On Board Effect's

[wickerwolf]

Hey, after seeing various on board effects such as

http://auctions.yahoo.com/i:Efector%20Expl...fects:120905829

http://store.guitarfetish.com/anammotuampa.html and http://artecsound.com/active%20circuit.html

Ive been wanting to build/incorparate some into my next project. Currently ive got an Artec QDD2 in 1 of my guitars but thats as far as my experience with on board effects goes. So were do i start to create say my own on board distortion?

So can any1 point me in the right direction etc?

Thanks, Wolf

Edited March 27, 2007 by wickerwolf

[GregP]

I dunno, dude. I'm all about versatility, but to me "distortion" on-board is the wrong application for on-board fx. I think that EQ, filters, and Compression are the ones to consider.

[wickerwolf]

I dunno, dude. I'm all about versatility, but to me "distortion" on-board is the wrong application for on-board fx. I think that EQ, filters, and Compression are the ones to consider.

I chose distortion since i thought it'd be the easiest starting point

With my current setup i use my Boss GP-20 for distortion (Which sounds sweet) or run thru the 2nd gain channel n my Laney VH100R. I was looking at inplementing an EQ but having 5 sliders on the front of the guitar such as the guitar here http://alexplorer.net/guitar/guitars/vwberger.html doesnt look right to me. So my thoughts were to add in 3 concentric pots to the guitar which would then go

-Pot 1

--stack 1 = Eq slider 1

--stack 2 = eq slider 2

-pot 2

--stack 1 = eq slider 3

etc

etc

But im not sure if this would be do able and how to make a start on it.

[GregP]

If it's a scratch build, you could recess EQ sliders into the control cavity, if you make your own from wood or other workable material. The reason for "recessing" them would be so that you don't accidentally put them out of whack when you're playing, but you could still adjust them easily enough with your pick or whatever. Not to elegant "on the fly" like that, but it could be done, if you primarily want to "set it and forget it" or make changes between songs.

[Acousticraft]

If you want a simple overdrive to fit have a look at

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p..._Overdrive.html

[Sambo]

Distortions do work reasonably well in the actual guitar (as matt bellamy has shown ) but, only if you don't use any filter type effects after them IMO.

People tend to think its simpler having the effects onboard, but you have to piss around with powering the damn things (not too bad as simple distortion circuits dont draw much power) and switching (how many knobs do you want on your axe?!). Personally, i tried it, not worth the bother. But if you want to try, run along to Tonepad.com or generalguitargadgets.com and have a look at some of the simple distrtion circuits there for a start.

S