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Post by quarry on May 25, 2012 13:19:33 GMT -5
I have a client who wants me to wire LEDs into all of his Strats... Don't ask, this guy is just a nut for flashing lights. Anyway, after searching the Interwebs for a workable solution, I came upon this (with a little tweaking of my own)... This circuit will light the LEDs in response to the playing, which I think is cooler than just static on or off. And I can fit all this into a very nice small space, so it can go inside the wiring area in a Strat. My only question to you Experts is, I have drawn this to show two LEDs in parallel... but in reality, I'm going to need about 6 to 9 LEDs. Will I have enough juice to make this work? Is wiring the LEDs in parallel the best way, or would series make more sense??? I never claimed to be an electronics guy; that's why I hang out on this board - try to get some know-how (probably through Osmosis!).
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Post by sumgai on May 25, 2012 21:37:49 GMT -5
This circuit will light the LEDs in response to the playing.... While I doubt that you're gonna flash anything by driving that Power Amp with a signal that's only a fraction of a volt, I suppose it's possible to get some effect. How desirable it'll turn out to be, that's up for debate. But aside from that, you also don't show any buffering of that output signal. I can assure you that without any kind of a buffer, the LM386 is gonna cream your tone (load it down something fierce). What you need is a circuit for a Color Organ. Start scouring the innerwebs for info on that, and see what you come up with. HTH sumgai
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Post by 4real on May 26, 2012 21:27:02 GMT -5
Where did you find this circuit/idea?
In fact it will kind of work though you can't really install an LM386 without a buffer before it seriously loading the pick-ups and so destroying the tone. In effect, it is much like my sustainer circuit and in fact, it will work to 'light' up an LED or so when sound goes through the circuit (as I have done this and considered it that application)...might soak up a bit of power though. Definitely needs a buffer.
A colour organ would be more sophisticated and I've seen many of these kinds of things about, once built into the pickup poles themselves.
If it did not need to actually respond to the sound, there are heaps of cheap hacks one could do. I used to get these pens from a bargain $2 shop that had 3 LEDS (red,yellow,blue) which would cycle through in various patterns and shone in a prism...the result were many combinations of colours, a tiny circuit and could run off about 3 watch batteries. That was working out to be cheaper than buying a blue LED typically hence my interest.
All flash and no substance really but hey, shiny, shiny catches the monkey!
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