built in effect pedal...

[CaffeineJunkie]

so i was sittin here the other night watching the new muse dvd, and i started thinking [always a bad idea] ... how hard would it actually be to integrate an fx pedal into a guitar???

anybody done this or know and sneaky ways of doing this???


Cheers

James

[TwilightOdyssey]

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/modboards-onboard-effects/Feb-07/24188

Enjoy!

*NOTE: I don't vouch for this product's quality and would never use one myself*

[Adam.M]

whats so wrong with having stompboxes...?

i could see say, claptons mid boost thing being of use but thats about it...

[CaffeineJunkie]

@TO: kool, cheers - will have a butchers through them in a sec, and see if they deliver to UK

@Adam.m: stompboxes are kool, but in my room at uni, it's almost impossible to use more than about 2, and also i like to fiddle with the controls as i'm playing, which is a lot easier when they aren't over 6ft away... plus i'm bored and want to piss about modding my guitar :D

dya reckon i could jus take the inside of a stompbox and wire it into a guitar?? or goto BYOC and jus get the parts for it??

[Adam.M]

i think thats basically what the guy that made bellamy's guitars did...

I can see it being good for effects like delay... i'd love to have that on my guitar. or a phaser...

i'd only do it if a push pull pot could be used to turn it on and off, or a push push with an LED...

i might do it at some point now i have a strat, it wouldnt be 'cause perm damage...

[CaffeineJunkie]

yeah manson's do some mental stuff with guitars... espec the kaoss pads matt bellamy has built-in... thas a bit further than i had intended to go for now......... then again......


just found some UK based built-in fx too.. http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm#effects

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

Look around for an old Electra MPC.  They made Japanese copies that have effects built into their guitars and are a good value for the $.

http://www.rivercityamps.com/electra/

More info on the MPC modules and circuitry is in the links at the top of that page.

[WezV]

i have recently used one of the Onboard Vintage Tube Screamer Booster things from axes r us.  I had my cousins old N3 here (as well as a lefty N2 for a new neck).  These things have huge control cavities but only knob so they are perfect for adding new stuff.  Anyway my cousins N3 now has the VTC and a vitamin Q capacitor on the tone control.  The VTC is very harsh if left on full but good sounds can be got with a little tweaking and carefull use of the tone control to mellow out the spikes. It certainly adds a very usable element to the guitar.

The guy who is having anew neck on his N2 saw it and now wants stuff adding to his as well


I also have one of the MODboard delay circuits sitting around here.  Guitarfetish deliver to the Uk.  Havnt gotten around to using it yet so cant say how it sounds

TBH i never think on board effects are a good idea but always end up buying them on a whim.

The modboard and axesrus stuff both fit easily into a guitar without much modification - to get the guts of a pedal in there you may have to do a bit more work.  

getting a BYOC kit and hooking it up will certainly be the best option as far as sound quality is concerned - and shouldnt be that hard to connect up either.. but you need to think about a off/on switch rather than the stomp switch

give hooglebug a message as i am fairly sure he has done the fuzz factory thing like matt belamy on his mirror top guitar:
 
http://www.myspace.com/afguitars

[HTH AMPS]

i have recently used one of the Onboard Vintage Tube Screamer Booster things from axes r us.  I had my cousins old N3 here (as well as a lefty N2 for a new neck).  These things have huge control cavities but only knob so they are perfect for adding new stuff.  Anyway my cousins N3 now has the VTC and a vitamin Q capacitor on the tone control.  The VTC is very harsh if left on full but good sounds can be got with a little tweaking and carefull use of the tone control to mellow out the spikes. It certainly adds a very usable element to the guitar.

The guy who is having anew neck on his N2 saw it and now wants stuff adding to his as well


I also have one of the MODboard delay circuits sitting around here.  Guitarfetish deliver to the Uk.  Havnt gotten around to using it yet so cant say how it sounds

TBH i never think on board effects are a good idea but always end up buying them on a whim.

The modboard and axesrus stuff both fit easily into a guitar without much modification - to get the guts of a pedal in there you may have to do a bit more work.  

getting a BYOC kit and hooking it up will certainly be the best option as far as sound quality is concerned - and shouldnt be that hard to connect up either.. but you need to think about a off/on switch rather than the stomp switch

give hooglebug a message as i am fairly sure he has done the fuzz factory thing like matt belamy on his mirror top guitar:
 
http://www.myspace.com/afguitars

Wez,

What is the bottom end like on those Lawrence pickups in the N2s?

The reason I ask is that I tried a set of L500XLs recently and the bass end just mushed up BAD which goes against everything I ever heard from recordings with these pickups.

I checked the wiring against the supplied spec sheet and emailed Lawrence, but as usual got no response (their customer service is cr@p)

Anyway, that guitar that had the L500s is now getting Emeralds, so it's not all bad news.

[WezV]

yep, overly mushy  which is why the boost is so helpfull for the guitar - it adds a lot of top end  and brings a lot more clarity to the sound

the pickups in the washburns are Bill Lawrence USA pickups rather than the ones from Bill lawrence himself.  probably not worth getting into the dimebag argument since it seems obvious he used both at some point without realising they were different companies.  I have had some NOS XL500's from ebay before that i believe were from the real bill and tbh i found them quite painfull on the ears.. definately not mushy but far too harsh for me

[CaffeineJunkie]

i have recently used one of the Onboard Vintage Tube Screamer Booster things from axes r us.  I had my cousins old N3 here (as well as a lefty N2 for a new neck).  These things have huge control cavities but only knob so they are perfect for adding new stuff.  Anyway my cousins N3 now has the VTC and a vitamin Q capacitor on the tone control.  The VTC is very harsh if left on full but good sounds can be got with a little tweaking and carefull use of the tone control to mellow out the spikes. It certainly adds a very usable element to the guitar.

The guy who is having anew neck on his N2 saw it and now wants stuff adding to his as well
I also have one of the MODboard delay circuits sitting around here.  Guitarfetish deliver to the Uk.  Havnt gotten around to using it yet so cant say how it sounds

TBH i never think on board effects are a good idea but always end up buying them on a whim.

The modboard and axesrus stuff both fit easily into a guitar without much modification - to get the guts of a pedal in there you may have to do a bit more work.  

getting a BYOC kit and hooking it up will certainly be the best option as far as sound quality is concerned - and shouldnt be that hard to connect up either.. but you need to think about a off/on switch rather than the stomp switch

give hooglebug a message as i am fairly sure he has done the fuzz factory thing like matt belamy on his mirror top guitar:
 
http://www.myspace.com/afguitars

kool, cheers, does anybody know how to get hold of BYOC's in the UK as their website specifically states they don't deliver outside the US???

[WezV]

it does list the suppliers on the BYOC website, here is the uk one

http://vibe-o-tronic.co.uk/

[Mr Ed]

I don't see the point unless the effect in question is something you use ALL THE TIME like Matt Bellamy (ugh) with his Fuzz Factory.

If not, surely having to push/pull a pot is going to no less inconvenient than stepping on a pedal?

[WezV]

surely having to push/pull a pot is going to no less inconvenient than stepping on a pedal?

only reason i mentioned it was because a push/pull is not the same as the true bypass switches that come with the BYOC kits so it aint a straight swap

[Mr Ed]

Sorry, I didn't specifically mean what you were saying - I just meant in general, push/pull pots or a miniswitch or however you activated the effect.

:)