rubber314chicken Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 So my friend has a ton of guitar parts, and wants to build stuff (guitars?) with them and my assistance. Got me thinking of getting a second guitar- I've learned from my first one what to (and not to) do. I'd buy a preslotted fretboard, yada yada yada. Anyways, what got me thinking is that without having to buy pickups and some other electronics and stuff, I'd be able to make this guitar a bit nicer without spending a ton of money. I'm thinking (semi) hollow body based of a start with f-holes, carved top, binding, basically the works. Maple neck, not sure on bolt on or set. Head stock would be based off of the schecter c-1, only with a 4+2 setup. The one crazy idea I got was a mini switch that controls a circuit that will take the output and then have a 4-channel output. I saw a circuit like this: http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/organ.asp but it ran on DC. I know I'll need a 9-volt and a switch on the guitar to operate this. I was wondering a few things: 1) does anyone know of a circuit like that (a color organ I guess?) 2) will running the output to both the input jacks adversely affect sound? 3) what is the best way to go about putting leds in the fretboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 As far as led's on the fretboard, I actually saw a really great photo essay on using a single led and fiber optic cable. It uses a ton less power than individual led's on the fretboard. You can find it here. I don't completely understand your first two questions, so I am unable to comment on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batfink Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Errr...if i'm not mistaken that's a sound-to-light circuit. They normally work on a microphone, i'm really not sure that taking a direct output from the guitar and feeding it into the circuit would work...perhaps Pete has some idea, he's a bit of an electronics whizz. As for LED's in a neck....side or front ? Anyway, if you want the battery to last as long as possible and all the lights to be the same intensity when the battery runs down you'll need a resistor for each one, or one per pair at least and they'll need to be run in parrallel not series. Just as a point i'd say gigging with a guitar which runs sound to light would be a nightmare and probably give you a headache. If it's just for fun i'd say use a simple chaser unit that you should be able to find as a kit in whatever your countries major high street electronics retailer. It'll be a lot smaller and easier to install. If you want to go the fibre optic way as suggested by Ripthorn here's an easy place to start: Fibre optic thingy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubber314chicken Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I'm talking in the front for the sound-to-light. for the side I'd do the fiber optic single led thing. The light chaser looks cool, and I think It'd be cooler to have that running than straight lights on the front, but if you have ever seen Drake and Josh go Hollywood, they have this amp that does kinda what I'm talking about: You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnpxJPd68UI The music he was playing exactly matched the lights. I know something that elaborate wouldn't be possible, but I figured something could be done on a smaller, simpler (and more realistic) scale. Maybe just having whether the volume of the guitar is above a certain level controls if the lights are on. What would I need to do to control that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 There was a thread not that long ago about this...sometimes they are called "colour organs" but if you find that your organ changes colour like that...seek medical advice... Have a bit of a search as I know I waxed lyrical about the ups and downs of such a scheme. Also, lots on LED things about...check it out... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubber314chicken Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 but if you find that your organ changes colour like that...seek medical advice... hmm... I guess you are right, but something like this: would be great to have running all the fret markers. One tri color led would be good. I guess it comes down to whether this would do anything to the signal the guitar was sending or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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