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Music Tech Monday: A hand-sized guitar that you can actually play

A pen-guitar that you can carry around

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Fretpen is a wireless one-stringed guitar apparatus, perfect for practicing jams on the go. Users can play melodies, chords, and solos on this little guitar that works with mobile devices like iOS smartphones. This gadget is also a functioning pen. The company, FretLabs, which developed this device, was fundraising on Kickstarter with an end goal of $35,000 until the company put the fundraising on hold last week.

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The spacing present on the guitar’s neck appears to be the equivalent of frets 9 to 12. The frets are made from steel while the back of the guitar’s neck is made from aerospace-grade alloy. The maple wood body of the minuscule guitar is played by changing the bottom four-way switch on the guitar. Users tap the frets to play the instrument because strumming is not necessary. The sound from the Fretpen is processed via Bluetooth LE through a special downloadable smartphone app. The player’s tapping on the Fretpen is translated into sound that can be heard through your phone’s speakers.

Users can enable acoustic or electric playing and add pedal effects like delay and reverb within the app itself. The guitar also functions as apen

Until FretLabs irons out its technical issues, we’ll have to stay tuned to see when the Kickstarter campaign resumes and if this FretPen technology will soon take off.

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Story via Kickstarter

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