The MegCell Pulse: A 3D-Printed Guitar-Playing Contraption

"Much of the music we hear today reaches us through digital playback," writes a New-Zealand-based engineer who gives his name only as Bruce. "It may be precise and convenient, but the final sound usually comes from a speaker.

"I wanted to explore another possibility: What if digital music could control a real instrument and become physical sound again?"

To that end, Bruce has spent six years developing a 3D-printed guitar player, which he calls the MegCell Pulse.

This attaches to a guitar, and consists of two components: One handles the fretwork, the other does the plucking.

You do need software that can handle digital sheet music—MuseScore is one such program—and you then export the file to the device. Here's what it sounds like in action:

The two halves of the device can be hooked up independently, which leads to an intriguing possibility: Allowing a one-handed person to play the guitar, say, doing the plucking while the machine does the fretwork. An example:

It's worth noting that the device can press the strings at specific frets, but cannot slide between frets, so it won't be reaching Hendrix heights.

James is attempting to Kickstart a sale of the digital plans, which run USD $76. At press time he was roughly 1/3rd of the way towards his $4,648 goal, which 22 days left to pledge.