This is the first prototype photonic guitar. A photonic guitar works like an acoustic instrument but instead of the resonance of wood and acoustic vibrations it uses the resonance of electricity and electromagnetic waves (light). I first created this guitar as a design tool for electric guitars before I fully recognized the significance of the underlying physics. It wasn't just like a guitar, it is a guitar. I suspect some people reading this don't believe me but that's ok, neither did my old physics grad school at first. Same with the patent office. I've linked an article about me from the Dallas Morning News.
While the photonic guitar produces music it doesn't produce sounds. The waves it creates are electromagnetic (light). While electric guitars match the same frequency as an acoustic guitar, the photonic guitar matches the same physical wave size. So the 20 Hz - 20 kHz audible range is equivalent to 20 MHz - 20 GHz. We can't see those waves either. So I created a guitar plugin, a physics based model for the photonic guitar driven by measurements, to recreate and apply the photonic musical effect to electric guitars.
For years I could only wonder what the photonic guitar was going to sound like. From physics I would argue it would have properties of an acoustic guitar. Both systems satisfy the wave equation and have the same boundary conditions. In practice I'm most surprised by the impact it has on distortion, noise, and feed forward. Feed forward is analogous to feedback but doesn't require holding the guitar up to the amp speaker. That and the fact that the guitar itself can produce a delay effect. I've linked to one of my favorite demos so far.
Sadly the article never provides the answer.