This week I got a chance to try a funky little gadget from Band Industries that aims to pretty much automate the process of tuning your guitar. Meet the Roadie 2 standalone automatic guitar tuner! At the time of writing this device holds the title of the most crowdfunded music accessory ever, with over $500’000 raised on Kickstarter by almost 5000 backers.
The Roadie 2 is a similar idea to the automatic tuners you will find on some Gibson guitars, except you hold the device yourself, enabling you to use it on as many different guitars as you would like. It is absolutely packed with features such as vibration sensing technology, 60rpm rotation, and bluetooth to allow connection to the accompanying app.
Let’s find out more!
Roadie 2 Automatic Guitar Tuner
Check out the video below which gives a good overview of the device!
To use, simply turn it on and use the dial to select which instrument/tuning you want and then place the device over the tuning peg for the lowest string on the guitar. Pluck the string and the Roadie 2 will get to work, automatically turning the machine head and giving you a handy beep when the correct pitch is achieved. An LCD panel on top allows you to easily navigate the various menus and see which string you should currently be tuning. Move down the strings one by one until your guitar is perfectly in tune. This can take as little as 30 seconds. Simple!
The Roadie 2 tunes via vibration rather than microphone, allowing you to accurately achieve perfect pitch in noisy environments.
It comes pre-installed with 40 of the most popular alternate and open tunings preset, but if you require your own custom tunings there is the free Roadie companion app…
The optional Roadie app (available on Android and iOS) expands the functionality of the device and let’s you create and manage instruments and custom tunings, change the reference pitch, tune while using a guitar capo, and even tune with a manual tuner. Crucially for us lefties it also unlocks a left handed mode.
The Roadie 2 will work on most stringed instruments apart from bass. For that the company has developed the Roadie Bass, which features a more powerful motor.
It will even come in handy for restringing your guitar as it also has a feature to completely wind strings on or off. There’s even a torch function for when you’re working in a dark environment.
The device has already received a raft of celebrity endorsements and it certainly impressed when I let the guys at work give it a test drive. I think it would be a fantastic gift for any guitarist – check one out if you get a chance at the links below.
Buy the Roadie 2 on Amazon:
Roadie 2
Roadie Bass