Moving Led's

[b5111987]

im putting LED's in a fretboard that move further up the fretbord the harder you play like here http://www.simscustom.com/html/simsleds.htm click on video at bottom right of page

i bought a Super Sensitive 2 x 8-LED Mono Audio Level Indicator from http://www.canakit.com/ and have built it and it works fine but i want the leds all the same colour now i dont know what type i need

as in opperating tempreture if theres any type of voltage issue to deal with or anything. The leds will be covered by clear plastic aswell to get them level with the fretboared so they may start to get hot after a while

can anyone tell me the LED's i need

[crafty]

LEDs that small don't get hot. Use any LED that will be suitable for the voltage driving the circuit. Just about anything you'll find at RadioShack should be fine.

[MI Guitars]

Have you tried wiring it into the guitar yet?

I built a kit like that and it works great. The only problem is it created crackling and slightly distorts the guitars tone.

Mark

[kh15]

please dont go to radio shack and get leds go to www.lsdiodes.com their cheaper and better quailty and are about 3 time brighter, non difused, and have a maximum voltage of 4.5 volts before they blow! r/s leds can only handle 2.1v!

[GuitarGuy]

please dont go to radio shack and get leds go to www.lsdiodes.com their cheaper and better quailty and are about 3 time brighter, non difused, and have a maximum voltage of 4.5 volts before they blow! r/s leds can only handle 2.1v!

←

Wicked link. Thanks!

[sepultura999]

Heck search ebay too. There was a guy selling 1000 red LEDs for 20 bucks lol.

[crafty]

r/s leds can only handle 2.1v!

That's because they're rated at 1.5 in standard brightness...

How much voltage is going to each of those LEDs right now on the board? Jameco has some good LEDs for almost any rating.

Edited July 20, 2005 by crafty

[lovekraft]

...r/s leds can only handle 2.1v!...

<long-winded explanation/clarification - skip ahead if this makes your head hurt>

First of all, the forward voltage of any particular LED is simply the minimum working voltage for that unit - any less and it won't light. Second, except for the so-called 12 volt LEDs (which are actually an LED with a current-limiting resistor in series in one package, designed to be completely idiot-proof), can be run at any DC voltage whatsoever, so long as a properly selected current limiter (a JFET CCS, current limiting diode, or, usually, a resistor) is used - I've run plenty of RadioShack red LEDs from a 9 volt battery with a 470 ohm resistor in series, and never had one fail. Third, forward voltage is a result of the LED's composition, and generally increases with shorter wavelengths, so while most reds will have a forward voltage of about 2-2.5volts, blues will generally show a 3-4 volt drop, and UVs usually slightly higher. </explanation>

Do all the LEDs in your circuit have the same value resistor in series with each, or does the value change from the greens to the yellows and reds? If they're all the same, you shouldn't have any problems simply hooking up whatever color you like to any output. If they're different, simply use the resistor used in the original circuit for the color you've chosen. And if you want to use either blues or whites, link to a schematic, and we can show you how to figure out what resistor to use.