Milwaukee Servoelectric Guitar is an ingenious experimental instrument. Individual servos for each string control the string tension, with a clever compensator wheel arrangement. The servos are powered by low cost home made amplifiers. The tension / frequency sensing circuit is a novel design incorporating a potentiometer and springs.

These automated guitars are available from the Ragtime Automated Music company.The Ragtime company continues the tradition of piano-roll player pianos and fairground organs, but using modern technology.MIDI files are used to drive individual solenoids which act as string pluckers and fretters.

Guitar robots anyone? Take a look at GuitarBot – built as part of the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR) project by Eric Singer, Kevin Larke and David Bianciardi.