GOO GOO DOLLS RZEZNIK HELPS GIBSON LAUNCH ROBOT GUITAR

Johnny Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls helped Gibson Guitars unveil their latest creation, The Robot Guitar.

Johnny Rzeznik, lead vocalist and guitarist for the multi platinum Grammy nominated Rock band The Goo Goo Dolls, helped Gibson Guitars unveil their latest innovative creation, The Robot Guitar. Rzeznik gave a demo of The Robot Guitar and all it’s uses at the famed Guitar Center in Hollywood, California on December 3rd for a handful of fans and invited guests. With a limited run of only 4,000 Robot Guitars available, Gibson’s first edition version features a Gibson Les Paul coupled with a first of it’s kind electronic tuning mechanism that helps guitarists eliminate tuning problems. The Robot Guitar automatically tunes the guitar to standard tuning and it also allows guitarist the ability to switch to many different alternate tunings on the fly with the push of a button. The Gibson Robot Guitar stays true to the spirit of innovation that inspired Gibson to invent the legendary Tune-a-matic Bridge, The Humbucker Pickup and the revolutionary HD 6x Pro Digital Les Paul Guitar and no doubt guitarists around the world will be impressed with Gibson’s latest creation.

We caught up with Rzeznik, just after giving the demo to get his thoughts on what a useful tool The Robot Guitar is, especially for guitarists who frequently play in alternate tunings.

“I think what impressed me most about this particular guitar is that I play a lot of alternate tunings and this guitar can store six tunings on it and automatically recall them, just on the fly. Just strum it a few times and it tunes the guitar. And it keeps the guitar in a very clean standard tuning as well. So, all around it’s as useful tool.”

One of the greatest advantages of The Robot Guitar would be for the touring guitarist who often travels with numerous guitars tuned to specific tunings for specific songs. But with The Robot Guitar, changing the tuning is a button away and only takes seconds to get in perfect tuning. Rzeznik also talked of the advantages of only having to travel with 3 or 4 Robot Guitars, instead of a dozen or more guitars all set to different tunings.

“I could bust down to two or three of four guitars with this kind of technology and it’s very discreet looking. It’s still a cool looking guitar. It looks exactly like a Les Paul and plays exactly like one. They did a really nice job hiding all the moving parts on it. There’s no stigma attached to it ‘Playing this is amazing but I look really foolish playing it.’ It just looks great! It’s a Les Paul! It’s great!”

Rzeznik and The Goo Goo Dolls have just returned from performing in South Africa at The World AIDS charity concert at Ellispark stadium in Johannesburg December 1, 2007. The concert, which coincided with World AIDS Day, is an offshoot of similar shows that have been held in South Africa, Spain and Norway. The Goo Goo Dolls will be performing in Las Vegas on New Years Eve December 31st, 2007 for a performance at The House of Blues. The band will then be heading into their Buffalo, New York studio in the beginning of 2008 to begin recording the 9th studio album.