Rogviler Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Once I was at a Doobie Brothers concert and I think it was the bassist who had these glowing red fret dots... Then I saw a kit in a catalog so you could add them to your own guitar. This was several years ago. I recently have been searching for that kit and/or an online tutorial on how they're installed, but I haven't been able to find anything at all, even the catalog isn't carrying them anymore. It's like I woke up in the Twilight Zone. Am I just crazy? Did they exist at one time or was that a dream I had once? Mostly what I'm wanting to know is how they're powered. And if anyone knows- Is it possible to power one superbright LED off of just the power going into a guitar or would I burn the house down? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokstr Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Sure it can be done, and has been done. The old guitarist for Limp Bizkit had it on one of his guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 SimsCustom Try here. They do LED inlays for the bassist from Limp Bizkit and Steve Vai. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jai Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 there is a company called omipick or something that their basses have leds in the necks standard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjaguar13 Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I'm doing this right now. I have to wait for a StewMac order to arrive before it's complete, but I use red LEDs powered off a 9v battery. As far as I know, you have to have a battery. I use a stereo jack for the switch. As soon as I get clear epoxy and the pot to control to LEDs blinking, I'll be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 As far as I know, you have to have a battery. Unless you have magic self powered LED's you do. However, I'll assume you have about 10 led's going into the neck. If you run those straight to the battery, a standard square 9v battery will last only a VERY short time considering the current drain that's goin to be on it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjack Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 LEDs use very little juice, itl wil last plenty long enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Is it possible to power one superbright LED off of just the power going into a guitar There is no power going into a guitar. The pickups generate the power that drives the cabs. Though there's usually a pre-amp and a power-amp between the guitar and the cabs, to make it meaningful to try and hear it. But there's no power going into the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jai Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 the other option could be using only one l.e.d (or two l.e.d.s for different options) and use fiber optics going to the fret marker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the third eye Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 this has been discussed before: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...&hl=fiber+optic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power Violence Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I'm doing this right now. I have to wait for a StewMac order to arrive before it's complete, but I use red LEDs powered off a 9v battery. As far as I know, you have to have a battery. I use a stereo jack for the switch. As soon as I get clear epoxy and the pot to control to LEDs blinking, I'll be done. How would you make it blink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the third eye Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 it wouldn't be hard as long as you have somewhere to place a small circuit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted July 26, 2003 Report Share Posted July 26, 2003 LEDs use very little juice, itl wil last plenty long enough. Actually, if you have 10 or so LED's in parellel, they're gonna use quite a bit of juice so the battery won't last that long. And you can buy self blinking LED's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 actually you can buy self blinking leds there feylya and ratshack has had them since 2002 at least Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 actually you can buy self blinking leds That's what I said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ansil Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 my mistake. i had been up all night and obviously mis read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 No worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 You could also drive a 2-color LED with a low frequency sine or triangular wave. At a low cycle rate it would alternate between red and green, but at a higher rate it would appear yellow. I think Craig Anderton used that idea as a modulation indicator on an analog chorus/delay project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 1) Can you get a Red/Green bi-colour LED 2) How would a 2 colour LED produce 3 colours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 1) Can you get a Red/Green bi-colour LED 2) How would a 2 colour LED produce 3 colours? 1. As someone mentioned in another thread, you can. 2. By alternating quickly between red and green light, the eye perceives yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 Hmmm, interesting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whisky182 Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 this whole led thing sounds like a cool idea!! how hard would it be to do this myself?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptMysterio Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 i'm just wondering how you could avoid the truss rod when lighting the dots. i'm not sure how big the leds are that are being used, but i'd guess that they are taller than the thickness of the fb. would you be routing into the neck or the back of the fb? or a little of both? i'd love to dig in and take a crack at this. maybe i'll pick up another saga kit so if i botch it, i won't feel so bad. i'd guess you could get an hour or two at full brightness with 1 9v w/10 leds, maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjaguar13 Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 I'll take a picture of my LED guitar neck soon. I used 5mm LEDs and they were bigger than the fretboard, but they have a lot of acrylic that can be sounded down. I just took the LEDs to my grinder until they were about the same size as the fretboard, then I just had to do a little final sanding to get them to fit almost perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted February 9, 2004 Report Share Posted February 9, 2004 I'll take a picture of my LED guitar neck soon. Did you get it all working , Justin? I sure would like to see pics. Don't tease! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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