DIY eBow

[Paul Marossy]

A small Altoid tin seems very convenient for an enclosure, but I don't know that a metal enclosure would work - if it has any steel in it. I think it would interfere with the proper operation of the circuit.

[Taylor]

Another similar thing that's fun to build is this: Take a DC vibrator motor:

http://www.allelectronics.com/mas_assets/image_cache/height.500_width.500_modified.1238617442.5975.DCM-344.jpg

and attach it to a 9v battery. I made one when I was 16 and called it the "V-bow". The little metal weight spins around many times a second and whacks the string. The sound is halfway between very good tremolo picking and an ebow. Total cost: $5. Time commitment: 20 minutes maybe. A speed knob can be easily added with a pot as a voltage divider.

You can get these motors from Playstation controllers, pagers/cell phones, or ask your girlfriend if you can cannibalize her unused marital aids.

[snufkin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQhRFS6sRM

pc speakers can be used as the coils

making this project a hell of allot simpler

[Wasted_Bassist]

Another similar thing that's fun to build is this: Take a DC vibrator motor:

http://www.allelectronics.com/mas_assets/image_cache/height.500_width.500_modified.1238617442.5975.DCM-344.jpg

and attach it to a 9v battery. I made one when I was 16 and called it the "V-bow". The little metal weight spins around many times a second and whacks the string. The sound is halfway between very good tremolo picking and an ebow. Total cost: $5. Time commitment: 20 minutes maybe. A speed knob can be easily added with a pot as a voltage divider.

You can get these motors from Playstation controllers, pagers/cell phones, or ask your girlfriend if you can cannibalize her unused marital aids.

I tried to make something similar. The problem i encountered was that whenever the motor got too close to the pickup it made a loud screeching noise from picking up the movements inside the motor.

[Taylor]

Yep, that can be a problem. I didn't have much trouble with it on my P-bass, because there's so much area without pickups underneath, but for guitarists with 3 pickups in a smaller space (strat) it might be tough to find a sweet spot. Shouldn't be too much of a problem for you, Wasted Bassist. 

[Top Top]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQhRFS6sRM

pc speakers can be used as the coils

making this project a hell of allot simpler

Any idea where you can get those PC speakers new?

[Jarno]

Two pages, and nobody wants to build moog-like guitar electronics? 
That thing is so incredibly cool. It shouldn't be too hard, just build a e-bow in every pickup.......for every string 

[Taylor]

Well, I do have some far-off plans to make a Moog bass. I was going to wind 2 individual pickups for each string and do the usual amplification and feedback. The fancier features like the intelligent mute/sustain would be pretty difficult in analog, but doable digitally. You need to adjust the phase of the feedback signal in proportion to the input volume per string, I think.

[Paul Marossy]

just build a e-bow in every pickup.......for every string 

That's basically a Sustainiac pickup. 

[Taylor]

Actually, no. I have a Sustainiac in my bass, and while it's very fun, it only will sustain one or 2 notes simultaneously. (I know you're wondering why a bass player wants to sustain 4 notes at a time, but...I just do)

Doing something like the Moog requires a separate pickup, feedback amp, and driver for each string to allow for full autonomy. Also, having each string separate lets you do different processing for each note. Lower notes may need some compression and lowpass filtering to sustain well, whereas high strings need more gain, etc.

[Top Top]

Actually, no. I have a Sustainiac in my bass, and while it's very fun, it only will sustain one or 2 notes simultaneously. (I know you're wondering why a bass player wants to sustain 4 notes at a time, but...I just do)

Doing something like the Moog requires a separate pickup, feedback amp, and driver for each string to allow for full autonomy. Also, having each string separate lets you do different processing for each note. Lower notes may need some compression and lowpass filtering to sustain well, whereas high strings need more gain, etc.

Could the type of sensor used in the DIY ebow video linked above (the PC speakers) be used as individual pickups on a guitar? Or do they only work in the case of the ebow where they aren't actually performing a regular audio function?

[Paul Marossy]

Actually, no. I have a Sustainiac in my bass, and while it's very fun, it only will sustain one or 2 notes simultaneously. (I know you're wondering why a bass player wants to sustain 4 notes at a time, but...I just do)

Doing something like the Moog requires a separate pickup, feedback amp, and driver for each string to allow for full autonomy. Also, having each string separate lets you do different processing for each note. Lower notes may need some compression and lowpass filtering to sustain well, whereas high strings need more gain, etc.

Yeah, I guess you're right on that. The original 1978 ebow patent had a version where each string had its own sustainer. I think part of the Moog idea might actually be closer to that conceptually.

[Taylor]

Any idea where you can get those PC speakers new?

Could the type of sensor used in the DIY ebow video linked above (the PC speakers) be used as individual pickups on a guitar? Or do they only work in the case of the ebow where they aren't actually performing a regular audio function?

Typing "magnetic buzzer" into Mouser's search brought up a bunch of transducers that look identical to the one in that video. About $1.50 each. If you follow his instructions about the relative impedances you should be good.

As for using them as your guitar's actual pickups, I have no idea. Since guitarists often swap out tons of different expensive pickups in search of "their sound" it's unlikely that a coupole of $1.50 coils are going to sound great. However, there's no rule that your sensor and your output pickup have to be the same. You could just equip your guitar with an actual guitar pickup in addition to the coils.

One tip, though: audible pickups need to be some distance away from the driver coils, or you will get squealing. At least a few inches.

I'd love to see some people make this happen. It's one of those projects I don't know if I'll ever get to.

[Top Top]

Any idea where you can get those PC speakers new?

Could the type of sensor used in the DIY ebow video linked above (the PC speakers) be used as individual pickups on a guitar? Or do they only work in the case of the ebow where they aren't actually performing a regular audio function?

Typing "magnetic buzzer" into Mouser's search brought up a bunch of transducers that look identical to the one in that video. About $1.50 each. If you follow his instructions about the relative impedances you should be good.

As for using them as your guitar's actual pickups, I have no idea. Since guitarists often swap out tons of different expensive pickups in search of "their sound" it's unlikely that a coupole of $1.50 coils are going to sound great. However, there's no rule that your sensor and your output pickup have to be the same. You could just equip your guitar with an actual guitar pickup in addition to the coils.

One tip, though: audible pickups need to be some distance away from the driver coils, or you will get squealing. At least a few inches.

I'd love to see some people make this happen. It's one of those projects I don't know if I'll ever get to.

Thanks for that... I actually saw those buzzers on mouser and Jameco, but I wasn't 100% sure they were actually the same. I am a little ignorant on my transducers...

though honestly, I don't plan to build an ebow per-say... (see sympathetic reverb thread ), but actually, maybe I would, given how simple it looks... with those components and the circuit mentioned earlier.

[Jarno]

Actually, no. I have a Sustainiac in my bass.....

But I think most of the feature in the Moog guitar are feasible in analog. But indeed, you will need a separate driver for each string.
I assume they do the harmonics thing by either frequency multiplication of the input signal or perhaps use the input from the bridge pickup (which contains more higher harmonic content) to drive a coil in the neck pickup. That could be possible, I think.
Maybe I'll need to buy another Squier Bronco (I'm also a bassplayer myself) and turn it into a piccolo bass version :-) Less strings to drive :-)

[Top Top]

Actually, no. I have a Sustainiac in my bass.....

But I think most of the feature in the Moog guitar are feasible in analog. But indeed, you will need a separate driver for each string.
I assume they do the harmonics thing by either frequency multiplication of the input signal or perhaps use the input from the bridge pickup (which contains more higher harmonic content) to drive a coil in the neck pickup. That could be possible, I think.
Maybe I'll need to buy another Squier Bronco (I'm also a bassplayer myself) and turn it into a piccolo bass version :-) Less strings to drive :-)

To have a separate driver for each string, would you need a separate sensor and driving circuit as well, or could you just have several drivers wired in parallel to the output of the one 386 circuit?

[Taylor]

Having a single amp would make separate drivers pointless. The idea here is that if you feedback all the strings into all the strings, you end up with only 1 or 2 notes sustaining, because you're feeding the A string to the G string, and the G to the A, etc. which doesn't create any sustain. To sustain all the strings simultaneously, you need to feedback each string only to itself.

So you need to preserve the separation all the way from the sensor to the amp to the driver.

[Strategy]

It took me forever to remember the name of this thing- Gizmotron:

http://www.suppertime.co.uk/blint/gizmo.shtml

A mu-tron related product. Schematic online somewhere who knows?!?

- Strategy

[pazuzu]

A small Altoid tin seems very convenient for an enclosure, but I don't know that a metal enclosure would work - if it has any steel in it. I think it would interfere with the proper operation of the circuit.

yea i guess. my kid has some plastic cases that gum came in, but i couldn't find a picture online. maybe a chew tin?

[space_ryerson]

There's a guy on the project guitar forum working on a PIC based hexaphonic sustainer currently. Might be worth a look.