I set out to make a complete electronic-electric guitar with all kinds of extra bells and whistles. The Fretboard was designed to make learning to play much easier with the aid of electronically controlled lighting. An LCD user interface menu system also allowed the user to cycle between different guitar modes and even create new custom scales without re-programming the microprocessor. In the end it was far from being a perfect learning tool, but it was still a lot of fun to build.
Building the Guitar
Setting it up in the dark
The LCD, along with 3 push buttons, on the back of the guitar provide a menu systems that allows the user to select a desired scale and key (ex. Pentatonic Blues in G) and then display it on the Fretboard. A metronome can also be turned on to help keep tempo as the user plays.
Guitar with fretboard in the key of E Major.