About the lab

It’s not just what we’re doing: it’s about what you want to do! The Electric Guitar Innovation Lab (EGIL) explores opportunities for research, innovation, and education related to the electric guitar and the various components associated with the electric guitar including instrument design and modification, amplifiers, pickups, effects processors, and more. In addition to our own research trajectory, we work with musicians and companies to develop prototypes, explore proof-of-concept ideas, and much more! The lab is part of the research of V.J. Manzo , Associate Professor of Music at WPI and Principal Investigator (PI), and the efforts of the EGIL, therein, include collaborations with faculty, research affiliates, students and Lab RATs, and other key personnel as well as external professional musicians and innovators from the musical instruments industry . We are proud members of the Guild of American Luthiers, the Association for Technology in Music Instruction, and other organizations with a focus on stringed-instrument innovation.

If you have an idea that you would like to work on with us, please let us know; we regularly work with project sponsors to develop prototypes, proof-of-concept designs, and research experiments, and we'd be happy to discuss our sponsorship fees and IP protections based on the scope of your project.


Read More about the Lab and our Goals

Who We Are

Through the Electric Guitar Innovation Lab, WPI students and faculty work together in a variety of interdisciplinary and open-ended projects to develop new innovations related to the electric guitar, including the modification to instruments and components, stompboxes and other effects processors, amplifiers and speaker components, and related inventions and adaptations. We routinely reverse-engineer , 3D model , 3D scan , program and adapt existing parts and tools, and then create tool-pathing operations, fabricate parts, and perform real-world and software-based simulations.

What We Do

The projects we explore typically originate from real-world issues and obstacles guitarists face on stage and in the studio. We address these problems and often partner with key individuals from industry to create new areas of innovation. These sponsors include luthiers, engineers, manufacturers, and more.

Meet our team!

Get Involved!

We are always looking to collaborate with new project sponsors. The EGIL works with individual artists, non-profits, and companies to explore areas of specialized interest and develop new technology. These projects also present opportunities for students to gain real-world experience under advisement of the lab at PI.

Let us get in touch with you!

A few examples of what we do through EGIL

Have Questions or a Project Idea? Let's talk!

We regularly work with musicians and companies on new concepts—here's an example of what the process is like working with our lab!

email us at guitar@wpi.edu


amp

Tone-sculpting Projects

We explore unique ways to dial in great tone, including new approaches to layering composite sounds

stompboxes

Effects and Processors

We explore new effects and processes from subtle to extreme

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Instrument Modifications

Instrument-modding is often a related part of performance and we regularly use performance goals as a starting point for innovation

tubes

Analog and Digital Methods

We explore traditional and cutting-edge ways of processing guitar signals

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Amplification Projects

All of the amps in our lab go up to eleven

pickup

Transducer Research

We explore new ways of voicing instruments through pickups, sensors, and other transducers