spacecowboy Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I was thinking of place LEDs inside the body, so when u plug in the guitar it could light up the leds. Or would i need a battery for the Leds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 You'd need a battery. The current generated by the pickups is not nearly enough to power led's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 (edited) LED's defently need a battery. A single LED depending on what voltage, I use the mega brite ones, and they run off 3 volts. you could use one of those larger watch battery's I asume you want to light up the F holes? I suppose you could do some creative work and use a stereo jack, and wire up a battery at the other end to send the voltage down the stereo cable. I dont know what happens when you have the guitar electronics and a battery voltage share a ground. Edited December 10, 2007 by billm90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 for piezo equipped guitars, the ground is common, but I don't know if there's any sort of electrickery preventing any sort of ill effects. It certainly can't hurt to find out, a stereo jack, watch better, and LED amount to what, $10? Even if that doesn't work, all you need to do is replace the stereo jack with one of those jacks that has an internal switch (stewmac carries them). peace, rus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 um im kinda confused with the jack,bat and led, how would that look in a diagram? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 um im kinda confused with the jack,bat and led, how would that look in a diagram? uh how about a model? It's the best I can do. not too good with diagrams http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...26108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...26108CbNWjJwza0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Aw man I had the same idea a couple weeks ago! It'll look awesome I think. Post some pics when your finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Do u solder the - + to the the lithium batter? Or is there a thing that will hold the battery? :S sorry im kinda noob at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Do u solder the - + to the the lithium batter? Or is there a thing that will hold the battery? :S sorry im kinda noob at that. I have soldered wires to batterys before. it is kind of a PITA. Also once the battery is dead you will have to resolder a new one to it. I would try and find something that holds the battery(s) and modify that. I found a cheap alarm thing at the 99 cent store. This is basically a magentic switch, and you put it on a window or door. when it is opened, the alarm sounds when the magnetic switch is pulled apart. I picked it up for the piezo inside. It runs on 3 watch battery's, totalling 3v it also had a micro on off slider switch. I figured it for a deal. 99 cents and I get all those things out of it. Anyhow I cut the case off and used the battery holder portion to power an led at the nut of my guitar. I would do soemthing like that. they also have mini led lights of all types. you can have a powered led for .99$ or go to radio shack and but an led for soemthing like $2.50 without any power source. the battery holding section fits between the tuners on the back of my head stock. If you want any more help with this. just let me know exactly what you want to do, maybe I can rig you up something quickly to get the ball rolling. I have a semi hollow body with F holes, and 2 hollow bodies with F holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Sick man! Thanks alot Billm90! I'll check out the dollar store 2morrow and radioshack or La Source.... lol quebec. Ya i was thinking of maybe putting it in the f-holes and when u plug in the jack it lights up, and also maybe have a light underneath the pickguard to this lespaul/violin guitar im making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Sick man! Thanks alot Billm90! I'll check out the dollar store 2morrow and radioshack or La Source.... lol quebec. Ya i was thinking of maybe putting it in the f-holes and when u plug in the jack it lights up, and also maybe have a light underneath the pickguard to this lespaul/violin guitar im making. I made a les paul pick guard out of clear plexi, I have an LED in the neck pointing into the side of the pick guard. When it lights up, it illuminates the sides of the plexi kind of like a neon sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Hahah cool i check our the LEDs in the neck, looks pretty sick. But u glued those in? How long do they last and...when they die how do u change them?? Or even turn them on? Can i see a pick of ur LED pickguard sounds cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 LEDs generally don't die unless they're pretty drastically physically damaged somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 LEDs generally don't die unless they're pretty drastically physically damaged somehow. ...or if you wire them backwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Leds dont usually burn out. If you power them backwards they dont do anything. They wont work backwards. I often just use a battery to figure out polarity, and more often then not my first try is backwards, and no damage. The only way I have killed an LED, too much power. or physically sanding the LED down too far. All my LED's are wired to a micro switch. All guitars have a 9v inside of them. I have mounted the switched and 9 volts everywhere you can imagine. I will try to get a pic up soon. My camera takes huge pics, then DL em, then I have to crop them, then upload them, then post a link. Just thinking about it makes me feel lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 I had no idea how hard it would be to get the amber light to photograph. These pictures are horrible... but it is all I can get of it sort of lit up. I had to add white light I bought to show the guard shape. I asure you it looks a lot better in person. It is suppose to be amber, as you can see in the last contrasting light color pics http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...26108CbNWjJwza0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 I just tried to do a few more pics since I have everything up and running. Still not much luck. the pickguard looks non existant in normal light. I am trying to get a relfection off it. http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...25108CbNWjJwza0 here is a truss rod cover I did with plexi as well http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc3...26108CbNWjJwza0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 (edited) man thats pretty cool, did u make the pickguard urself?? Edited December 18, 2007 by spacecowboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 man thats pretty cool, did u make the pickguard urself?? Yeah, I just cut it out on a band saw, lightly sanded the edges. Then I took a bottle propane torch and hit the edges of it real quick. this gives it a finished look instead of sanding scratches. I actually built a new top on that guitar and the bridge as well. it was a electric LP copy flat top with the tune-o-matic bridge and 2 humbuckers. I could not stand it any longer, so it is now a nylon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 (edited) awesome man. Do u have msn by the way? Edited December 19, 2007 by spacecowboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 Prepare to get spammed out of existence. Dude, you NEVER want to post your address on a message board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2007 Prepare to get spammed out of existence. Dude, you NEVER want to post your address on a message board. Oh i didnt know I didnt think anyone would want 2 add me anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billm90 Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 I dont have MSN... I asume that is a messenger? one of many... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TemjinStrife Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 I wired an LED with resistor into an EMG active circuit and the guitar sounds great... even better than a similar EMG-equipped guitar sans LED. I wonder if it has an effect on the tone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted January 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 Thats pretty cool i wonder Ya its msn messenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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