I was beyond thrilled to receive a 2015 Gibson SG Standard as a 5th-anniversary wedding gift. This guitar had everything I could wish for: amazing pickups, a rich, warm tone, and a beautiful mahogany finish. Excited to play, I reached for the tuning pegs, ready to tune it the way I had tuned guitars for two decades. But as I turned, one of the knobs came right off in my hand.
A trip to Guitar Center and a conversation with a knowledgeable guitar tech named Ed revealed the surprise: my new dream guitar wasn’t equipped with standard tuning pegs at all. It had a Gibson G-Force automatic tuner! At the time, I had no idea that automatic guitar tuners were even a standard feature on some 2015 models. My experience with Gibsons had always been with traditional tuning knobs.
After Ed reattached the knob and gave me a quick rundown on the G-Force system, I decided to give it a fair try. I activated the auto tuner, strummed the strings a couple of times, and watched as the tuning pegs moved on their own. Initially, it seemed like magic.
Close up of Gibson G-Force auto tuners on a guitar headstock
Gibson G-Force automatic guitar tuners on a Gibson SG Standard, highlighting the electronic tuning system.
However, about a month later, the novelty wore off, and the trouble began. My guitar inexplicably tuned itself to a bizarre, unrecognizable configuration. Suddenly, both my A and low E strings were registering as “E” on my standard tuner. While it created an interesting sound, it was utterly useless for playing any of the songs I knew!
Frustrated, I reached out to Gibson customer support. The team in Nashville was friendly, but unfortunately, they couldn’t offer any real solution beyond directing me to the owner’s manual. After spending hours poring over the 29-page manual, I still couldn’t get the G-Force to function correctly, even after attempting recalibration and resets.
It turns out, my experience wasn’t unique. A quick online search for “Gibson G-Force problems” reveals numerous videos and forum posts from disgruntled Gibson owners echoing similar frustrations. Many complain about the auto tuner’s slow response time and unreliability in achieving accurate tuning. Ed at Guitar Center mentioned that hundreds of Gibson owners had opted to replace their G-Force systems with traditional tuning pegs.
After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to join those ranks and had my Gibson SG “refurbished” with standard tuning knobs.
The supposed advantages of the G-Force – the ability to quickly switch between up to 10 different tunings – simply weren’t relevant to my playing style. And while some argue that removing the auto tuner might slightly decrease the guitar’s resale value, the potential loss was worth it for reliable playability.
The overwhelming “pro” was regaining the ability to pick up my guitar and play without the constant worry of the auto tuner malfunctioning or throwing my instrument into some obscure tuning mode.
Ultimately, I’m a busy mom who loves playing guitar and writing songs in my limited free time. Between kids, work, family, and everything else, my time is incredibly valuable.
With its standard tuning pegs back in place, my Gibson SG now plays beautifully, reliably, and exactly as I need it to. For me, ditching the Guitar Auto Tuner was absolutely the right decision.
