This is the Music Pole. It's a length of plastic tube covered in brass contact strips (the prototype used that metal window tape for burgular alarms) which works as a particularly baffling MIDI controller. It's played with 'Thumbletz' - bits of conducting material stuck Jacko-style to your thumbs. It was designed by Ragz Tuttle a jazz pianist from Chico, California, and there's a fantastically clever theory behind the arrangement of keys around the pole. Ragz seems to mainly use it to play bass, but it can control anything. This video of Ragz in action gives you a sense of the thing. There's no price yet, but Ragz has a proper manufacturer lined up in Chico. Still, probably no need to sell shares in Fender just yet.
Posted by Tom Whitwell. 
