A Reader staffer shares three musical obsessions, then asks someone (who asks someone else) to take a turn.
Philip is curious what’s in the rotation of . . .
Julia Miller, guitarist and composer
Hagström Swede Patch 2000 In the late 70s the Hagström Swede Patch 2000 guitar became the world’s first production synth-guitar hybrid. (Ampeg provided the onboard circuitry and pitch/glide pedals.) The guitar looks normal, but the neck is wired to transmit input to a synthesizer—in contrast to modern MIDI guitars, which rely on hexaphonic pickups, the MIDI information is transferred when the string touches the fret. This is a mind-blowingly different approach: it’s focused on the left hand rather than the right, and there’s no issue with pitch tracking. For an “expanded guitarist,” it’s conceptually a vital reference.
