Filipino-made, as this blogger wrote back in 2005.

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