LM3916 Inline VU Meter

[MrStab]

Talking of LM3916's, this is quite the crowd-pleaser:



...if, by "crowd pleaser", you mean being harassed by nerds while you try to pack up after your set. lol

it's a really crude spectrum analyser, fed from a buffer through a simple low pass & high pass filter. i didn't bother to split the guitar fundamental spectrum in half properly, so one channel is too high up, but i won't fix it as it works well enough for the gimmick that it is. there's a hidden "master" switch in the back of the guitar (true bypass), and a switch on the front that grounds the VU meters.

FWFI, i put the raw pickup signal into 2 opamps in parallel - one buffers it and sends it off to the output, the other boosts and sends to the LM3916s.

[karbomusic]

Hehe, ^that is really cool.

[amptramp]

Now you can look like you are playing guitar hero when you are actually playing guitar.  Great for wowing the audience.

[vigilante397]

THAT IS SO COOL I want to do that so bad. I was just thinking the other day about how I only use my bridge pickup anyway. Oh man I want to do that so bad.

[MrStab]

lol cheers for the kind wordage. it kinda came out of me being too cheap to fork out for a neck pickup, but i seldom use one anyway.

the original plan was to drive PNPs (i think...) to make just a single-channel meter with 6 LEDs per step, including the middle pickup to make for 3 steps, but there were too many problems with the whole circuit sagging like crazy on two 9V batteries, plus it would've been pointless using an 18-pin chip for that. there's probably a way to make that work, but i figured using the chip "properly" was less hassle. i only use one 9V battery, and use it for 1.25 songs per set, so battery life isn't much of an issue. At least i used to do all that before my bassist quit a few weeks ago...

[bluebunny]

Very cool.  Install a whole bunch of them in this:



...and use a piezo bridge.   

[duck_arse]

we'll be expecting cozy to come in about now, with a middle pickup that shoots sparks and has a smoke machine.

[MrStab]

Install a whole bunch of them in this:

i don't know what would be worse, the kettle plug that'd be sticking out of the guitar or the fact the notes are written on the fretboard!