Make A Talkbox

Have you ever listen to Peter Frampton's guitar solos and asked yourself, "How does he do that?"

Well, he uses something called a talkbox. Basically it runs the sound from your guitar into an amplifier, out a speaker, and into a tube where you can manipulate it by changing the shape of you mouth and depth of you throat. They run about a hundred dollars but you can build one for less.

These sites help me link1 link2 link 3

Step 1 Supplies

You will need-
1 Horn Driver Here is the one I got (I might change it out for a better one soon)
* The impedance of the speaker needs to be the same as the one in your amp. I used these links to    figure out what I needed.
   Speaker Impedance
   My Amps Manual

1- practice amp (mine is a Marshal MG10 I got with my first guitar. Don't do this to your best rig.)
1- piece of 1" flex PVC pipe
3- hose clamp (got it in the plumbing department it had 1/2" threads and fits the 3/8" hose)
1- 1 PVC Coupling
1- PVC Reducer 1"x 1/2"
1- 1/2" PVC Female Adapter 1/2
1- some length of 3/8" black vinyl tubing
1 - piece of 4" wide PVC
2- 4" PVC Caps
1- 2PDT switch (I wanted a stomp switch. You could use 2 spdt switched for cheap)
3- adjustable metal bands (one small and 2 big)
1- liquid silicone (optional)
1- flat black spray paint (optional)
1- pocket full of dreams *A MUST*

Comments

[Phantomn]

 Did you use a capacitor to filter out any of the lower frequencies to the driver?

[James Haskin]

 No I did not, but I'm not sure if that's necessary.

[TheMadScientist]

nope! if anything i'd use a highpass. talkboxes are notoriously high pitched and nasily sounding. why filter out all those badass lows?

[_olarlite]

A highpass passes the high frequencies, thus, cutting lows. Also, the more harmonics you have, the better. If anything, cut them out during production.

[CBinns]

I'm just full of Q's
Can i take a 1, 1 1/14, or an 1 1/2 female adapter and screw it on the horn driver? Then put a plug at the other end of the adapter drill a hole for the 3/8 barb and connect the hose.

[CBinns]

if anybody still reads this c if this is right
from left to right: 1 3/8 hose barb, 1/2" PVC Female Adapter 1/2, PVC Reducer 1"x 1/2", 1 PVC Coupling, piece of 1" flex PVC pipe( why do we need this), small hose clamp, horn driver
4" piece N' caps not shown

[Sailing Barry]

By using a 1/4" output jack, instead of disecting into the the side of the amp... do you bypass the controls of the amp/pre-amp? Perhaps it's model dependent, but if not, it might make sense to make it just a plugable stand alone unit. Or if the idea is to make it so there is no sound coming from the main amp at all, then perhaps this project could be coupled with the Altoids Amp project (which I saw as a sidebar project).

[CBinns]

so how would u make it a plugable stand alone unit?

[Scrubsfan1234]

dont u mean ?= the thing on the other end?

[James Haskin]

NachoMahma told me when I first published this that they're called hose clamps or worm grear clamps.

[AndyGadget]

Also called Jubilee Clips after the company which first made them.

[Scrubsfan1234]

i thought you meant the part that the hose attaches to, because i didn't see it on the list.

[James Haskin]

Oh, thats a plastic hose barb fitting. They have them in different sizes at home depot. You don't have to use my design thought you just need to reduce the size. Maybe use all metal. I think the plastic absorbs a lot of the sound.

[Scrubsfan1234]

thanks

[pratyushmhptr]

 Can I make a talkbox without the Amplifier ...... Likke i can use a external amp.....and is the horn driver given here O.K. without the same amp. You see I don't have a amp but a friend of mine has one

[James Haskin]

 Yes, you have to use a speaker with the same resistance and power rating as the one in the amplifier.

[-Syrus-]

 Actually, 

the Ohm's and the Watt's differ.

You can use a higher amount of Ohm then your amp delivers, but not lower.
The speaker can be of higher Watt rating than the amp delivers but not lower.

So don't go low on Ohm's, but stay high on Watt's.

[Clayton H.]

arn't horn drivers in megaphones and sirens?

[James Haskin]

 Yes, they have small diaphragms which means they do well with higher freq.s

[ddr]

(removed by author or community request)

[Doctor Heckle]

I'm with these guys, need some more in depth stuff when it comes to the wiring, like wattage/Ohm count on the horn driver and the amp, how you wired the switch, etc.

[jimbo112]

As far as ohm count on the speaker, all you need is a multimeter to check the resistance on your amp driver(speaker) (4/6/8 ohm) and then match that to the resistance of the driver you buy.

the switch is wired like any 2pdt switch:
[]  []  []   Connect the leads for the amp driver (speaker) to lugs 1 and 2 on this row  
[]  []  []   Connect the input cables (from the amp itself) to lugs 1 and 2 of this row
[]  []  []   Connect the leads for the talk-box driver to lugs 1 and 2 on this row

Best to keep polarities the same (but not absolutely necessary, according to james), just in case there is an issue with the amp.  For example I think any class D amplifiers need proper polarization to work... but I might be mistaken.

[greatnameless1]

Is this a 2dpt or a 3dpt?

[jimbo112]

Can be either.  Looks like James just had a spare 3pdt to use.  You could put an LED onto the third row with a battery and 4k resistor if you wanted a light for it, but I think it would be pretty clear when you have the talk box going.


An interesting addition to this would be a foot controller with an LED indicator, which you could make using similar principles, but add a controller cable, using an electronic switching system and a 1pdt momentary switch on a box that you connect to the rig via a simple switch-cable-jack-e.switch.

[jimbo112]

You sir, are epic win.
Please consider the following a certificate, valid at any time, for the redemption of a week of my internets.
____________________________________________
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|           THIS CERTIFICATE IS VALID FOR ONE (1)             |
|                  WEEK OF  Jimbo112's INTERNET                     |
|                                                                                                     |
|                       AWARDED TO: James Haskin                       |
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|  FOR SERVICES TO GUITARISTS THE WORLD OVER  |
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|    Feel free to redeem this voucher at any point in time   |
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Also, great job on the ASE/Ultra mod for the DS-1

[EshKuno]

im a noob, i am having difficulties following how to wire this bad boy up. i have tried using 2 different switches and i get the same results, just the normal sound out of the amp. it doesnt seem like the horn is getting any juice. what am i doing wrong and exactly which wires go where???

[slick205]

Exactly to which terminals to you place the wires? I ordered the same switch but am not sure which wires go to which terminals. Thanks.

[enterthejordan333]

how do u put the pvc thats on the horn driver together and whats the piece at the end

[James Haskin]

I use my hands in conjunction with my brain... most of the time.

[Bradlez92]

dude what about the tube to fit in your mouth? im sorry, but i dont see how this is a talkbox at all. im a little confused :-\

[pedrowsky]

the sound goes into your mouth and it is modified because of the shape. A good modification would be to put a microfone in the tube, then connect it to the speaker, just like peter frampton

[James Haskin]

actually Frampton just has the tube mounted on a mic stand NEXT to his mic so his mouth it right next to a mic when the sound going into it and comes back.

[pedrowsky]

sorry, i was referring to that... it would be NEXT to the mic...

[Bradlez92]

oh, THAT'S how they do it? cuz im like, if it goes in your mouth, how does it go through the amp? but that frampton trick answered my question. thanks bro.

[James Haskin]

Read the instructable from start to finish and click on all the links. I give you plenty of information.

[Bradlez92]

cool thx :D

[shamca]

Is that a Talman...man? Love the colour.

[James Haskin]

No man, it's a Danelectro Dano Pro.

[Bradlez92]

what'd you need the slilicon sealant for?

[James Haskin]

I just used it to provide some shock support for the driver. I didn't want me treating this thing like a practice amp to hurt the horn drive so I just gooped about an inch or so inside the tube.