Have you ever heard a lick in your head but didn’t have any way to record it before it was forgotten? Gibson thinks it’s come up with a solution to that dilemma with a new instrument cable it calls a “Memory Cable” that actually contains a flash audio recorder inside.

The Memory Cable records up to 13 hours of 44.1kHz/16 bit audio on a 4GB micro-SD card, either continuously or only when your playing. It uses an AA battery and a LR44 battery to work, which could be a problem, since we all know how much musicians hate to change batteries. If you run out of storage space, the Memory Cable deletes the oldest recorded material, so you’re always covered when it comes to recording your latest thoughts. The engineering was done by Tascam, who have always been a leader in digital recorders and which is now owned by Gibson.

The Gibson Memory Cable is 16 feet long and costs $99. It’s targeted to be available on May 15th.

I can’t decide if this is a brilliant invention or an idea that’s missed the boat. Anyone care to share their opinion?