A Pet Rock

Hey, guys, thanks for the help, and the comments. We'll see where all of this goes. Time is short, especially with a job. I'll keep you posted as the project progresses. JD

I think you've answered my question, 8 ohms and 10,000 ohms for the driver and pickup respectively. The other stuff is definitely just background, that I think is interesting. Basically what I am doing is developing an instrument with servos and solenoids that is capable of being controlled by a computer. The ebow was chosen as our attack mechanism as there aren't any moving parts and if this is an installation art piece, it needs to be able to run without breaking for a duration of time. The instrument will either be fretted by a series of solenoids, or a stepper motor with a glass slide on rails. I was going to use a piezo as a pickup. The whole thing will utilize and Arduino microcontroller as the brain. The idea is that I could make an instrument that "listens" and responds to ambient noise in some ways. If I developed 3-4 one stringed computer controlled instruments, then the instrument could form chords and I've just imagined that the sound of a slide moving up and down 3 different sustained strings in some sort of controlled algorithmic counter melody could be quite beautiful to listen to and to watch. I'm new to electronics, but I'm a pretty technical person, so I'm not to worried about the challenge... just the amount of time its going to take. What is your source of capaciters and all that stuff? I've been ordering stuff off of electronic goldmine, and I stopped by radio shack. Radioshack doesn't have much selection, and is expensive, EG is unpredictable and shipping is costly. Hopefully in 4 months time when i have a working prototype, I will have something to show you guys.

Oh yea, other questions: What should I use as a spindle for the wire? What type of core should it have? Do I need a magnet on top of it? Where can I get materials? I'm eager to get this working as it doesn't look too hard, except for the winding. I'm sick of paying postage for online shipping so other ideas would be welcome. Thank you guys much in advance!

OK, I'm new here, I've read quite a bit, now I'm going to ask for some help before I go too far down the wrong road. I'm trying to make an ebow type of sustainer for a single stringed robotic instrument that I've been trying to put together with an arduino. I've got all the stuff I need, the opamp, the breadboard, the capacitors, etc, and now its time for the inductors. I bought some wire from radio shack Will this stuff work? Seems like it should if wound one pickup with the 22-gauge and one with the 30-gauge, I should be in the money... Is this stuff too thick? What sort of Inductance/resistance should I be aiming for here? I guess I should go back to radio shack and pick up that voltmeter. Thanks, JD