Automated retuning, mid-playing, with heavy tremolo use... Electric guitarists only please respond

I looked into what I was ultimately seeking in an electric guitar a few years ago and it was evidently still not quite technologically possible (or at least, not available on the market) at that time, but I am wondering if now perhaps it is. Maybe some fellow-enthusiasts can shed some light on any recent developments in the area that relate very specifically to what I am looking for. I know there's now lots of 'self-tuning' electric guitars around, but my requirements are quite specific, and maybe they are still beyond the realms of currently available technology.

I like to play electric guitar in a 'fluid' manner, that relies heavily on the use of the tremolo. My style/sound resembles that of the man I consider the best electric guitar player that has ever played, Joe Satriani (birth name ‘Joseph Satriani’). So, that includes massive tremolo dips, tremolo ‘flicks’, etc; the sort of things that will throw the tuning of at least some of the 6 strings (and thus all the rest by way of a chain-reaction) out by a noticeable (intolerable) amount long before the ditty is done. In some contexts in the 1980s, ‘reasonably acceptable’ results could be obtained over the relatively short term (depending on how much the tremolo was used) at a gig via lock-nuts. Always far from ideal though.

Seasoned guitarists would understand that it would not make sense to have the guitar automatically trying to ‘tune up’ string/s while you were using the tremolo (or for that matter, bending a note etc.), so the only realistic option I can envisage is that after the strings have no ‘external’ pressure being applied to them, the automated mechanism tunes them back up.

I would dearly love to know if any such technology has recently been developed, and if it has, where I can buy such a guitar. I would go so far as to use a phrase that goes against everything this site stands for in this regard: money is no object. I would happily pay over 1k for a guitar that could do this.

Any and all advice/knowledge (or even considered/informed ridicule) on this subject would be greatly appreciated. I would also appreciate any advice about where else I might post this same question… (i.e., an electric guitar enthusiast site that is known by anyone here to yield good/reliable advice).

Comments

  • +2

    1k is not a lot of money for a guitar - are you taking about a whole guitar or something you can fit to an existing one?

    You could try on here
    https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/

  • "1k is not a lot of money for a guitar"

    I reckon about 95% of new guitars (and almost 100% of second-hand ones) cost less than $1000, and some of the currently available 'auto tuning' guitars are under 1K. But what I want is the 'best thing out there' in this respect, which is why I used the words 'over 1k'. I fully appreciate that's what it is going to cost, if indeed such an axe exists at all.

    Re your question, because of the way guitars are built/operate, there is simply no way you could ever 'retro-fit' an automated tuning mechanism to an existing electric guitar.

    Thanks for your suggestion re the forum, I'll try asking there :)

  • If there's already a guitar in existence that remains in tune after heavy tremelo use, why not get one?

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