What has more strings than a Rock Ock, spins around like a whirling dervish, and sounds like a cross between a steel drum and an electric violin? Why, a spin-tar, of course.

Somebody stop me if this actually exists. There are a lot of obscure musical instruments in the world, and I’m not an expert.

A while back, I discovered a video of the “Rock Ock“, a completely insane eight-necked guitar that is somewhat impractical for anyone with only two arms to play. The idea must have been fermenting somewhere in my head, because last night I had a dream that featured a musical instrument that packs in even more strings, but in a significantly more playable format.

Picture an upside-down salad spinner. Or, if you’re more poetically inclined, a spinning prayer wheel. Or perhaps just a big old steel drum that somebody has upturned and placed on top of a DJ’s turntable.

String guitar-strings (necks, no necks, I haven’t thought this through) all the way around the circumference of this object. There would be room for as many strings as a harp – at least. There’s room for a wider-than-normal range of regular guitar strings, a bass guitar, plus multiple sets of alternate tunings, all on one instrument, and all instantly available to the musician.

Add a crank handle on top so that the musician can easily rotate it. I’m picturing this being played in a seated position, much like you would play Hawaiian guitar. The strings could have pickups on them, and the central resonant cavity would also have plenty of room for a mic.

In addition, since the musician would be sitting anyhow, it could have built-in effects pedals in its base. For bonus points, multiple people could play this at once. It could also work with a bow, for added weirdness.

Am I nuts, or would this look pretty cool on stage?