NeckFX
NeckFX was a personal project I conceived of and prototyped with the help of my friends, Steven Frehn and Ian Schaser. We designed, provisionally patented, and built NeckFX, an interactive LED guitar. Early versions were built at TechShop in San Francisco. I successfully coordinated our team of three to launch a Kickstarter campaign and implemented connections with guitar manufacturers to produce the first product line.
NeckFX was used by Maroon 5, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! , Imagine Dragons, and Chris Holmes, among other bands and artists.
The concept is simple. Power is sent down the guitar strings and through the frets. When a note is played, it completes the circuit and illuminates the LED. Initial prototypes were built by milling out the guitar neck, inserting the electronics, and then applying resin epoxy to encapsulate. Later versions were built using a CNC router to produce the CAD designed fretboard housing the electronics. This subassembly was epoxied onto the guitar neck. The PCB was produced using Illustrator, a laser machine and an etchant, similar to this instructable:
https://www.instructables.com/Double-sided-PCBs-with-a-laser-cutter/
