Talk Box

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Kymera

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Im looking for as much info as i can on talk boxes. i don't know much about brands or prices only i love how they work and love the sound. i know of the heil one which was the original i think....but as far as i know its a pain to setup..i also know of one called the Banshee talkbox by Rocktron. This seems much more user friendly and has had great reviews. has nebody got or have played around with various talk boxes and could give me some idea on price, which is better for the money etc. cheers
 
My old guitar player used the original Heil, and it was a total nightmare. Eventually he stopped bringing it to gigs, then stopped using it altogether.

They're dangerous, noisy and flaky, and they suck a lot of juice - I remember him having to change the element about once a month. He'd get a headache after using it for a while - he said it'd shake his fillings loose. I thought maybe he had a bad unit, but I've heard other horror stories too.

He had demo'd the Rocktron (he's a Rocktron freak as it is), and he was all gung-ho about getting one (he said they're designed differently and much safer now), but he never saved the cash for it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure about prices.

Don't get me wrong, I love the sound too (I guess it's a Frampton thing), but I'd stay away from the original and check out the Rocktron - I think other manufacturers make them too.
 
Okay, I'm reading the post above me and I'm totally perplexed at the mis-information blasting the Heil TalkBox.

I have my Heil TalkBox right in front of me (Serial #AA34N934), so I actually OWN one.

I don't just "know a guy who had one once".

That being said, the Heil TalkBox does not have any power supply, so I have no clue how it would "suck juice". :confused:

Element?.... What "element"???? :confused:

The Heil TalkBox is just a sealed, insulated box with a speaker inside. You put the signal into the box (using a standard 1/4" cable) and use another 1/4" cable to go out to your speaker enclosure. The sound that comes out of the tube would't rattle out your fillings in 100 years of constant use, so the "guy" must've had a lousy dentist. :rolleyes:

I've used my talkbox with keyboards, as well as guitar... and it's a blast to use.... I LOVE IT!!! :):):)

In all honesty, I have no idea about the "Rocktron" unit, it might be a wonderful piece of equipment.
But I just felt I had to correect the mis-information above.

There's actually been posts here about how you can make your own TalkBox, and it's really not that difficult to do.
Do a search and maybe you'll find some useful info on constructing your own unit.

As for the Heil TalkBox being difficult to use... you'd have to be retarded not to be able to use this thing.
As a matter of fact, it does't even come with instructions because the two set-up options are printed right on the bottom of the box with pictures of how to use it!
There's a "basic" set-up, and a "pro" set-up.

Here's an original song that my partner and I did in which we used the Heil TalkBox during the bridge of the song....

http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/1492/1492252.html
 
Either yours isn't an original or my friend's wasn't but we're not talking about the same piece of gear.

I had it "in front of me" for 6 months - he left it at my house between practices. I used it and recorded with it too. The one I'm talking about IS amplified. There's a big speaker at the base that runs through the surgical tubing, up the mic stand, and right next to your mic. And it DOES make your head hurt. This is what happens when you run an amplified signal into your mouth with surgical tubing. You can leave the volume of your amp off and still hear this thing buzzing pretty loud (coming from the base of the unit) when you play your guitar into it.

It was old and beat up as hell, and it was a Heil. I'm guessing that yours isn't an original or it's a re-issue of some sort. If that's the case, it sounds like yours is a lot better to work with than this one was.
 
i posted this on another thread...but im gonna post it again, maybe it will help.

I made a talkbox back in the late 70's when frampton was all the rage....its simple and it sounds as good as a factory unit.

get a small practice amp from a pawn shop (doesn't matter what kind as long as it has a small speaker)...remove any speaker grill or mesh from the front of the amp so as to expose the speaker.

get a funnel
(cheap at auto zone or walmart)
the funnels large end should be aproxx. the same diameter as the speaker
(if its a little bigger than the speaker its no big deal)

glue the speaker to the front of the amp so that the speaker is totally enclosed in the large end of the funnel.

get some plastic tubing and stick one end over the small end of the funnel and run it up a mic stand ...right beside the actual microphone.

turn on the P.A.....turn on the practice amp.....stick the tube in your mouth and presto....peter frampton city...."rocky mountain way" like the record bro

i figure...a small chessy practice amp in a pawn shop....probably 15 bucks....a funnel probably $1.99......plastic tubing a couple of bucks....probably some epoxy for a couple of bucks.

the whole thing shouldn't run you over 20 bucks
 
What a great effect! Especially when you master being able to talk with it.

I made a talkbox years ago also. I used the driver off the back of a PA horn that was removed from Michigan International Speedway when they upgraded their sound system in the late 70's.

The key to building one of these things is getting a driver with enough power capability so you don't over drive it with the signal from the amplifier. You connect it between your amp head and the speaker. I had built a switch into mine so it was either off or on. In the off postition the signal just went through the talkbox back to the speaker, no sound came out of the talkbox then. In the on position no sound came out of my amp speaker just out the surgical tube in your mouth next to my microphone and through the PA.

As for headaches I never got any from it, but I was using a 20 watt Fender Deluxe maybe with more power it might have that effect. You do feel it in your mouth.

A few years ago I had heard that these things could loosen filings. I happened to be in an online chat shortly after with Peter Frampton and he says its never happened to him, and I don't think there is anyone who has used one more then he.

Frampton also makes his own high end talkbox these days that is available for sale. He states the one you can buy is exactly the same as the one he uses.
Here's the web site:
http://www.frampton.com/theframp.html

Good luck,
scodu
 
build it

Building your own talk box is way easy and quite rewarding. I built one for about 30 bucks, I didn't got he funnel /practice amp route though. I got a horn driver, (make sure it isn't peizo) and put a jack on it. Found a surgical tubing adapater that fit over the speaker, used some duct tape for testing purposes and then epoxy. Works like a charm.

The framptone (Frampton's own talkbox) looks like a shrine to the man himself. It is HUGE. It might be ampilfied and all that stuff, but it is bigger than my small amps, and costs like 300 dollars.

The heil stuff is pretty cool, but like I said above, you can make one just like it easily.

The rocktron one is very cool, but the sound is a little different, not better or worse just different, because you don't use the same signal chain.

--MIKE
 
theres also the supertalk, 109.99 supertalker.com i think I'd still say go with making your own though.
 
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