Using the insides of a USB gamepad, a few switches and sliders from an old tape 4-track, and 3 pressure sensors, I hacked up my US Strat with tactile MIDI controllers. (Everyone said it’s madness to do this to such a nice guitar, so I made sure everything is removable and kept the original 80′s scratchplate/electronics intact!)

I wanted to create MIDI controllers at all the points where the players body touches the guitar whilst playing, allowing the player to express their sound not just via the strings and fretboard, but by using the natural changes in pressure on certain parts of the guitar whilst playing.

The sensors are placed on the bridge, scratchplate, and upper body, with toggle switches to control their usage and an additional slider controller. A USB gamepad is used as the A>D to the computer, where the raw data from the sensors is converted into MIDI controller data, which is used to manipulate digital effects that are processing the guitar sound.