The Gizmo

The Gizmotron, originally developed and called the Gizmo, is an effects device for the electric guitar and bass guitar. It was invented in 1969 and patented in 1975 by the English rock musicians Kevin Godley and Lol Creme of the British rock group 10cc.

Taped or permanently attached to the body of an instrument, the original Gizmotron used small, motor driven plastic/rubber wheels to make the strings vibrate, yielding resonant, synthesizer-like sounds from each string, similar to a hurdy-gurdy. The device was famously used by Jimmy Page on parts of the Led Zeppelin album In Through the Out Door.

Musitronics, the company originally licensed to manufacture the commercial version of the Gizmotron, released the product to the public in 1979. Quality was inconsistent. According to Musitronics engineer Mike Beigel, "The product, though desired by many musicians at the time, simply could not be reliably manufactured and further – even at best – only worked on some notes of the instrument, guitar or bass." In a bid to solve problems with the Gizmotron, Musitronics hired Bob Moog to design an electronic device to "mask the inadequacies of the still unperfected product". Moog gave his opinion that he did not know how to "make it sound good enough" and advised that the project should be abandoned.