1970s Godley & Creme Gizmotron Demo Record

A vintage flexidisc promoting a rare and short-lived product, the Godley & Creme Gizmotron (a.k.a. Gizmo), a device that allowed guitarists to play sustained notes and chords on their guitars. Shown is the six-string variation. A bass version was also made.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• godley
• creme
• guitar
• bass
• gizmo
• gizmotron
• music
• 1970s
• rock
• demonstration
• promo
• promotional
• vinyl
• jafafahots
• jafafa
• hots

[Geritopia]

I would buy Gizmotron if I could. Too bad everyone writes this off as a relic of the analogue world. That's exactly why it's cool. Another generation of these would've ironed out the kinks.

Hey Godley and Creme, iron out your differences and make me one today! Make it snappy!!!

[jafafah0ts]

I've seen something similar being sold on eBay called the EBow, seems to be a current (or at least more recent) product as there are several available. Dunno how well it compares though.

[Boski391]

Why is nobody picking up the pieces and making this? This is awesome.  Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin used this on the songs "In The Evening" and "Carouselambra" off the album In Through The Outdoor. I believe that Page also used this for his DeathWish II Soundtrack...if you listen at around 1:35, that first note sounds like some of the same notes use on the instrumentals on the DeathWish II soundtrack.

[zzzxxyy]

Hot jam from 4:02 onwards. This device needs an update! Also, was that Lol himself at the beginning?

[poetfravia]

@Geritopia The patents have expired, you can manufacture this exact device.

[lanzdona]

I HAVE one. Bought it NEW (when it first came out (the music store in town couldn't get rid of it so I got it 'for a song') But... the weak parts, the plastic pieces, crumbled after a couple of years. It also needing regulating often. That being said, I loved it! what a sound! Sax was really easy, like on the beginning of "Consequences". Last year, I sent it on loan to someone with the proper connections for possible repair (they wanted to sample it), but they said it just wasn't possible.

[TheH0B00]

is it just me or does anyone else think that this is where the guitar hero and rock band guitars got their guitar ideas from?????

[cordedpoodle]

@woodrailking there was also a keyboard organ like instrument with spinning wheels that was used as far back as Bach I believe. The Organistrum a similar violin like device goes back to the 10th century. piano.about.com/od/Piano-Histo­ry/p/organistrum-instrument.ht­m

[cordedpoodle]

Yeah, you can't play chords using an e-bow and you don't have the delicate finger control using a Fernandes Sustainer. The Gizmotron was musically so superior. e-bow should put together a bridge over the strings with six activators so that its more like the Gizmotron. In any case listen to Bill Nelson use these effects on "After the Satellite Sings." You won't be disappointed.

[candelise]

@SarahBellumOriginal Surely, teething problems that could've been sorted out.

[NPRMc]

I was a hard core effects junkie in the 90s when all the retro stuff was back and did a lot of shopping around (wasting money) on 48th street in NYC for old stuff but I never heard of this thing before, I'm impressed but it looks like you had to mount it or drill it onto your guitar which doesn't seem like it'd be all that much fun. Ebow had a similar effect but one string at a time.

[woodrailking]

The Automatic Virtuosa was playing a violin with robot fingers and spinning celluloid discs in 1905.