Too bad the VG Stratocaster is discontinued. It is one of my favorite guitars. Great deals on it at stores. You can use just like a normal Strat.
I have been playing Rock music for over forty years. I play full time and I have worked selling guitars and repairing guitars for a major music store.
I don't know if the Gibson Robot guitars have caught on that much either. It is too easy to forget and turn one of the tuning pegs without pulling the key head out and damaging the gear. guitar players tend to keep things traditional mostly. Sorry to hear that Bob Bogle the lead guitar player of The Ventures died at age 75. I met him about 3 months ago.

I bought a black VG when they went on sale at GC. I've been pretty happy with it so far. I mostly use it in "standard" mode but we have a couple of songs that I use the open G tuning and one I use the drop D tuning. I do wish there was an open E tuning.

The closest thing I have to a problem with it is the amp patches (Vetta II) I use with my Highway One Tele (with Rio Grande pups) don't work as well with the VG. I'm sure I'll find the right settings for the VG. Vettas are very picky when it comes to pickups.

The pickup heights seemed to be way off from what the setup page calls for. I used the standard pups settings and adjusted them tonight. Also gave her a good cleaning after playing yesterday at a four hour outdoor gig in almost 100° weather. It got pretty nasty between the sweat and the sunblock but she's purdy again now.