Methods and apparatus for stringed controllers and instruments

1. A game controller comprising:

a musical instrument having a fingerboard and a plurality of strings extending along the fingerboard;

a plurality of frets disposed on the fingerboard and underlying the plurality of strings, at least one of the frets having a plurality of electrically conductive zones that are electrically insulated from each other and each zone corresponds to a different string in the plurality of strings;

at least one first sensor adapted to detect fingering of the fingerboard by a user of the game controller, at least in part, by detecting contacts between the strings and the frets;

at least one second sensor comprising a polyphonic pickup having a plurality of wire-wound coils coupled to corresponding magnetic returns, each coil and corresponding magnetic return being associated with a particular string in the plurality of strings, the second sensor adapted to detect striking of at least one of the plurality of strings by the user of the game controller;

at least one control module that is coupled to the at least one first sensor and the at least one second sensor and that provides at least one electrical signal indicating the fingering of the fingerboard by the user and indicating the striking of at least one of the plurality of strings by the user; and

wherein the game controller is a dual mode device that is capable of operating in a first mode as the game controller and in a second mode as a stringed musical instrument, and wherein the game controller is tunable to enable the plurality of strings to play the full range of notes available on a guitar; and

at least one user control that is capable of operating volume and tone when the game controller is in the second mode, and capable of operating menu-navigation and other game features when the game controller is in the first mode.

2. The game controller of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of strings and at least some of the plurality of frets are electrically conductive, and wherein the at least one first sensor is adapted to detect which of the electrically conductive strings has contacted the electrically conductive fret.

3. The game controller of claim 1 , further comprising a monophonic pickup coupled to the polyphonic pickup, and wherein the monophonic pickup and polyphonic pickup are disposed in a housing configured as a single component on the game controller.

4. The game controller of claim 3 , wherein the monophonic pickup is a stacked humbucker pickup adapted to detect movement of the plurality of strings.

5. The game controller of claim 1 , wherein the polyphonic pickup is a hexaphonic pickup adapted to detect movement of each of the strings in the plurality of strings.

6. The game controller of claim 1 , wherein the magnetic return is made of magnetizable material including any one of iron, steel, other ferrous material, or any combination thereof.

7. The game controller of claim 6 , wherein each of the coils includes a corresponding neodymium magnet and magnetic core.

8. The game controller of claim 1 , further comprising a string dampener having a plurality of separate engagement surfaces adapted to dampen vibration of at least one of the plurality of strings after it is struck by the user to facilitate detection of distinct string strikes.

9. The game controller of claim 8 , wherein each separate engagement surface corresponds to a particular string or subset of strings in the plurality of strings.

10. The game controller of claim 8 , wherein the dampener comprises any one of a mechanical dampener or an electromechanical dampener.

11. The game controller of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical signal provides control information for interacting with a video game.