In the September issue of Popular Science, Mike Kobrin reviewed the Moog guitar—an incredible instrument whose electromagnet pickups actually change the string's motion. Stick it in "mute" mode and you're playing a banjo; turn on "sustain" and it holds notes indefinitely. It turns out, however that writing and reading about the guitar can never be quite adequate. So Kobrin sat down and filmed it in action. Rock on, after the jump.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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Finger tapping solos would be insane on that thing, Eddie Van Halen should play one.
I would rather get the Robot Gibson... for now.
Though I agree the sustain sounds nice.
Dude your tempo is off :P
Finger tapping is repetitively percussive enough that a player wouldn't really feel the effects of the sustain... Applying the Moog filter (yeah, I misspoke in the video when I called it a "synth") would make that style scream though.
Yeah, my tempo's off -- I got wrapped up in the guitar itself more than the music I was playing. I'll stick to trumpet from now on. :p
Why did it take nearly 40 years for them to come up with this? I was first aware of the Moog with my purchase of the "Switched On Bach" album back in 1969.
The guitar sounds great! But I'm not too big on the price. But it'll probably be cheaper then buying all the individual instruments to replicate the sounds it can make.