The Gizmo

For other uses, see Gizmo.

The Gizmo, also called the Gizmotron,[1] is an effects device for the electric guitar and bass guitar. It was invented in 1969[2] and patented by the English rock musicians Kevin Godley and Lol Creme in 1975, whilst they were members of the British rock group 10cc.

Taped or permanently attached to the body of an instrument, the Gizmotron uses small, motor driven plastic/rubber wheels to make the strings vibrate, yielding resonant, synthesizer-like sounds from each string, similar to a hurdy-gurdy. The device was famously used by Jimmy Page on parts of the Led Zeppelin album In Through the Out Door.[3]

Musitronics, 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."[4] In a bid to solve problems with the Gizmotron, Musitronics hired Bob Moog 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.[5]

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.

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.[4] The Gizmotron 2.0 debuted at the summer NAMM show in 2015[6] and was released to the public in 2016.

  1. ^ 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 Mellotron, Orchestron, and Birotron.[citation needed]
  2. ^ "The Gizmotron is the strangest guitar device you've never heard of". A.Side. 13 January 2016. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. ^ Page, Jimmy (2020). Jimmy Page: The Anthology. Guildford, Surrey, England: Genesis Publications. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-905662-61-6.
  4. ^ a b Dregni, Michael (18 March 2015). "Gizmotron | Vintage Guitar® magazine". Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  5. ^ 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 http://www.gearphoria.com/e-mag/v3n1/24
  6. ^ "Guitar Player - Gear". 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018.