WILKINSON COVER FEATURE
After years of development, the long rumoured ADT self-tuning bridge was launched at Summer NAMM on a Wilkinson-designed Fret King. Gary Cooper tightens the gears with Trevor Wilkinson to see how it all came about…
surprising – indeed, you imagine that his brain must be bubbling with ideas continuously, but almost as soon as we start speaking, it’s clear that he wants to get something off his chest. The problem, he explains, is one of perception. He wants to make sure the industry understands that the recently launched Wilkinson ATD HT440 self-tuning bridge system wasn’t a solo project and, equally, is soon to be available on other guitars besides his (and JHS’) Fret King – the first brand to carry this remarkable product. Though it wouldn’t be the MI Pro style to spring Paxmanesque-style questions,
T WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK
Fine tuning ideas “
rev Wilkinson has something on his mind. As Britain’s one-man guitar think-tank, this isn’t particularly
Wilkinson’s candour did slightly take the wind out of our sails as these were two issues we had intended to raise – both the story behind Auto Tuning Developments and whether it has got off to a lower key start than one might have expected for what could be a truly world-beating idea. The ATD has been a long time in the
making. Word began to spread about its development several years ago and, originally, Wilkinson’s name wasn’t connected with it. We wanted to know how he had got involved, what his role in the project had been and whether he feels he can succeed in selling an auto-tuning system to a public (let alone a trade) that hasn’t exactly showered Gibson’s Robot concept with universal praise.
I want to set the record straight on this. This was not a solo effort – it has been a team effort from the start.
Trevor Wilkinson Moreover, we wanted to know whether
he felt Gibson had tainted the entire market for self-tuning guitars. But before that, whence ATD? “The system came about in the first place with Richard Whittall and his son, Nick. Nick was at college and a guitar player. He had heard a guy talking about a device that could automatically tune a guitar. He mentioned it to his father as a product they should develop and, to cut a long story short, they did that. They then looked around for the best way to take what was a very large, expensive piece of equipment to the next stage. They were put in touch with me – and to give you some idea how long this has been in gestation, this was in around 1996 or 97.”
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