The problem is that you still can’t strum and hear the notes, so who knows how much this would actually help you play. At $30(USD) it might be worth a look, though you are bound to look odd playing with this in public.

[via Redferret]

This killer axe was made by Ikon Customs using birdseye maple, an appropriately evil pincher claw headstock, and has a purpleheart fretboard with glow-in-the-dark dots. I bet that’s exactly what Cthulhu’s heart looks like – purple with glowing dots. At least that’s what I like to imagine. Of course there’s the monstrous green body in the image of Cthulhu himself – complete with beady red eyes. Here’s another one they built, with a slimy looking yellow and green neck – which also seems appropriate.

You can order your own custom Cthulhu guitar for $699 to $1199 (USD), depending on the guitar model and features you select. Cthulhu himself orders you to buy one or he will make you suffer an eternity of madness.

[via Ikon Customs Forums]

Granted, this gargantuan device isn’t really a guitar – the head stock is totally decorative – but dammit he’s carrying a whole console and three effects pedals. That’s a recipe for back problems. The gAtari 2600 also has a track switcher in the form of a joystick, although not in the form of the console’s iconic controller. Watch the video below to see cTrix lug the gAtari 2600 around while rocking out.

What an unbelievably crazy idea. I’m sure he could have taken out the console’s parts and ended up with a smaller instrument, but no, he just went for it. Somehow I can’t imagine a PS3 or Xbox 360 guitar looking as cool as this. Check out cTrix’ website for more of his gadgets and music.

[via Topless Robot]

The TabStrummer uses an Atmel microcontroller, a MIDI output and an audio-out jack. The 12 memory buttons can be programmed with any chord/tab that can be played on a 12 fret guitar, and all the buttons can be programmed into any of the 300 memory SONG locations of TabStrummer’s internal memory. To listen to the TabStrummer, you can use headphones or connect it to your sound system or TV.

Geeky musicians would certainly love to get their hands on this instrument. To hear the TabStrummer in action, check out the video below. It sounds pleasant enough.

[via Hack-a-Day via Geeky-Gadgets]

Ministar guitars were created by after extensive research by guitar builder Bob Wiley. He came to the conclusion that the body of an electric guitar can be removed without dramatically affecting the sound of the guitar. Hence, Ministar guitars only have a neck and head. Take a listen, and you be the judge:

In addition to the guitar, each one comes with portable, battery-powered headphone amp so you can practice on the road. They also offer a bass version of the Ministar, if that’s your instrument of choice. Most of the guitars are around 31 inches long, and weigh three pounds, while the basses average 41 inches long, and weigh five pounds. That’ll certainly shave off a bit of weight if you tend to travel a lot with your guitar.

Ministar Guitars sell for between $280 and $350 (USD), and the basses run $300 to $360.

[via designboom]

The adapter device connects to your iOS device using the charge-and-sync port, and has a thumbwheel to adjust the input level. This makes the iPad or iPhone perfect for practicing the guitar and it will let you play and record sessions on the go easily as well.

You can pick one of these up right now for $79.99(USD) and record all you want to your favorite music app. I wonder how good tbe recordings sound. If any of you are guitar players let us know how this works if you pick it up.

The iTar case and fretboard will dock with your iPad, turning your iPad into a full-fledged guitar in seconds. Couple that with the iPad’s touchscreen interface, and you can play samples, drum it like a beat box, or play it like a synthesizer (or pick up a game of Angry Birds) in-between guitar riffs.

The iTar is the brainchild of inventor Harvey Starr, who has plenty of experience building expensive, custom MIDI-controller. Now Harvey’s company, Starr Labs, has got a Kickstarter project to produce the iTar. They’re still a way off from their $50,000 goal, but assuming the project does get there, it will be pretty cool to see this attachment produced.

You can get in on the iTar project over at Kickstarter now. A $200 pledge will get you your very own iTar (assuming the project hits its goal.)

[via Buzzaurus]

This is Sonoma’s second model of this add-on, and it plugs directly into your iOS devices. It’s got inputs for microphones, guitar cables, and stereo mic/line inputs. There are multiple apps available to modify the tone and sound of your instruments, and naturally, you can record everything as well.

You can pre-order the Sonoma GuitarJack for $149 (USD) right now, and it will ship in 4 to 6 weeks. The older model is on sale now for just $49 but is NOT compatible with the latest iDevices.

[via Ubergizmo]

You can get different effects without needing accessories. The guitar has a “Pure Analog” audio engine and can produce acoustic guitar sounds, but it’s also designed to hook easily to a computer for recording and updating. The guitar also has an open architecture that will allow developers to create apps for the guitar, and Gibson plans on launching an app store for downloading guitar software.

The Firebird X also has real-time control over settings on the side of the guitar so you don’t have to reach a pedal board to change settings. One of the coolest features is that the guitar has Robotic Tuning Technology. This allows the guitar to store multiple tunings and tune itself easily and quickly.

The Firebird X is available starting today, and only 1800 of this limited-edition axe will be made. You can find out more about the guitar’s numerous features here.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Guitarist Julien Brasart has previously kicked out one of the best Star Wars medleys I’ve ever heard, so when he sent me the link to Angry Birds on electric guitar, I was happy to give it a listen. So without further ado, I give you… Angry Electric Birds!

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now wasn’t that better? It seems at least a little more appropriate to me. Still, I wish the green piggies had their own “dark” theme song, sort of how Darth Vader has the Imperial March.

The thing is, you most likely won’t be carrying around some musical instrument while you go about your business everyday–unless it’s right on your bag like on the Electronic Rock Guitar Bag, that is.

Most bags that are for the musically-inclined feature designs of musical instruments like guitars and pianos and drums printed on the bag. But on this bag, you can actually play the guitar.

That little box you see in the lower right corner is actually a mini-amplifier, and that’s where the sound will play through. So how do you actually play this thing? Just place your fingers on the desired frets on the shortened neck on the bag and move your thumb across the strings at the bottom of the bag.

The bag is large enough to accommodate a 17-inch laptop, and comes with six small pockets and two larger ones to carry all your other stuff. The Electric Guitar bag is on backorder right now at ThinkGeek, and is priced at $49.99 (USD).

[via Geeky Gadgets]

If you like the more natural air guitar playing, but you still want to actually hear real music too, the Air Pick might be just the ticket. This fat plastic guitar pick is many times thicker than a real pick, but shaped the same way. When you strum your air guitar holding the Air Pick, each stroke you make results in a note being played from a real song.

There are three different Air Picks and they have tunes from bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and others. Specific songs you will be able to play are some of the most popular old-school rock tracks around like Jumping Jack Flash, Satisfaction, Born to be Wild, Smoke on the Water, and Sweet Home Alabama. They will hit stores this summer in the UK and there is no word on availability elsewhere.

[via Pocket-Lint]

This cool accessory is currently up on Kickstarter looking for funding. Inside the guitar pick is some cool motion sensing tech that allows you to interact with an app that detects the strumming motion of the pick. The hardware and app combo claims to turn your music already on your iPhone into a rhythm game with the motion sensing guitar pick as the controller.

The project is seeking $25,000 to get out of the concept stage and into a real product. So far, almost $5,000 has been pledged with more than 20 days to go. Pledge at least $49 to get your hands one one of the first Air Guitar Move controllers. If you don’t mind waiting about a month longer, a $39 pledge gets you one from the second batch. Contribute at least $249 and you’ll get a limited-edition “Iron Man Red” anodized aluminum pick.

Instead of ear-splitting bells or buzzing sounds, the Acoustic Alarm has a rotating pick that plucks four guitar strings. The alarm time is set via two knobs – one for the hour and another for the minute. And just like a guitar, you can tune the strings to create your own alarm.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Oddly enough, the thing I like most about the Acoustic Alarm is that it doesn’t look like an alarm clock and more like something you can play with. But as for the sounds that it produces, I quickly realized while I was watching the video that you can reproduce or record the exact same sounds either from an actual guitar or a digital instrument, and then just play the recording as your alarm sound. Problem solved.

[via Jamie McMahon via Neatorama]

Josss filled the guitar with an Asus P5Q Deluxe motherboard, an Intel Quad Core Q6700 CPU, 4 GB DDR2 RAM, an MSI 8800 GTX graphics card and a 600W Thermaltake PSU. Not the latest and greatest hardware, sure, but what’s inside your guitar huh? Probably just cobwebs and a couple of picks that fell in.

Jossss says that the guitar doesn’t get too hot even when under full load, and he’s also thinking of improving on it by using much smaller parts. Ever considered using a multi-neck guitar Jossss?

[Le Journal du Geek [FR] via Newlaunches]

The oddest of the assortment was the guitar you see here – with a double barrel shotgun inside the body and the barrels running through the neck. Talk about getting your shred on. The body of the guitar had the start of a trigger to fire the shotgun.

The man told the police the guitar was “a fun thing that was not finished.” The police found stickers of local gangs and believe the man was selling illegal weapons. I wonder if the guitar would still play music.

[via Neatorama]

Nonetheless, it would be interesting to play a game that actually teaches one to play the guitar. That’s exactly what Ubisoft wants to achieve with their upcoming video game, Rocksmith. Details are sparse at this point, but what we know is that players will need an actual electric guitar to play the game. Judging from the videos, the game will come with a USB-to-TRS connector cable so you can connect an electric guitar to your console or PC. Here’s a video explaining Rocksmith from a gamer’s point of view:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And here’s a professional musician sharing his thoughts on the game:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It goes without saying that for a lot of people who might be interested in learning how to play the guitar, buying a game – and possibly a console – is an unnecessary expense, but if Ubisoft plays to the strength of video games – like achievements, a deep roster of downloadable songs and interactivity – Rocksmith could be a hit. Then we’ll probably see the inevitable expansions – Rocksmith Bass, Rocksmith Drums, Rocksmith Accordion… Check out the game’s official website for more videos.

[via Rock Paper Shotgun]

Pro Mode allows you to actually play the tunes on real strings, which is really cool. The YouRock Guitar can already control five button music games like Guitar Hero and older Rock Band Versions. The needed firmware for Pro Mode support is 1.2, which can be downloaded now.

Players will also need the Mad Cats Rock Band 3 MIDI-Pro Adapter and a standard 5-pin MIDI cable. The new firmware retains all the other features of the YouRock Guitar like integrated sounds and more.

If you watch and listen to the video below of Bård S D’s open-source Zoybar TOR guitar, I think you’ll be impressed with what he was able to do with a 3D printer:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Not bad for something that was modeled in the digital world, then printed, eh? Bård modeled the guitar using Blender, then output the body parts over at Shapeways, using their 3D printers for about $175. Now, he didn’t print the entire guitar. The guts of the guitar are based on Zoybar’s open platform, which lets musicians experiment with their own custom musical instruments using a library of standard, reusable components.

[via The Creators Project]

The body of the instrument looks like a snail shell, it has four strings, a light wood neck, and the head has snail antennae on it. The construction is from hard maple and soft maple on top and the shell is hand painted.

If you want to rock out in the SpongeBob band, you will need to cough up 800 clams, and only one of them is available right now. The instrument was originally designed for Darby Wilcox of the band O Mello Cello Tree. Anyone know what that is?

[via Etsy]