206:, the company originally licensed to manufacture the commercial version of the Gizmotron, released the product to the public in 1979. Quality was inconsistent. According to Musitronics engineer Mike Beigel, "The product, though desired by many musicians at the time, simply could not be reliably manufactured and further – even at best – only worked on some notes of the instrument, guitar or bass." In a bid to solve problems with the Gizmotron, Musitronics hired
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meant either a lack of tone, or — usually in the case of over-eager amateur or impatient guitarists — an undesirably harsh tone caused by wheels being forced too tightly against the strings. Using the
Gizmotron required that guitarists modify their playing techniques to use only a very light touch when pressing the keys. Specific and repeated instructions in the Gizmotron owner's manual stress this.
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400:) that cracks and weakens over time. As a result, the wheels and arms of all Musitronics Gizmotrons become brittle and disintegrate even in "like new" unopened boxes. Other guitar effects have since been used to create sustained tones, but because of the Gizmotron's mechanical nature and physics involved, electronics alone have not been able to replicate the sound.
347:(UMIST), assisted Godley and Creme in the development of the prototype. He considered it critical that the instrument retain the natural decay of a note rather than the sharp cut-off often experienced with an electronic synthesizer. Godley and Creme used only the original prototype Gizmotron in 10cc recordings.
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The severity of these problems could be minimized by adjusting the proximity of the wheels to the guitar strings with extreme precision. Adjustment was very time-consuming, where each wheel (and arm) is moved closer or farther to a string to achieve the purest tone. Improper set-up of these wheels
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In 2013, Aaron
Kipness, a vintage keyboard specialist and restoration parts manufacturer, assembled a small team of engineers to design a new and improved version of the Gizmotron using modern materials and manufacturing methods. Gizmotron LLC was subsequently formed and on February 3, 2016, the
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of their own that varied with the speed of the wheel, or would act as a secondary bridge and produce dissonant overtones, depending on the notes played. According to Kevin Godley, "Some days it sounded absolutely beautiful and other days it sounded like shit. Sometimes it was like a chainsaw, and
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In the
Musitronics version of the Gizmotron, an improper set-up resulted in a quick wearing down of the wheels for which there were no replacements — the wheels were not removable from the arm attachments. Musitronics Gizmotron wheels were expensive and problematic to produce.
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is activated by pressing one or all of keys located on the top of the unit. Pressing a key allows the wheel to descend against a motor-driven shaft and bow the corresponding string, while the other hand remains free to fret single notes or full chords.
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In March 2014, it was reported in
Vintage Guitar Magazine that Aaron Kipness was working on plans to launch a new and improved Gizmotron 2.0. The Gizmotron 2.0 debuted at the summer NAMM show in 2015 and was released to the public in 2016.
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Musitronics created a separate division, Gizmo Inc., to produce the
Gizmotron and solve its problems. Deeply in debt and unable to raise the funding necessary to continue operations, due largely to a failed Musitronics marketing deal with
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Plagued with design and manufacturing problems, the
Musitronics Gizmotron did not live up to expectations and was a commercial failure. Production of the Musitronics Gizmotron ended in 1981 when the manufacturer filed for bankruptcy.
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Musitronics offered two versions of the
Gizmotron to the public; one for guitar and one for bass. Ultimately, few Musitronics Gizmotrons were made; bass versions were produced in a much larger quantity than guitar versions.
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The Gizmo was first used on 10cc's instrumental "Gizmo My Way", a song arranged as a type of laid back beach music, where it appears as a slide guitar effect and sustained background effect. "Gizmo My Way" was the B-side to
243:(1974), which included more uses of The Gizmo, most notably on the track "Old Wild Men". Its presence is heard throughout most of the track as a unique shimmering background guitar effect. The Gizmo was also used on the
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to design an electronic device to "mask the inadequacies of the still unperfected product”. Moog gave his opinion that he did not know how to “make it sound good enough” and advised that the project should be abandoned.
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Gizmotron 2.0 was released. The innovations made to Godley and Creme's original design were substantial enough that
Kipness was awarded a US Patent (9,997,144) for the Gizmotron 2.0.
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The name "Gizmotron" comes from the idea that it was intended to be a non-electronic and non-synthetic competitor in the market of other "orchestral" instruments like the
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The device, a small enclosure attached to the guitar, consists of small motor-driven wheels with serrated edges to match the size of each string. The continuous
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sometimes it sounded like a cello and other times it varied between to two, so it was never a particularly stable piece of kit, but we persevered with it.”
300:, 10cc were unable to afford an orchestra for their early albums, so Creme and Godley imagined an effects unit that would enable a guitar to produce
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Provoost, Bart, "What the heck is that?! Behind the scenes of the weirdly wonderful gizmotron, in
Gearphoria pp 24-25, SEP/OCT 2014 Vol 3 No 1
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Taped or permanently attached to the body of an instrument, the
Gizmotron uses small, motor driven plastic/rubber wheels to make the
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Today, intact and working Musitronics Gizmotrons are virtually non-existent. The wheels and arm attachments were made of a plastic (
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John Wilson, guitarist for Meat Beat Manifesto used both a bass and guitar Gizmotron live and on recordings from 1996 to 1998.
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262:(1976) on the tracks "Blackmail", "Brand New Day", "How Dare You", "Lazy Ways", "Iceberg", and "Don't Hang Up".
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393:, Gizmo Inc. declared bankruptcy in 1981, shortly after its president, Aaron Newman, suffered a heart attack.
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A fault with the prototype and Musitronics Gizmotron was that the wheels were affected by conditions such as
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The Gizmo's ability to create a wide range of sounds was central to the production of
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which was intended to be a promotional album to market the "Gizmo". According to
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662:"The Gizmotron is the strangest guitar device you've never heard of"
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Guitar harmonic § String harmonics driven by a magnetic field
700:. Guildford, Surrey, England: Genesis Publications. p. 287.
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University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
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Other Godley & Creme albums featuring the Gizmo include
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in 1975, whilst they were members of the British rock group
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The Gizmo continued to be used on 10cc's subsequent albums
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The Musitronics and Prototype Gizmotron can be heard on:
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continued to use the Gizmo after they had left 10cc.
69:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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278:'s first post-10cc project, the 1977 triple
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27:Effects device for electric and bass guitars
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129:Learn how and when to remove this message
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237:", and appeared on 10cc's second album,
755:http://www.gearphoria.com/e-mag/v3n1/24
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424:'s recording of "Liverpool Lou" (1974).
288:. Godley and Creme left 10cc to create
726:"Gizmotron | Vintage Guitar® magazine"
481:(Industrial Records, 1979), played by
384:Musitronics and Gizmo, Inc. Bankruptcy
339:John McConnell, a senior lecturer in
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67:adding citations to reliable sources
838:Bass Gizmotron at Effects Database
186:. The device was famously used by
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783:Gambaccini, Paul: Liner notes to
724:Dregni, Michael (18 March 2015).
668:. 13 January 2016. Archived from
800:"Steve Hackett Official Website"
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148:, is an effects device for the
54:needs additional citations for
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833:Gizmotron at Effects Database
769:. 9 July 2015. Archived from
514:(1984) where it is played by
858:Guitar parts and accessories
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492:song "Into the Light" from
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697:Jimmy Page: The Anthology
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460:uses it on the intro of "
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508:'s "Violet Town", from
453:In Through the Out Door
253:The Original Soundtrack
235:The Wall Street Shuffle
197:In Through the Out Door
767:"Guitar Player - Gear"
247:track "Baron Samedi".
579:ARP Instruments, Inc.
464:" as well as within "
355:Inherent difficulties
804:www.hackettsongs.com
694:Page, Jimmy (2020).
296:'s sleeve notes for
63:improve this article
32:For other uses, see
773:on 15 January 2018.
599:Fernandes Sustainer
516:Marty Willson-Piper
478:20 Jazz Funk Greats
560:Wind and Wuthering
554:Please Don't Touch
527:It'll End in Tears
498:(1981), played by
270:Godley & Creme
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61:Please help
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614:Moog Guitar
441:London Town
365:temperature
256:(1975) and
245:Sheet Music
240:Sheet Music
204:Musitronics
184:hurdy-gurdy
180:synthesizer
154:bass guitar
78:"The Gizmo"
847:Categories
640:Orchestron
622:References
604:Sustainiac
583:Gizmo Inc.
506:The Church
458:Jimmy Page
188:Jimmy Page
89:newspapers
809:23 August
636:Mellotron
450:'s album
369:harmonics
327:Mechanism
165:Lol Creme
146:Gizmotron
142:The Gizmo
18:Gizmotron
644:Birotron
568:See also
361:humidity
208:Bob Moog
736:6 March
676:6 March
574:Mu-Tron
444:(1978).
438:" from
343:at the
341:physics
223:Origins
176:strings
103:scholar
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475:album
434:song "
398:Delrin
302:violin
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432:Wings
110:JSTOR
96:books
34:Gizmo
811:2023
738:2021
702:ISBN
678:2021
594:EBow
495:Juju
488:The
471:The
363:and
317:and
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169:10cc
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