How to make a cheap Talk box

Started by FreeTime, June 10, 2012, 09:43:10 PM

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FreeTime

I tried several designs and this is 'The One'

What you'll need:

1: A driver from a P.A. horn. You might get lucky and salvage one from a defunct speaker; Put on a glove and give the magnet a CCW turn, with a bit of luck it'll spin off.



2: A strain relief. Talk to your electrician buddy and ask him if he has a '1.25" T&B Strain relief with a half inch insert' that he might want to trade for a blown P.A. speaker thats missing the Horn Driver. You just need the Nut, retainer, and rubber piece.



3: Some tubing. The stuff I ended up with is 5/8" O.D., its a bit big. Get the nice pliable stuff that'll stand up to overactive salivatory glands. 10 Feet should more than do it.



4: Something to power the driver. My 12W Kustom practice amp is more than powerful enough. With quite a bit of gain dialled in it sounds great ! It plugs into the 'External Speaker' jack. This bypasses the internal speaker. If I don't find a box to install everything into down the road I just might install the whole thing right into the practice amp.



5: Assemble the strain relief/tube as shown



6: Screw the bits together, Use a pair of vice grips to bury the threads, fingertight snug is more than enough. If you have to, a metal sleeve inside of the tube should keep things from pulling apart, mine doesnt have that and it has yet to fail.



7: I use the unit with a T.C. Harmony G, mainly for the hands on volume control, but also for the effects and the harmonies. Before I started this, I considered the freq. range of a guitar, did the math on the resonant frequency of a piece of tubing of given I.D. to get the right length, and calculated what size choke I'd need for proper attenuation. In the end I just eyeballed everything and just made sure the impedances were compatible, everything works just fine.  Have Fun !





papabuss

#1
There were many requests about patches about talkboxes during the last days. So I found this crazy video:


Enjoy it! ;D
FENDER STRATOCASTER (1974); BRIAN MAY RED SPECIAL; VG 99; GR 55; Yamaha DX 7

Music was my first love and it will be my last (JOHN MILES)

rolandvg99

How cool is that! I can see the warning label:

"Plunge-box" - Rinse before use.

;D
To V or not to V: That is the question.

My little Soundcloud corner

cell7

Damn this is cool. If i can rustle up the parts im gonna try this on the weekend :)

Elantric

#4


QuoteI'll show you how to take your budget small guitar amp and turn it into a very usable (and way cheap) talkbox with a flick of a switch.


other details here too:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=6218.0

Kevin M

Well done, and shows just how amazingly simple these things are to build.

tekrytor

Very cool! Thanks, again and  again, Elantric!
SY-300/BeatBuddy/VoiceLive 3/GR-55(v1.50)/33/1/50/700/VGA-7/V-Bass, Yam-G10, GPK-4, DIY X-Bee HighlyLiquidCPU "Cozy-Lil-Footie", FCB-1010, other MIDI stuff, Godin Freeway SA and various other GK equipped controllers, Sonar X1, Audacity, KXstudio, Misc devices

billbax

Excellent movie/demo. Human ingenuity eh?

The man clearly has application!

Bill



papabuss

#8
Hey that's a fantasic link, Elantric!
I 've got such an old (forgotton and unused) amp down in my cellar.-- ;)
BTW I made a patch some time ago (just see that it's nearly 2 years ago..)for our VG 99 friends here ;) for "BJ" without this "hardware".
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=2749.0
Keep on rocking!
FENDER STRATOCASTER (1974); BRIAN MAY RED SPECIAL; VG 99; GR 55; Yamaha DX 7

Music was my first love and it will be my last (JOHN MILES)

MikeTranch

Very cool.  I did this same thing with a Crate GX-20M.  I added a fader control so I can use either the horn driver or the original speaker or both.  I got the parts online at a pretty good place.  I need to check the forum rules, I'm not sure if it's OK if I say the name or URL.  (I have no commercial interest in anything I post.)

Elantric

#10

MikeTranch

Indeed.  In my searching they had the best price and delivery.

Elantric


admin


adamlee011

I once just used a set of ear buds from my processor, panned everything left, put the left bud in my mouth and "talked" into a mic. Cheapest talk box ever. And it worked quite well! 😂

shannonrichards

That seems like a plausible solution for an amateur on a shoestring.