Ever wanted your guitar to be unique? Or a guitar that made everybody jealous of it? Or are you just tired of the plain old look of your guitar and want to spruce it up? Well,in this very simple Ible I'll show you how to illuminate the pickups on your electric guitar. The process is very simple, and almost anybody should be able to do it.
This is my first instructable and I plan on entering it into the "Get the Led Out!" contest. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, Also if you find this guide useful or just enjoy it, please vote and rate it.
*** Updated with circuit to make it blink when you strum! Also how to make the leds turn on when you plug in your instrument cable! See the last step!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtR5kkf7ipw heres the link to it in Action! skip to 6:00 if you don't want a video tutorial!
****There is another method of doing this that hsandford has brought up, It is a bit more complicated, but will result in much better results and have less problems overall then this method. Your can find his guide here. http://howardsandford.com/blog/flashing-leds-audio-meter-avr-attiny-guitar-pickup-wiring-sound-following-circuit/
This is my first instructable and I plan on entering it into the "Get the Led Out!" contest. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, Also if you find this guide useful or just enjoy it, please vote and rate it.
*** Updated with circuit to make it blink when you strum! Also how to make the leds turn on when you plug in your instrument cable! See the last step!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtR5kkf7ipw heres the link to it in Action! skip to 6:00 if you don't want a video tutorial!
****There is another method of doing this that hsandford has brought up, It is a bit more complicated, but will result in much better results and have less problems overall then this method. Your can find his guide here. http://howardsandford.com/blog/flashing-leds-audio-meter-avr-attiny-guitar-pickup-wiring-sound-following-circuit/
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials.
You need very few things to do this mod, and most people that do things like this often will have them already.
1. 8x led, color of your own choice. (you can add more but they might not fit correctly in your guitar.
2. 2x resistors, make sure you have the right kind for your led.
3. pieces of wire.
4. Solder and soldering iron, other electrical tools, wire cutter, wire stripper etc.
5. 9v battery and 9v battery clip.
6. 9v battery holder, or way to hold it in place.
7. tools to remove guitar strings and pickups.
8. plastic that is semi transparent (I'll show how to make this in case you don't have anything suitable), used to diffuse the light for a better glow. a dremel tool may be needed for this, also scotch tape.
9. Extra strings in case something happens to yours, even though its very unlikely.
10. You will also need a switch of your choosing, I used a reed switch that is normally on so i can just stick a magnet to it to have it off when I'm not playing. Otherwise you will need to drill the plastic electrical cover in your guitar.
11. basic soldering and electrical knowledge.
** optional, If you are doing the led blinking version, you will need,
1. LM386n-1 op amp chip, radioshack has them for 2 dollars.
2. A 10 uF capacitor
3. various resistors to get the desired amount of blinking.
1. 8x led, color of your own choice. (you can add more but they might not fit correctly in your guitar.
2. 2x resistors, make sure you have the right kind for your led.
3. pieces of wire.
4. Solder and soldering iron, other electrical tools, wire cutter, wire stripper etc.
5. 9v battery and 9v battery clip.
6. 9v battery holder, or way to hold it in place.
7. tools to remove guitar strings and pickups.
8. plastic that is semi transparent (I'll show how to make this in case you don't have anything suitable), used to diffuse the light for a better glow. a dremel tool may be needed for this, also scotch tape.
9. Extra strings in case something happens to yours, even though its very unlikely.
10. You will also need a switch of your choosing, I used a reed switch that is normally on so i can just stick a magnet to it to have it off when I'm not playing. Otherwise you will need to drill the plastic electrical cover in your guitar.
11. basic soldering and electrical knowledge.
** optional, If you are doing the led blinking version, you will need,
1. LM386n-1 op amp chip, radioshack has them for 2 dollars.
2. A 10 uF capacitor
3. various resistors to get the desired amount of blinking.
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P / D my guitar solo leads a double humberker the idea is to illuminate touching the F holes, where does the reed switch? in my case I did not put resistance I occupy small batteries.
That way you don't even have to use a diffuse panel and the pickups should fit much better, at least on my Ibanez RG-370. In Europe you get 50 for 7 €.
Instead of the reed switch I will simply let two bits of wire out of the backpanel of the guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEPTWs8zds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY5WO_244Mo
thanks!
why don't you just use your old "mini" computer stereos' pcb board inside, & hooked up on your guitar. so it goes like this:
1. disconnect the wire on the pcb that connects to the speakers and solder it to a bunch of led your going to put it on your guitar. (don't forget the properly solder the leds according to the + & -.)
2.disconnect the input wire(the one you connect it to the pc or something) on the pcb, hook up a new cable on it & connect it to the guitars output wire.
3. remove the volume knob and just connect the gap with some cables and stuffs.
(if you wanna remove the on of switch too, just do it just like the volume knob)
#got this idea from installing leds on psp. haha",
haven't tried on putting it on my guitar but when i tested just to check of the led blinks when i play the song on my mp3's it work well. so, i hope it works to on guitar.
p.s if there's a problem with my english, sorry. i'm just an 14 years old indonesian boy. thanks :)
blink when I play, is supposed to shine as
I play guitar, I put the LM386 with a capacitor
10uF, and 8 leds THE OUTPUT, which could have been my error?
pdt: excuse me english but I speak spanish :)
2. what value resistors are you using
so i followed your diode diagram, used 1n34 Ge diodes, but the LEDs didn't light up at all!
what diode did you use to be able to make this work?