Build a Talk box inside a Toilet Plunger

With a soldering iron, a pair of computer speakers, and some plumbing equipment (including a Toilet Plunger). You can build a pretty good Talk Box (a talk box is what artists like Daft Punk use to get that Robot Voice Effect on songs like Around the World, and Harder Better Faster Stronger).

When looking for youtube videos about talk boxes I stumbled across MootBooXLe's
Video about building a Ghetto Talk box.

When Building My Ghetto talk box a came up with some improvements on the construction
and materials and decided to make my own how-to for building a better than Ghetto
talk box.

To build your Toilet Plunger talk box you will need:

A pair of mid range powered computer speakers.
A 4 ft 1/2 inch diameter vinyl hose.
A Plumbing Cap from Home Depot (the one I used was a Nibco 5817 ABS DWV Plastic Plumbing Cap that was just a little larger than the naked speaker).
A Rubber Toilet Plunger (I've used both a red and black plunger and they both work fine, you want to make sure that the plumbing cap fits inside the plunger very tightly and that no air escapes).
A Roll of duct tape
A musical instrument to plug the speakers into.
A soldering Iron
And Finally basic tools for disassembling things... screw driver, Pliers etc...

Step 1 Disassemble, Remove Speaker, Solder, Reassble

Most Powered computer speakers have a left speaker that detaches and the right speaker has
the electronics etc.

You don't need the left speaker.

Disassemble the right Speaker and detach the speaker from the speaker case.
Most of these speakers don't have long enough wires attached to the speaker itself for you to
leave the speaker outside of the speaker case once it's removed.
Since this is probably the case you can cut the wires that attach to the speaker terminals,
and solder some longer wires from the circuit board.. to the speaker.

Find a hole in the speaker case (or drill one... i didn't have a drill so I used some scissors as a AWL and that did the trick).
Run your wires that Attach to the speaker out of that hole and then solder them to your speaker.
Then put the speaker back together so its less of a mess.

At this point the speaker should be functional.. but the speaker itself will be external to the speaker enclosure.

Comments

[mshipman]

do you have anything on how to mod a key board to get a pitch bend like the instructions on circuit bending?

[prodo123]

Gross, let's suck on a tube that's attached to something that touched my poop.

[CCOTTER247]

Or you could use heat-shrink to make it look more pro.

[PieMaster777]

Can this be used for a guitar?

[static]

Drilling a hole in the pipe cap to tun the speaker wire though and tying a knot in it for a strain relief before soldering the wire to the speaker terminals would be best in the long run for anyone duplicating this project.

[incorrigible packrat]

Just gotta ask: Was it a new or used plunger?

[girrrrrrr2]

a plunger is that thing that makes it so your toilet can flush... and new is when it hasnt been well used... and used is when it has been stuck in your toilet after something else that is clogging up the toilet... when i make one... i will be using a new one for some health reasons... hope this helps.

[incorrigible packrat]

C'mon you could wash it. Don't be so squeamish.

[static]

One may as well buy a new one to use. Because you going to have to buy new one to do the job of any used one taken out of service to make this toy. Unless a plunger was stuck in the variety box bought at an auction, and you have a surplus plunger in the home .

[girrrrrrr2]

you can wash it all you want. but you are basically inhailing the air from that place. so unless you stick it in bleach over night you will not be able to get it as clean as it can be, and even then you will be lucky.

[pdub77]

not to be petty, but you aren't really inhaling air from the plunger. if air were exiting the tube, there would be a partial vacuum inside the plunger. you are sending sound through the tube by vibrating the air. it's like shaking an elongated slinky. the movement transmits but the actual metal of the slinky does not. either way, thoroughly scrubbed wouldn't kill you if you were too drunk to drive to the hardware store.

[Jonny Katana]

High five for science!

[incorrigible packrat]

but... The new plunger could off-gas all sorts of plasticisers and other nasties, on account of it not being made from food-grade plastic, (just one of the reasons to not brew beer in a garbage can, even if it's a new one). Even food-grade plastic is held somewhat suspect these days. Anyhow, you'd be inhaling that new plastic smell, with all it's hormone disrupting goodness. Then again, the used plunger could be deteriorating and releasing more gunk, especially if subjected to harsh cleansers. I guess the safe thing to do would be to do nothing and just stare blankly at the walls for a while...

[pdub77]

i agree. in fact, it's much too dangerous to even go outside these days. home delivery is a must for the truly safety conscious.

[incorrigible packrat]

but.. staying inside, one could fall victim to deadly radon gas, or sick building syndrome, or even the dreaded hantavirus (depending on the number of mouses in your houses) Or I suppose a person could open a window from time to time, and maybe invest in a mousetrap or pussycat.

[pdub77]

too much work.

[incorrigible packrat]

I agree. I probably should have just stayed in the womb. That whole gestation thing was kind of a drag too, in retrospect. Shoulda eschewed fertilization entirely, and opted for permanent ova-hood. But then I'd only be half here; or rather 0.375 here, as I'm only about three quarters here already. (Some might argue I'm neither here nor there)... Say, did you know that Google has a built in calculator?

[Kulawend]

It's also a weatherman.

[incorrigible packrat]

Oh I bet that Google engineers are hard at work, trying to make it a Leatherman as well... (The utility tool, not the chaps and vest fellows...) (...well maybe them too, don't want to be discriminatory)

[pdub77]

google is all you need to live a happy and productive life. read the news. sheesh.

[nerocon]

lmao, what an awesome conversation. You guys made my night. Sorry to the OP though in adding to the off topic, but come on.. that's some pretty funny stuff. "I guess the safe thing to do would be to do nothing and just stare blankly at the walls for a while..." HA!

[Silence]

Its the definition of "Hijacked Thread" :P

[pdub77]

You can't say "hijacked" on a thread!!!!

[pestosvitcos]

Thanks for the how to, awesome plunger idea. Gonna try it out, any advice on recording the finished sound? Just do it near a mic? Any way to mount a mic to that hose? Thanks again! (btw, love your around the world)

[hippopatimus]

What you want to do is get a microphone and a mic stand. Tape the tube to the side of the mic so that about 2 inches of the tube go into your mouth. You can record through the mic.

[fatboy106]

would this work with a guitar??

[teslafan100]

i also have the casio pt-1 and alot other mini casios.

[Kulawend]

Are you sure that Daft Punk uses a Talk Box and not a Vocoder?

[KI6WTX]

Drafy Punk uses a Vocoder, look down at a later conversation about it-

[Ben Harden]

Daft Punk. Sorry I couldn't help myself

[PKTraceur]

Notice the "Y" key is next to the "T" key. -PKT

[Ben Harden]

Oh sorry. -Ben

[pdub77]

Dafy Punk is really good too!

[Izokay]

Great Instructable! I found that sound leaked from the speaker still so I wrapped the plunger/PCV cap part with a blanket. This helped a lot.

[KI6WTX]

when all else fails use ductape!

[danell]

Making one now =D going to buy a tube tomorrow :P

[danell]

i have made one now but it sucked =( The "box" sounds to much and not a lot of sound are coming out from the tube but I'm using a plastic box instead if a plumbing cap (because I'm from Sweden and i can't figure out what the hell a plumbing cap is xD ) Please explain for me so i can go and buy one =)

[talkbox master]

wat is a sarinar cord when he said heres the materials wat did he say

[Gakki]

Visit a hardware store with a PVC section.

[bth8]

its the cap u put on pvc pipe