Need to thrash out some wicked 8-bit riffs? There’s only one guitar you should be doing that with, and it’s a Guitar Boy!
[Fibbef], an administrator on BitFixGaming boards built this as an exhibition piece for his 2015 Game Boy Classic build off. He started the build just three months ago and we have to say we’re impressed. It’s a fully functioning Raspberry Pi Game Boy emulator — and a full fledged electric guitar. The A and B buttons double as volume and tone dials for the guitar, while also being push buttons for the Game Boy!
Under the hood is a Raspberry Pi B+ running RetroPie v2.3, with a 5″ LCD display, custom wooden buttons, the entire body is hand made, and a plexiglass shell covers the whole thing.
You can follow his whole build log here, or just admire the following video demonstration:
If that made you feel nostalgic, why not 3D print yourself a replica Game Boy and get playing?
woah, what a beauty!
Yeah – even the “guitar” looks good! :-D
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
Yeah, That’s not a plexiglass “shell” – it’s a pick guard. You can see the wood grain on the end of the thing because it’s painted with what appears to be latex paint. That finish is roughhhhhh…….
Probably wither an early prototype or simply someone that doesn’t know much about wood working.
I find that a lot of folks are more interested in the details of the electronics than the finish. I guess I’m a stickler. Comes from years of working on projects with my dad and now working with Cub Scouts on their Pinewood derby cars.
I would alt least sand the grain down and wither use gran filler or a gelcoat if I’m going to paint. That or sand smooth, stain and laquer.
I like his RasPi board without (most of) the connectors, great job desoldering these.
Now the only thing I think is missing from this is the ability to combine the music from the retro pi with the sound from the guitar to play them both together!
Maybe use a stereo (TRS) 1/4″ jack?
what this needs is an actual gameboy running one of those homebrew apps that allows midi to control the sound chip and a built in “pedal” generate midi commands from the guitar signal.
Next step: port Guitar Hero to Gameboy.
All you need is LSDJ and you are your own entire band!