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Post by DarKnight on Feb 10, 2007 13:38:06 GMT -5
Sorry thing just popped in my mind and decided to ask it ASAP. I think not discussed here. Okay to the point. I was just wondering... Because guitar provides small output... some volts and amps... let's also presume that you have active electronics or something else that requires batteries (at this point rechargeable ones). So... any use to make such a wiring eg. with stereo jack that guitar charges it's battery when unplugged and played. It would need AC --> DC converter atleast... Totally silly or something worthy? Maybe new way to fight global warming lol? I bet it won't make much difference except if you play often unplugged or have silly amount of pups. Anyhow this was just hypothetical, so please let your silly ideas flow too. ;D Dark
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Post by ChrisK on Feb 10, 2007 14:48:55 GMT -5
This goes to some very active research efforts afoot both at universities and corporations. I've been looking into similar methods (piezo, solar, and magnetic) for energy harvesting for RF nodes for a few years now. It's a good idea, but just make sure that you wiggle your guitar about a bit before you need to play it live. ;D Check out www.enocean.comamong others.
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Post by DarKnight on Feb 10, 2007 15:35:23 GMT -5
Hah it would be fun to try build one, but I think big problem will be diodes used in the rectifier. Guitars output will prolly be too small to beat the diodes minimum operating voltage... This is indeed interesting... ;D
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Post by JohnH on Feb 10, 2007 17:03:01 GMT -5
I would think that the pickup output is too small to provide power for an active circuit, but as Chris is describing, other ways to get power out of the light or movement of the guitar could work. We dont need much power to drive some useful guitar electronics - the largest consumer can sometimes be the LED lights, which are not really needed. Ive been playing with preamp circuits that draw 50 microamps, and overdrives that draw about 250 microamps, LED's excluded. But then, on the other hand, with such low consumption, normal batteries also last a very long time.
John
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Post by sumgai on Feb 10, 2007 17:51:16 GMT -5
Chris, I've always been intrigued by 'self powered' energy sources, but shaking one's guitar? Oh, wait, that's also billed as part of a Physical Training course, right? What if we took the crank off of this, and built it in behind the strap's end pin? More stealthily operated, though a bit harder to install, we could graft the innards of this squeezy flashlight into the back of a neck: Just some ideas, tossed out for general consumption. ;D sumgai
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Post by DarKnight on Feb 11, 2007 2:06:00 GMT -5
Two words sumgai: Vibrato arm! ;D No need to mess with the looks of the guitar... Stealth Crank-o-Matic -bridge
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Post by sumgai on Feb 11, 2007 14:24:32 GMT -5
Dar, Winner!
Expect your no-prize in the email real soon now! ;D
sumgai
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Post by ChrisK on Feb 11, 2007 19:54:27 GMT -5
There are mere diodes and then there's (active) rectification.
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Post by ranchtooth on Feb 11, 2007 21:29:43 GMT -5
whats the average output voltage we can get from a passive pickup? A germanium diode has a drop of like .3 volts or so... I think our axes can overcome that.
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Post by ChrisK on Feb 11, 2007 22:13:25 GMT -5
Single coil - 100 to 200+ mVAC Dual coil - 200 to 500+ mVAC EMG Active pickup (uh, oh, wait a minute...)
So does a Schottky diode.
We need to use a different method that the passive pickups. Think of the effect of even a load as small as 100K Ohms on their tone.
If we harvest their energy, we'll harvest their tone.
Stubble is.
Alternate methods such as a piezo between a mass (well, two masses actually) or solar (does anyone REALLY play in the dark, I've never seen a guitarist that wanted the spotlight turned OFF) would need to be used.
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Post by DarKnight on Feb 13, 2007 8:53:02 GMT -5
Would such a system suck tone noticeably even when playing unplugged? That was the original idea when to use such a system... would require a switch to disconnect it when hooked up to the amp.... Edit: What if solar panels were made in the shape of eg. strat pickguard? New innovations... still lacking portable, guitar mounted, fusion reactor... Edit2: Have to call my mom... I remember when I was a kid, I had some sort of miniature helicopter which was powered via small (11cm by 6cm) solar panel! I hope it's still alive... I remember that blades on that heli were rather big.. and it spun them with standard toy-electric motor with ease... so prolly it might give me several volts at best... That combined with few batteries to be recharged... just leaving guitar to sunlight... includes free sunburst! ;D
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