Conference napalm::guitar

    
    	There are a number of ways to do this.
    
    	They all involve some kind of speaker, which is connected to
    the guitarists amplifier, perhaps at the extension speaker outlet.
    A switch is usually provided to turn the effect on and off, if you
    want to get fancy, this same switch can also turn off the amp speaker
    when it turns on the effect.                                  
    
    	There are two choices of speaker that will work. One, is to
    get one of the small 3 1/2" or 4" speakers from Radio Shack, which
    are normally used as replacement speakers for the front dash mounting
    in GM cars. Make sure that whatever speaker you get, it's a single
    cone - you want to avoid the double and "tri-ax" units. You'll need
    a board (ref. Dave Barry's article on "How to make a board") about
    3/4" to 1" thick, large enough to bolt the speaker to. Drill a 5/8"
    hole in the center of the board. Mount the speaker to one side.
    
    	The other type of speaker you can use is called a horn driver.
    These can be obtained from the insides of one of those large outdoor
    PA type speakers, that you see hanging outside of churches, stadiums,
    etc. (I find them often at the fleamarket) If you cannot get a hold
    of one of these, you can take apart a small PA speaker from an
    automobile PA or alarm system, and use the driver from this. However,
    this little driver will not handle as much power as one from the
    bigger units, and you may blow it out in time.
    
    	The hose is just a 5/8" od clear plastic tube that can be had
    at any hardware store. Considering the speaker mounted to the board,
    simply push about 1/2" of the hose into the 5/8" hole, place the
    other end in your mouth. If the speaker is working, it should drive
    the guitar sound into your mouth, which can be effected upon by
    opening your mouth as if to pronounce different vowels. If the sound
    from the back side of the speaker is too loud, build a box around
    it, or just tape the openings on the back side of the speaker shut
    with some good duct tape. Good Luck!
    
    	Joe Jas  
   

    I wouldn't attempt it. The reason is because of the way that they
    are used. The talkbox is plugged into your amp's output, and the
    speaker is plugged into the talkbox. If you have a mishap with
    it, you could easily blow your amp. I saw the Heil talkbox advertised 
    in "Musicians Freind" for $150.oo   Unless you plan to use this
    with an amp that is expendible, you are better off to spend the
    money and get a good unit, or forget about it.
    
    Mark Jacques
    
    
    

    
    I'd put a 100W L-Pad between the ext spkr output and the driver
    to cut down the volume to the driver so you won't blow your teeth
    up when you hit a particularly resonant note on your guitar. 
    	The unit is usually placed on the floor next to the mike stand
    with the tube taped to the stand and terminated about an inch past
    the mic so when you sing, you can put the tube in your mouth.
    
    
    
    

    
    	Isn't there a fancy one using a ring modulator about.  I seem
    to recall a a unit that used a mike & extracted the envelope of
    the voice & used it to modulate the guitar/keboard output.  It wasn't
    the VOCODER but it used a similar technique to it.
    
    	May be I dreamed about it....:-)
    
    	Cheers
    		Pete.
      

    I have this book called Electronic Projects for Guitarists.
    
    I think it has all the info (art-work, schematics etc) that you
    need to build a nifty talk-box.  If ya want, I'll send the stuff
    to ya.
    
    jc

    I had an elctro-harminx one once...bought it new for $70.
    
    anyway, I remember reading an article in GP just before purchase and
    they recommended that a player NOT try and build their own due to teh
    fact that the unit needed some special sort of resistor/driver
    mechanism and that they would recommend the attempt.]
    
    
    just an fyi 

    I built Craig Andertons Ring Modulator project.
    
    It's not really an "effect", more like a "special effect".   It's
    hard to do much with it harmonically as it gets radical pretty
    quickly.  And if you have it set conservatively, it sorta sounds
    like the vibrato you can get with a DDL or vibrato effect.
    
    As a matter of fact, I called it the "wretching agonizer" and
    labelled the controls "pain", "agony" and "wretch".
    
    One application I did like though was on vocals.  It turned vocals
    into robot vocals.   I wouldn't be surprised if the robot voice
    in Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Karn Evil 9" was done with a ring
    modulator.
    
    	db

	PAIA electronics (somewhere in California?) had a kit that I bought
	years ago for a small Pignose type amp called the Pygmie.  It was
	about a five watt (or less amp) that was battery powered.  They 
	also had an option that you could get that was a plastic cover for
	the speaker and a tube to make a "talk box" out of it.  I put one
	of these together, but the power of the amp really wasn't enough
	to make enough sound come up the tube to your mouth.   I modified
	the set up by running my guitar through a 100 Watt Kustom head
	and then to the speaker of the the pygmie (bypassing the amp circuit).
	This kinda worked but I was afraid of blowing up either the speaker
	or the amp.  It really made my teath and skull feel weird when I
	used it.

	-gary

    
    	Dave,
    
    	I believe you can get harmonically related sounds with the ring
    modulator, using a DDL instead of the "carrier" or "modulating
    oscillator" - whose frequency is determined by one of the "pain/agony
    /wretch" controls you described.
    
    	The sound you want effected goes into both the ring modulator and
    the DDL. Place the dry-delayed output from the DDL into the modulating
    input of the ring modulator and viola! Instant Ibanez harmonics
    delay!                                        
    
    	Harmonic content will be a function of the delayed modulating
    level and the delay time of the DDL.
    
    	Joe Jas                         

    
    re: .3 and .8
    
    WARNING:  The playing of the fundamental of your head at loud volumes
              may be hazardous to your health!
    
    
         I was singing in my car once on the way home from work and
    I happened to hit a particular note that caused me great pain in
    the center of my head.  I started to black out.  I'm not prone to
    those sorts of things, but that particular note really rattled me.
    I still wonder what note it was and what would have happened had
    I actually passed out.
    
    Guy

	> I saw the Heil talkbox advertised in "Musicians Freind" for
	> $150.oo

	Has anyone used the Heil?  Does anyone know if it (or other talk
	boxes) has a built-in transducer/mic that grabs the output from
	the voice pipe, pre-amps it and gives you a line output that you
	can throw into a board?  Or (as I suspect), are you forced to mike
	the output yourself?

	/ravi

     I'll explain how this thing works.
     The box, (with the driver in it) is connected directly to
     the external speaker jack on your guitar amp. the sound
     that your guitar makes comes out the tube which is connected
     to the box. The tube, which is 5 to 6 feet long, is taped
     to your mic stand and terminates at the ball of the mike
     although it extends out past the mic just enough so that it
     goes in one side of your mouth. The sound goes in your mouth
     and into the mic. The wha-wha kind of sound comes from open-
     ing and closing and generally making funny faces with your
     mouth. You don't need a direct line because you'll be using
     your vocal mic. I hope this helps.
    
     Neal
    

	IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

	I built one last night from spare parts, the only thing I had
to buy was the tubing.  It was quite a surprise when it actually worked!
(for some reason, I didn't expect it to). I used a "10 watts max." R.S.
speaker that I had hanging around.  It seems to handle the output of the
amp o.k.  I have a Randall RG80112c (output: 80 watts @ 4 ohms amp which
should translate to about 40 watts @ 8 ohms).  

	I think that an L-pad hooked up to the talk_box speaker and a foot
switch to select between the amp's speaker and the talk_box speaker would be
a nice improvement.  I'm going to try this tomorrow.  I also want to try a
slightly smaller piece of tubing at the mouth end - 5/8" is a little large
for my mouth and I think restricts the movements that I can make with my
mouth.  I would imagine that the smaller the tube gets, the less volume
will get into your mouth.  The trick will be to find a happy medium.

	Now, to convince the band to learn "Rocky Mountain Way" and "Those
Shoes" for our next gig on April 15...

						Brad

    
    If you will make a foot switch, may I suggest you seek out a "Make
    before break" kind.  
    
    You want a switch that will guarantee at least one load to the amp
    at all times.  With a "make before break" during switching, both
    speakers will be driven.  With a "break before make" type, both
    speakers will be disconnected (bad news for tube amps, plus may
    cause popping).
    
    

	Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.  Any idea of a source for this
switch? Radio Shack? As a last resort - Daddy's?
				
						Brad