"The Apollo" - An electric expression bar

N=1 design. A build for a friend and a challenge to myself to go from ideation to completion in 4 weeks.

The first step is introducing the project to the user and discussing what I thought were the desired solutions. The second step, throw out my original ideas. The new goal was to make a guitar-mounted expression bar, allowing the user to control pedal effects via a hand control, solving a combination of problems.

Hand drawings of ideations which came from interviews with Paul

The prototype was functional but bulky.

Image of the first prototype, a red clip on device with exposed electronics, in my hand

The second prototype was much smaller but still needed some work done with the clamping system, at this stage the set width was designed for a specific guitar width. An on-on switch was added to allow for a reverse of the control

Image of prototype 2 mounted on a guitar.

Next, lots and lots of tuning the form.

Testing printed parts for tapping and metal hardware.

The end product included aluminum reinforced resin parts, a pivoting jaw allowing convex guitar surfaces, adjustable clamp width, bar length, and much more.

Image of the final product on a custom telecaster

See below the initial testing by the user.

See the Apollo used in a performance at Red Gorilla Studios.