Embodiments of the present invention provide an integrated digital control apparatus (10) for a stringed musical instrument. In some embodiments, the apparatus (10) generally includes an input (26) coupled with at least a portion of the musical instrument, a digital control element (28) coupled with at least one of the instrument's pickups, and a controller (30) coupled with the input (26) and the digital control element (28). The controller (30) is operable to control the digital control element (28) to vary at least one characteristic of the signal generated by the pickup in response to functioning of the input (26) by a musician. Such a configuration enables the musician to easily vary signal characteristics, such as volume or tone, while playing the instrument.