Make A Talkbox

Step 3 Adding the switch

First, find where you want to put your switch, drill your hole and test fit it. Take it off and start soldering.

Ok, so inside the amp you have the preamp and two wires going to the speaker. I cut those lines and put a switch on the top of my amp. One set went to the speaker and the other to the horn driver.
Remember to tin the leads on both the wires and the switch before soldering. Pull all four wired through the hole in the preamp assembly. You can use the same wires that were there for the speaker and make the wire for the horn driver 2 feet (you'll see why later).

Comments

[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.

[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.