Behold: The Rock Helmet

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starbuck26

starbuck26

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Dear Friends,

As my rock helmet prototype nears completion, I have reached an impasse that requires your advice and attention. I am building a futuristic helmet out of an old television that will be bolted to my head while I play my guitar. The helmet is under a series of digital instructions to react to what I play.

The helmet will be on my head, and I will also run my guitar-->pedalboard-->amp line. I guess I have to spit the signal at the guitar, and send it to the helmet.

I thought about using an A/B/Y switch to accomplish this... could y'all give me some ideas about which a/b/y box to use? Preferably one that won't make me sound like creed by the time it makes it to the end of my chain?
 
starbuck26 said:
Dear Friends,

As my rock helmet prototype nears completion, I have reached an impasse that requires your advice and attention. I am building a futuristic helmet out of an old television that will be bolted to my head while I play my guitar. The helmet is under a series of digital instructions to react to what I play.

The helmet will be on my head, and I will also run my guitar-->pedalboard-->amp line. I guess I have to spit the signal at the guitar, and send it to the helmet.

I thought about using an A/B/Y switch to accomplish this... could y'all give me some ideas about which a/b/y box to use? Preferably one that won't make me sound like creed by the time it makes it to the end of my chain?
Click to expand...

pics?




please!?
 
Sounds cool, I would recommend you stand with one foot in a bucket of water the first time you fire it up.....
 
This is before we added the bells and whistles. We want it to act like a Robot after being downsized because a compooter could do his job better than he could damn do it.

And yes, the robot is drinking champagne and smoking a cigarette.

But seriously? Which A/B/Y selector isn't going to ruin my tone?


rockhelmetdrunkcopy-full;init:.jpg
 
starbuck26 said:
This is before we added the bells and whistles. We want it to act like a Robot after being downsized because a compooter could do his job better than he could damn do it.

And yes, the robot is drinking champagne and smoking a cigarette.

But seriously? Which A/B/Y selector isn't going to ruin my tone?


rockhelmetdrunkcopy-full;init:.jpg
Click to expand...


I think you have to get the right costume to go with the helmet.........I bet Ace Frehley might have a few costumes around that he isn't using anymore...........
 

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oh my jesus...

I think I'd have to lose a few pounds... right now I can barely squeeze into a size 6.

We do have a sweet costume for it. I'll post a vid when it's finished.

Which A/B/Y selector did Kiss use? :cool:
 
Radial is a bit pricey...

Not sure I'm willing to spend 350 dollars on a rock helmet made out of about 36.78 in parts and a old microfilm machine i found in a dumpster behind an elementary school.

I've used the whirlwind aby before, but even that (99.99 at zzounds.com) is a bit pricey.

Anyone ever used the Morley job? Rumor has it that it sucks.

Any other ways i can conceivably get my guitar signal into my helmet?
 
A good idea...

kojdogg said:
here's a couple of things that popped up after a quick ebay search:
http://cgi.ebay.com/A-B-Y-Switch-Gu...ryZ47076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Whirlwind-A-B-S...ryZ23783QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

here's another idea: in order to prevent signal loss/degradation from an a/b-y box, why not just throw a cheap-ass dynamic mic in front of your amp and send that signal out to the rock helmet? it seems like all you need is some sort of signal (?)
Click to expand...


Here's the deal. The rock helmet has a series of super-brite leds that will light up in a sequence proportional to the frequency of the note I play. Your idea is entirely wonderful, and I'm going to try it out next time im in front of the circuit, but my fear is that the signal coming out of my amp will have too many harmonics for the circuit to handle. I thought that getting the unamplified signal out of the guitar, amplifying it a little bit for our purposes, and sending it along its way would be best.

Like I said, though. It's a great idea, and I'll try it.

I'll tell you how it worked provided I don't melt my face off.
 
ah-- perhaps you want a di box then? send the di'ed signal to the helmet and the thru output to the amp.
 
Well... if you're building this... why can't you build a simple splitter circuit? Seems pretty illogical to me to be buying one when you could build one to suit your exact needs.
 
starbuck26 said:
Maybe, but we've made sure to use DC power the whole time. At worst my voice will crack. At best, I will dance like Daft Punk.
Click to expand...

At worst you could dance like a daft Emo, anyways prolonged close exposure to DC will subject you to testicular cancer;)
 
hmmm....

kojdogg said:
ah-- perhaps you want a di box then? send the di'ed signal to the helmet and the thru output to the amp.
Click to expand...

Never used a DI box before... But this looks like the best route. Will it mess with my tone, though? I'm running a G&L Invader into a Fulltone OCD into a Hot Rod Deville. I like the trio and hesitate to add anything that will mitigate the fury it produces.
 
ausrock said:
At worst you could dance like a daft Emo, anyways prolonged close exposure to DC will subject you to testicular cancer;)
Click to expand...

Read something I haven't? What is 'prolonged close exposure?' I'll bring this up with Paul, the electrical engineer behind the operation, who plays the retarded guitar (bass) in my band. :eek:
 
unfortunately, a budget di will probably still mess with your tone-- particularly if you're using passive pickups into a passive di. an active one may do less harm.
on the flip though, di's tend cheaper than ab-y boxes, so you could get a higher quality one in your budget if you need to go this route.
 
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