Electric Guitar 2.0

I came across this Wired story about a new electric guitar.

The thing about electric guitars is that they have always been kind of stuck in the past; the classic designs of the Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul and the traditional acoustic guitar shape. The way the vibrations of the strings is converted into an electrical signal has barely changed since the 1920s, and because wood is still the best material to use, the kind of engineering knowledge that's been passed down through generations of craftsmen has been more relevant than the latest scientific breakthroughs .

That is, until now. The way an electric guitar works is by picking up on the vibrations of the strings with magnetic pickups; these convert the vibrations into an electrical signal, which is then amplified and processed in whatever way you like. Except the new Moog guitar uses the magnetic pickups, not just to pick up the vibrations, but also to change them. For example, the magnets can be used to keep a string vibrating for longer than it usually would, so an infitine sustain can be achieved. Or alternatively, it can do the opposite; supress a strings vibrations to that the note quickly dies off.

$6,500 is still a bit much for me to spend on a guitar (hell, $650 is a bit much for me to spend on a guitar) but presumably as the technology gets refined, I expect that either the price will come down or someone will come out with a cheap copy.