Anyone build effects directly into guitar?

[andronico]

I made a travel guitar with a built in DIY SansAmp GT2 :

[Mick Bailey]

Now that really is a nice piece of work.... Just superb. That ought to be in production.

[Toddy]

That's a great looking guitar!! Hope it sounds and plays as nice as it looks! I agree...go into production with it!!

To answer my own question for those interested. Vox used its Repeat Percussion tremolo effect in the Starsteam. Duh for me!! I should have known!! And yes, I was right on the Tonebender circuit for the fuzz.

Toddy

[Paul Marossy]

I made a travel guitar with a built in DIY SansAmp GT2

That's really trick!

I put a Maestro Boomerang circuit into one of my guitars. I use it as an on-board "Q-filter". I don't use it as much as I anticipated I might, but at least I accomplished what I set out to do...

[JKowalski]

Thanks for the YouTube video! The fuzz sounds like a Vox Tonebender. Is that the circuit in the guitar?

I've been tyring to figure this out, with no luck. It's possible, and probable that is is the tonebender, though. We'd have to ask a favor of someone who owns the guitar.

[80k]

andronico, that is a really cool guitar you are working. Great work, and let us know if you make any videos of it in action!

[andronico]

Thank you for your positive comments guys.
No, I´m sorry, I haven´t any video... 
But if you are interested here is the complete thread at Project Guitar Forum :

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=34299&st=0&gopid=365486&#entry365486

[Mick Bailey]

You can phantom power a guitar and still use standard cables - isolate the DC with a .1uf capacitor at each end.

[Paul Marossy]

You can phantom power a guitar and still use standard cables - isolate the DC with a .1uf capacitor at each end.

You can?! I didn't know you could do that...

[Masuto]

http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0092009/photos/vespatron/9073991901

bought this in 98 for 60 pounds. all the fx bar the fuzz work properly.

[R.G.]

Odd that his should come up. I posted some stuff in the Members Only forum.

I recently got all hot and bothered again about the onboard FX that Vox put in some of their stuff in the mid 60s. If I ever find the actual schemos for those or get an afternoon alone with one of the guitars, I'll make repro PCB layouts.

In the meantime, the logical guess is that they put into the guitars much the same circuits as their plug-in-the-guitar stuff. So I've laid out a 1"x2" board containing:
- the distortion booster
- the repeat percussion
- not the wah, for reasons below
- not the E-tuner; we can do much better today
- a compressor, which makes great sense onboard
- an attack delay for bowed effects
- a treble-bass booster
- a midrange booster with selectable boost frequency at 440/660/880, which is about what the Thomas Vox amps did
- a wah-ish sweepable filter done with active filters, not the inductor

I set myself the goal of making each one be a complete effect, and switchable on the board without the complex wiring for a slide-switch bypass like the old Vox guitars. So the circuits I mention are on ONE side of the PCB. The other side has a buffer in, a buffer out, and electronic signal switching, as well as a latch to make it switch in and out with an external momentary switch. And the ability to drive an LED, although that would cause a lot of battery drain.

OK, so I'm a little nutso. I knew that. 

The boards are all standalone effects but each of them is 1" by 2", and have consistent mounting holes and wires pads for wiring in and out.

Still haven't got boards made though.

What else ought to be available in this kind of thing?

[Paul Marossy]

http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0092009/photos/vespatron/9073991901

bought this in 98 for 60 pounds. all the fx bar the fuzz work properly.

What make & model is that guitar? Never seen one of those before.

[Masuto]

it's a Kay guitar. i found out it has phase invertion too.. the effects are basically revolving around (sic) some sort of this kind of repeat percussion and phase inverting combined. at least thats what i read online... i have used it as my main axe for about 3 years. tuning issues (could/should change mechanics) had me trodding to other axes
right now it's gutted cos i wanted to find out about the fuzz issue.. i got the actual pcb drawing from one of the guys on the internet but ultimately i wont rebuild it. if you need the pcb image file just pm me.

[GibsonGM]

Wow, pretty intense stuff, ha ha!
I'm currently putting together a mid boost/cut that I'll try out with an old (MIM) Strat I have, with a bridge HB. 

I think it would improve its playability, in that for country-ish stuff, chicken pickin' and double-stops, you may want some more mids but going back to rock a mild scoop might be nice.   Similar to the Clapton midboost that was popular a while back, but home brewed...

[bluebunny]

Wow

Indeed.  Happy birthday Mike!   

[GibsonGM]

Hey, thanks, Marc!  )  Nice of you to notice!

[MR COFFEE]

I second what RG said about putting a compressor in a guitar as making the most sense of installing any FX inside the guitar.

Then the volume control can go on the output of the compressor, and the volume control on the guitar doesn't mess up the compressor and ruin the s/n ratio if you use it.

I played one of those VOX guitars in a music store back in the late 60's. I was not impressed. And the wah handle actuator was way inferior to a pedal to control a wah wah effect. IMHO.

I would reconsider the importance of being able to use "any old guitar cord". Having a requirement for a special cord simply means you keep a spare special cord in your guitar's case. My 2 cents worth.

And yeah, I've been putting compressors, tone circuits and overdrives in guitars for over 30 years. I like it. Not so onboard batteries.

mr coffee

[Puguglybonehead]

I think onboard effects have their place, but it really comes down to personal style. The pedal I use the most is my Boost. An LPB-1. (from aGGG kit) Currently trying to learn SMD soldering so I can install an SMD version of the same. (with an input cap mod)

I would only install something at would be really handy to have inside the guitar. I tend to wander around during solos at gigs and often can't get back to where the boost pedal is in time to kill it. Makes for some awkward moments, so an onboard boost would be great.

I can't see that Vox hand-operated wah being practical at all. Looks really awkward.

Other things, like a tremolo, I prefer to just hit a footswitch. Phasers and flangers are better with a foot-operated sweep. (IMO)

Uglyface, Gristleizer, etc, again, so seldom used, better off in a pedal.

I can see something like GFS's onboard Delay being handy for some. I might just pick up one of those some day. (but an EBow comes first, though)

Anyways, different strokes for different folks. That's what's great about this forum!

[italianguy63]

Gibson Firebird X - $4,000.  So many gadgets it makes my head hurt.  MC

[Mark Hammer]

My own approach to this, documented MANY times over on this forum, is that those things that can be built into the instrument should only be those things that can't be done better off the instrument.

So what does "better" mean?  It means that one can afford to have more controls than the limited space on a guitar can provide (drilling a box is a whole lot easier than routing a guitar), or better spaced controls and switches, that the order of FX can be played around with, that other supply voltages can be played with, that modifications can be easily accomplished, that power can be supplied in easier fashion, that your hands are free to pick the strings and turning things on and off is a matter for your feet, and a lot of similar things.

A buffer with a bit of gain works great as a build-in, or any sort of pickup mixing or stereo distribution, or the various digital installations (MIDI guitars, Variax, et al), but beyond that my own sentiment is that just about anything will work better if built outside the guitar.

Yes, they aren't as "cool" that way, but I'd rather forfeit a bit of coolness to have three controls, a toggle or two, and a dependable power source for my overdrive, than one knob in an awkward location, and worry about whether the battery will hold up.