Actual guitar with a clock movement embedded into its center. The second hand has a small plectrum attached to it. At each hour, the second hand strums back and forth to play some tune on the strings. By clever arrangement of mechanically operated, rubber-tipped fingers located on the neck, the fretting of notes can be managed. Built into the body of the guitar would be an amplifier, plus various effects.
At each hour, instead of the normal tolling of the clock bells, the Grandfather Guitar Clock would play a reverb-laden chord arrangement, or The Riff From Smoke On The Water, or what-have-you. It would be programmable, and re-programmable.-- xrayTed, Dec 03 2004 (?) Elvis clock http://www.gifts-ha...products/p33921.htmsorry, I couldn't resist [dentworth, Dec 03 2004] (?) would make a nice clock... http://www.harmony-...Martin-00042ecb.jpg [normzone, Dec 03 2004] Hah! Here we go, from Listology.....Songs with time in their titles.... http://www.listolog...fm/content_id.12725 [normzone, Dec 03 2004] Very kitsch. Why the second-hand, though? It seems like it would complicate the time-keeping function of the clock, which a seperate mechanism would not.-- contracts, Dec 03 2004 I've heard of "banjo clocks"(*) but never a "guitar clock". Cute.
(*) A "banjo clock" was a wall-hanging clock with a relatively long pendumum (over 12") whose case was wider at the base than at the top so as to accommodate the swinging pendulum. I would conjecture that by the time Henry Clay Work wrote "Sequel to Grandfather's Clock" (1879 I think) even those were obsolete since the "vain stuck-up thing on the wall" of the song goes "tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick" on eigth notes.-- supercat, Dec 03 2004 you could locate this in category: product: clock, and there are many subs of clock to choose from
I like the idea, but it conjures up a picture of a Wal-Mart style clock, guitar shaped with a gawd-awful casio chip in it playing "smoke on the water". or worse yet, some Elvis tune.-- dentworth, Dec 03 2004 At midnight, the strains of "At The Midnight Hour" chime.-- normzone, Dec 03 2004 [contracts] I think a separate mechanism would detract from the overall appeal. Having the clock hand participate in the action is simply charming, I believe.
[dentworth] this would be an actual guitar, so no casio chip.-- xrayTed, Dec 03 2004 I'd would love to own a nice acoustic version, a Martin or some such thing. [goes off to search for song titles about hours of the day]
[Edits]
From "The Worst Country Songs of All Time"
"I Got In At 2 With A 10 And Woke Up At 10 With A 2"-- normzone, Dec 03 2004 [+]This is definitely not your grandfather's clock!-- Jscotty, Feb 02 2010 random, halfbakery