When An Axe Isn’t Enough

[Chris] wanted a guitar with a keyboard but didn’t want a keytar. Like any good hacker he took a cheap guitar and a small keyboard and introduced them to each other. He moved the control knobs to make room for the keyboard and added the control circuitry from the keyboard to the top of the guitar’s body. A 9v battery is used to power the keys and something called “Chris Collins’ transformer trick” is used to amplify its sound. If you know details on this transformer, leave a comment and we’ll update the post. Take a look at the video after the break to see [Chris] perform the Final Countdown on keys and guitar.

The guitar is a Chinese made Telecaster clone and we think he’s the first one to find a realistic use for keyboards that don’t use full-sized keys. [Chris] apologizes for the lack of build photos but we give him a pass; he lost his phone while crowd-surfing and that’s as good an excuse as any for losing some pictures. We can’t wait to see another performance with this gnarly axe once he’s had enough practice to pull everything together!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amp49HqA5kE]

22 thoughts on “When An Axe Isn’t Enough

  1. “we think he’s the first one to find a realistic use for keyboards that don’t use full-sized keys.”

    Are you crazy? The microkorg has been used on more albums than i care to count, right now it is probably the most used live keyboard in the world…

  2. Hey thanks for all the nice comments (I take the claim of Dadaism to be the highest praise imaginable). I WILL practice, I WILL! I promise! It’s brand new to me! *for talent see Jay Wasco

    *Nic*(i.e. Nicolas) Collins’ Transformer trick is to wire up an output transformer backwards in order to increase the voltage (1000% he claims). He uses it to turn Piezos into speakers in Handmade Electronic Music, but it works well to boost other signals.

    Hey kids, be like me, live your dreams!!
    xoxox

  3. I think a more useful… er, use… for the keyboard is to use it to trigger/adjust effects. (useful when you are using one of those computer-based systems like Guitar Rig or Hardcore, instead of real “stompboxes”)

  4. Terrible. The hack is sloppy, ugly and badly executed. They guy can’t even play properly on either instrument. The sound is atrocious and probably due to bodged up electronics. The body extension is the worst part added to a guitar ever, followed by the build in panels.

    One would expect that with a multidisciplinary hack the builder would, at least, have some skill in one of those disciplines. But neither hacking, playing guitar or keys seems to be his forte.

  5. @Retepvosnul. Certainly not everything needs to be production quality in terms of aesthetics or functionality. I can safely say most hacks aren’t. As for the players musical aptitude; I don’t think that was meant to be the focus. More so the implementation of a keyboard and a guitar in one functional instrument. The rest is in the eye of the beholder.

    I will agree though, that I too was not found of the layout. But I do see how it is practical and would be easy to setup.

  6. heyy…c’mon guys. this is awesome! you look like just wanna know about hacking. look at his shirt..this is the concept.im sure the ideia is not about playing 1000 instruments at the same time! but to compact 2 in one.

    beers and cheers!

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