Michael’s Futuristic Creation Reimagines the Guitar But Without Strings

A guitar with no strings sounds like a paradox, but Michael, a clever maker, has built just that—a sleek, futuristic instrument that reimagines what a guitar can be.

Michael’s guitar replaces the traditional neck with a single, glossy black circuit board. Gold pads line the surface, acting as capacitive touch sensors that detect a player’s fingers with precision. These sensors talk to an I2C interface, a standard for communicating between electronic components, to an Amtel Mega 32u4 microcontroller—the brain of the operation. This chip processes the input, translating finger placements into musical notes. Without strings or frets, the neck becomes a smooth, unbroken surface.

Strumming, a hallmark of guitar playing, gets a modern makeover here. A laptop-style touchpad replaces the strings and sits where a regular guitar’s body would vibrate. This touchpad records X and Y coordinates, as well as pressure, and delivers them to the microcontroller via the same I2C bus. Each touch generates an interrupt, a signal that causes the system to respond immediately, allowing for dynamic control over music.

The output is all MIDI, a protocol that lets it control any synthesizer or software. MIDI’s flexibility means this instrument isn’t limited to mimicking traditional guitar tones, and we can see that when Michael goes for futuristic synth sounds during his cover of Flint’s “Fooling Myself”. The MIDI setup also allows you to connect to digital audio workstations or hardware synths.

This guitar required a combination of skills—circuit design, firmware programming and mechanical engineering. He makes use of Infineon CY8CMBR3116 touch ICs for capacitive sensing. The firmware operates on the Amtel Mega 32u4, processing inputs and converting them into MIDI signals. We don’t see him working with code or schematics, but it’s evident that this project demands a thorough understanding of embedded systems. This is both an inspiration and a problem for hobbyists, as reproducing it would need soldering skills, programming knowledge, and access to specialized PCBs.

The touch based interface is a different beast than traditional strumming or fretting. Guitarists used to the resistance of strings will feel disconnected at first as the smooth sensors give no tactile feedback. But this opens up new creative possibilities. The touchpad can register pressure and position so you could modulate pitch with a slide of a finger.
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