psw

Thanks LK Now monkey I'm going to tell you that all of your questions have been answered elsewhere in the thread. It is not possible that you have read it all, let alone understood it, so how could any of us help you... Since you want specific directions, I want you immediately to go to page seven, second post with the word LINKS on it. This posts links to a lot of patents directly, no need for you to bother yourself with actually searching for it... Now before I even joined this forum I did months of searching on pickups and sustainer systems. I've never found anything specifically on how to build an ebow and was led here purely by my search for sustainers, bringing up Ansil's Sustainer Mod. Before you ask, this is different from what I'm doing... Now I have (despite my current crap job) a Post Graduate Degree in Information Services, that means I know what I know what I'm doing when I say I've looked. But don't be put off, I'm sure there's plenty more out there, I just can't find it. Like LK, I'm not mad at you either, I admire your curiosity but really, put it to use. Your posts are on every subject under the sun, concentrate on something achievable and really, really read stuff..and read it again and again. I realize your young, but give us a break here...even if I told you, I know that you don't have the equipment to make it possible let alone the know how. For Monkey, and everybody including myself I will down load the entire thread and index it sometime... At the moment though, low priority Now for developments I have built a compressor/limiter/preamp to act as the front end to the 386 amp to test drive these things upon LK's suggestion. I tried stomp box compressors but I think the gate is more important and it needs a preamp anyway... Had quite a few failures today with drivers so I went back over some of the other prototypes...the CP1 still works great...enough to renew my faith in the project. Going through the posts I saw it mentioned that it took the sustainiac boys 10 years to get to this stage, even after getting a hold of Micheal Brooks infinite guitar! Hope it wont take that long psw

monkey........... you gotta read this stuff, I'm sure there are pages on this thread on this and the fernandes and the floyd, etc. In fact I even put direct links to their patents!!!!! GET WITH THE PROGRAM Meanwhile, tested out some of the old designs...the CP1 really sounds good...even better with the preamp I'm using since it was first made...

Ansil reckons he built one but didn't detail it as I remember... on this thread I think...discussions on the ebow featured alot early on I'm fiddling around with a miniture one using my stuff but no luck as yet! DW - thanks for that I knew of the FAAS saddle system but not of the synth/midi compatability...not much on the circuit board so suspect it just sends a nice clean signal that's processed in Monkey's box as he said. I use string savers on my main strat, I'm really impressed...don't know about the $$ for me. But if you have them, spend them on this...neater than the roland and you get acoustic sound too!

I realize that Roland do make them, how to make it compatible with their boxes and synths are probably kept to themselves... You need to look deeper than the adds if you want to get how this stuff works...

Ho Ho Ho Finally got a day to myself Tried some tests on using my technology as a pickup... It does work but, predictably, very directional... This is fantastic for those who keep asking about hex pickups hexodistorto and the like... This will be my next project for sure... Maybe I can find someone who knows about A/D conversion so I could use one as a basic midi programmer... That way you could plug into a computer and it would notate what ever you play and you could play it back with any sound you want...cool or what!!!! The tracking probably not be so hot but for this application, who cares... Be pretty cheap too, I'd say... Also, done a little work with some tiny, tiny, tiny components...definitely some possibilities there.... Stay tuned psw

No,No,NO monkey... I'm talking D.I.Y. Individual Piezos for electric guitar...I think we all know they're out there commercially, we don't need the price list...Please try to not clutter the thread, it's long enough as it is...just sit back and enjoy it for a while while the information sinks in... bio err...six drivers, one per string I think you mean't. At this stage no but that maybe a factor depending on what we can do with the electronics. I didn't want to mess with too many variables. Since I know the CP9x works in this format for each string we'll see what we need to do before we mess with them. If we get a feasable working model including electronics, I will then go back and use these electronics to fine tune the drivers. I'm experimenting with the idea of incorporating each driver into the bridge using SMD components, were talking very, very small here and supply of components can be a problem, especially in a place like Australia for small quantities. So you want to know that it's going to work before you go wild with the cash$$ cheers Bio psw

By the way, future guests... Australia is a land of immigants...even our natives walked down some 60.000 years ago when the lands were joined apparently, everyone comes from somewhere else... I guess no one really lives in Australia without looking back from where their ancestors, usually only a generation or two back, came from. Of course a few can trace themselves back to the first europeans here but I don't see a reason to brag about a criminal past... I get the feeling sometimes, if you get out and about down here that we really are tourists and trespassers on the land...theres some amazing landscapes and other phenomenon, that can't be shut out Some years back we had a storm in Melbourne where all of a sudden the sky turned brown and all the dry soil from the drought ridden lands and deserts 100's of miles to the north were blown down and completely enveloped the sky scrappers and blocked out the sun...it went as soon as it came (at about 100 kph) leaving the topsoil on the city instead of the farms This land rebels... come prepared for anything

Thanks LK The first two didn't come out but (I gather) the red yellow and black has alot of meaning...the majority of people down here want to form a republic, they just don't want the one our pollies are promoting...that means a new flag I guess. The reg [/color]yellow and black has a cool graphic quality As for the Blue one...well friends, LK knows too much... Actually making some progress in court last week, I think I'm on the winning side...His Honour pointed me out to my employers saying that I was the best dressed storeman ever to appear at the Industrial Relations Commision...(I got a cool suit for such occasions) The blue one's got a cool history to it from Victoria where I'm at (down the bottom) I'm surprised that you're familiar with it...it's a little like the rebel flag where you come from but without the redneck qualities... You sure are a wealth of info...come on down some time...get out of the southern heat psw

p.s sorry, duplicate ps's ps(w) Bio I just realized you may have mean't the the other hex driver... That was a test of some micro components...I've not given up on this concept but I'm going with what works...it also ties in with something LK and I are working on. My new ideas use a hybrid so well see what comes out... p.s.w.

Is it just me or is monkey's link going nowhere? Thanks Bio, yes I'm really proud. This stuff doesn't come easy though. Twice the number of components than ended up in it were destroyed modifying them for this pickup alone... There is a switch that could be operated by the heel of your hand to add feedback to notes on the fly, rather than being simply on or off. There are six dots that could be considered pole pieces (there not by the way) over which the strings pass. The other two dots either side of this are disguised red LED's that look way cool when the device is operated. The little CP9x is simply a single string driver. Most of my prototypes are made in this format, then simply moved from string to string to test it's effectiveness. This Hex version is simply six of these drivers, one for each string with a special configuration to avoid magnetic crosstalk. It's quite a commitment to make these prototypes so I use them to test other ideas for constructing them. This one is housed in solid polished aluminium and kind of forms the jig to make it. Aluminium, by the way has special magnetic properties, it's not simply non-magnetic, it's actually very slightly anti-magnetic and this feature is used in part for this purpose and another very important one that I'll leave you to guess at... I'll quit with the ads for this page 14, sorry (actually just trying to get the thread back on track) and because I'm already moving onto another angle already from what I've learn't from this one... Meanwhile, behind the scenes LK has been puting some thoughts into the electronics to drive this thing so hopefully they'll be some new developments in this direction psw P.S. I'm still interested in indvidual saddle pickups DIY stuff please, or has anyone used them and know how much separation you get with them... psw P.S. I'm still interested in indvidual saddle pickups DIY stuff please, or has anyone used them and know how much separation you get with them...

Anyone made, or have links to individual undersaddle piezo pickups (say for a strat). I may need a system of hex pickups for the hex drivers if LK and me can't splitt the signal electronically... Must be individual pickups for each string... Also...most recent Hex Driver Pic last post page 14

Yeah, mate Now if I could just remember what ours looks like... Now last time I say it it had one of these in the corner, then it had the colors and stars just like one of these here .... hang on a minute...if you do this ...thats our flag... Join me mate and protest in true aussie style...lets burn our own flag... Now where did I last see it...I think it was Sydney in 2000 croc bait pete

No, no matt Not off the subject at all - the post says "sustainer ideas" my project just hijacked it a little...heh heh just read back through your posts a little... Good stuff...with your driver, how does the battery hold up with the current it's drawing? Sounds like you'd need to plug it into the wall!!! Also what happens when you play a chord or more than one note... Does it respond fairly evenly across the range or are some notes better than others? If you want to see a funny experience check out the first post on this thread, I almost did a Hendrix at Monterey... cheers psw

Thanks Bio But don't be put off trying stuff anyway... When I was a kid...I got it into my head that if you spun an electric motor to create electricity (using it as a generator) if you connected it to another motor it could provide enough power to keep itself spinning...world power problems solved! Well I made it and learn't that there are other factors involved (such as friction) but I only found that out once my brilliant idea failed and I looked to find out why. The point is no one is to young or inexperienced to try stuff out or to contribute. The questions of people such as yourself often go to the fundumentals of a problem and make people rethink their original concepts. It's from there that inspiration is born. However Bio is right, no one can hand the solution to the unknown and many things can't be made without the will to fail, experience, the equipment and cash! If you have the cash and you want a pickup right, then go out and buy one, making it yourself wont be any better and will be a lot more expensive. If you want to create something new and you cant buy it then its a long road and a lot of work keep up the interest psw

kind of... The chip would be an amplifier and the pulses simply the typical signal to a headphone or speaker. Instead of a speaker though you have a driver coil and the string moves like the cone in the speaker. If the sensor (which is just a pickup like a microphone) gets too close to the driver (or a PA speaker for instance) you get that ear splitting hi frequency oscillation. What you don't want is this! EMI stands for electro-magnetic Interferance and can transfer signals just as a transformer can transfer power (same principle). You can effectively wire the in to the out which causes this uncontrolled squeel. There are alot of different resonant frequencies...in the coils especially, the string of course and it's harmonics, even in the amp. Then there's all the phase problems, etc, etc... Really Monkey, the principle is simple and your kind of grasping it, but you really need to study this stuff and especially put it into action and see what happens, then study some more to find out why. I have hoped by laying bare the frustrations of my sustainer project would inspire people to do stuff themselves and not give up or suggest stuff to me and others to see the result. I don't think the ultimate sustainer will be as complicated in the end but it's not going to fall into my lap. Look at all the design changes I've made... I ran out of magnets I've use over 200 of em...that should give you an idea of the amount of stuff I've made and it still doesn't work in a truely playable fashion. Keep trying, the 386 chip projects like the Ruby are a good place to start...maybe a few effect boxes...I don't want to put you or others off but building something like this, that hasn't been made before...thats for the insane. If you want to try something like this...try and make an Ebow...same principle as you are suggesting good luck all psw

To see the latest design of psw check out the CP9x HEX at the end of page 14 of this thread..

You are quick, but it's 5:30 am down here so it's back to bed for me... You really have to read the thread as that and a lot of other obvious ideas have been explored For now, If you send a simple pulse the string will try to vibrate at the frequency of the pulse, not the note being played. It wont even do that unless it is close in resonant frequency to the note of the string...Also EMI would cause the pulse to be heard through the guitars own pickups...not good nice try though psw

Your right Benno but then our Prime Ministers a bit of a Drongo and He's from Sydney...by the way Forum Fellas...how come theres no OZ Flag in the smilies...it's a big world you know and there seems to be a few of them on this site

OK Monkey... Hope you like the pic of the new one... The digital switching comes in because I have some ideas for using the driver as a hex pickup/driver in the event that simply taking the combined signal from the guitars pickups proves to be ineffective. It's a pretty simple concept, basically a fancy LED follow but using audio ins and outs... welcome aboard psw P.S. In case anyone missed it, bumped onto the previous page is the picture of the latest prototype..................the CP9x HEX...

OK fellas, here is the latest development.... THIS IS THE CP9x in Hex format with a new look design.... Again this is larger than actual size...it's 12mm wide x 95mm long. The ribbon cable takes all outputs out for prototyping purposes so would be neater in a production version psw

Get used to it, they really do speak like that in queensland...

Get y'self some o' dem der adapter thingies, mate. Benno is obviously aussie cause only one o' me own a'd think o' bending the prongs on da plug... What ya tryin' to do cobber, ow 'ol economy is based on taking money off'a them blokes overseas...you don't wanna kill 'em Cricky mate, someones gotta make a quid down 'ere, fair go... AKA Steve..."croc bait"...Irwin 'and us another baby love, this crocs snappy...What...a dingo got the last one...cripes!...I TOLD you, dont leave the kids outback...bloody American tourists...AY...oh nothing love!

Sorry, no can do at this moment... While inspiration may appear quick, this has taken hundreds of hours and a lot of money on my part so I am not prepared to make public too much detail of how my sustainer works. If you check out my post on Links and Patents you can see how others have done it. That doesn't mean that you can't help... For instance, do you know anything about digital high speed electronic switching? Also basic low powered audio amplification and limiting... Just contributing ideas for what you'd want a sustainer to be or how you would use it provides really good input and a springboard for ideas At the moment though, my only protection is to keep the technical details secret hope you understand psw

Oops only read the last post Monkey Actually you were'nt too far from the mark with your original thoughts. Yes they would cancel out and actually try to stop the string vibrating...unless...you reversed the signal. One problem, before anyone tries this is that if you use a conventional pickup to drive the string you will burn it out and have to use enormous amount of power to overcome the impedance problem... See my first post on this thread for an example! Of course many have tried but there are alot of problems obviously otherwise we'd see them everywhere...thats why I'm working on it. I can't disclose the magnetic field of the x series drivers as they are unique and the heart of my current work on this. Conventional fields as found in a pickup, as I used in the CP1 work however but size and EMI are a problem. It is intriguing as it seems so simple...yet hope you stick around and help us solve the problem psw P.S. [/color]Seven string version could easily be made but the drivers need to be put into one unit. Same thing lefties, I'm not sure whether a special reverse driver configuration would be needed for you.

OK sorry Basically I'm working with very small electronics and magnetics to activate the string via a magnetic field. I hope to have some photos soon of my test guitar (I don't have a digital camera so I have to scan them through when they're developed). Basically it's just like a pickup but small enough, in my designs, to fit below the strings near the bridge. The hole is actually a marker, like a pole piece so you can see where in the magnetic field it should pass. The string goes over and across the black dot to the bridge. A Hex version would have six of such drivers within it Hope you get the idea from this psw