MIT student Amit Zoran has created an interesting modular guitar. His design allows a player to swap out soundboards and change electronics to mimic different size resonator chambers.

The Chameleon Guitar – so named for its ability to mimic different instruments – is an electric guitar whose body has a separate central section that is removable. This inserted section, the soundboard, can be switched with one made of a different kind of wood, or with a different structural support system, or with one made of a different material altogether. Then, the sound generated by the electronic pickups on that board can be manipulated by a computer to produce the effect of a different size or shape of the resonating chamber.

Although the article suggests otherwise, I’m not convinced of its potential as a commercial success marketed to guitar players–I can’t imagine that an average player would want to collect soundboards or change soundboards mid-show, much less build a new one. Also, given that there are amp/guitar modelers out there that can make an electric guitar sound like anything from a nylon-string acoustic to a harp, I’m not sure I’d need Chameleon. But, not having ever played it, I could be completely mistaken about it’s coolness factor.

I do however  see the potential value for guitar manufacturers and luthiers who might want to experiment with different structural supports, woods, and guitar sizes without having to build an entire guitar.

Update: Feb. 6, 2009

Found this article about the Chameleon over at Wired, accompanied by a (non-embeddable) video of Amit playing it.