Crazy idea?

ColinMmmmm · #1 10-18-2007, 01:13 AM

I was just thinking - it happens every once in a while - and I possibly just invented the greatest thing ever. Like Homer simpsons electric hammer. How cool would it be if you had a sort of adapter - very small - maybe 3" x 1" - that you could plug into the output jack of your guitar, that had a very basic sort of preamp, some simple effects, and an output where you could plug in a set of headphones. Possible? I'm thinking three knobs (maybe tone, gain, reverb) or alternately a small display with a few tweakable parameters. Doable?

The sort of spark was me walking around with my guitar. I do it all the time, and always get in trouble for not listening to people when they tale to me. And I was thinking how cool it would be if I could walk around with an electric slung on my shoulder, set of headphones, and be in my own little world. And it'd be (loosely) comparable to walking around on stage with a wireless system.

But it's probably been done - anyone heard of anything similar to what I'm thinking of?

Yousef · #2 10-18-2007, 02:36 AM

sick-boy · #3 10-18-2007, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColinMmmmm

But it's probably been done - anyone heard of anything similar to what I'm thinking of?

Yeah, dude. The portable headphone amps are available. I used to have one and they were awesome for doing just what you are talking about.

SeanB · #4 10-18-2007, 05:04 AM

Dean guitars do one

http://deanguitars.uk.com/shop/shop.htm
you can see it on there. =]

courtney2018 · #5 10-18-2007, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColinMmmmm

Like Homer simpsons electric hammer. How cool would it be if you had a sort of adapter - very small - maybe 3" x 1" - that you could plug into the output jack of your guitar, that had a very basic sort of preamp, some simple effects, and an output where you could plug in a set of headphones. Possible?

I would buy one....but only if it would say, "DOH!!!" evertime I messed up a note or a chord.

southpaw_lefty · #6 10-18-2007, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by courtney2018

I would buy one....but only if it would say, "DOH!!!" evertime I messed up a note or a chord.

Oh my! That's great!

ColinMmmmm · #7 10-18-2007, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sick-boy

Yeah, dude. The portable headphone amps are available. I used to have one and they were awesome for doing just what you are talking about.

That was awesome - not exactly what I was thinking, but very cool. I guess you'd just put it in your pocket or whatever. If it's as easy as they say it is to make, maybe I'll give it a shot sometime.

ColinMmmmm · #8 10-18-2007, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by courtney2018

I would buy one....but only if it would say, "DOH!!!" evertime I messed up a note or a chord.

That would be funny . . .

stratoskier · #9 10-18-2007, 02:05 PM

Here's an idea for something I did with a Korg Pandora PX4 headphone amp. It enables me to walk around with it attached to the guitar, with the controls accessible. I've even played live with it. I have another version of the same contraption for my Pocket Pod.
Cheers,
Bert

ColinMmmmm · #10 10-18-2007, 03:15 PM

Now thats what I'm talking about - frickin' cool. How heavy is the Pandora? Would it stress the output jack if you plugged it in with a short, solid two-ended 1/4" plug "linker" and then plugged your headphones into that?

sick-boy · #11 10-18-2007, 03:22 PM

That's a pretty ingenius rig you have there, stratoskier. Or should I say MacGuyver? I like that a lot.

stratoskier · #12 10-18-2007, 04:21 PM

Colin -- The Pandora is pretty light (138g without batteries). Although it might look like the whole clamp system would be heavy, I don't even notice it when I'm playing. My first version was smaller and didn't have room for the iPod. Therefore that one is lighter.

I'm not sure what you mean about using the 1/4" linker jack -- I just plug my mini-phones directly into the output jack of the PX4. You can see the chrome 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor in the upper photo. If I want to run into an amp or a mixer, I run out of the same output using a regular guitar cable. I loop the cable over the lower horn to eliminate any stress on the PX4 jack.

The thing I love about this goofy little gadget is that it makes it ultra easy to just grab the guitar, flip it on and start playing. No setup time. That lets me squeeze in practice time in ultra small doses.

Bert

ColinMmmmm · #13 10-18-2007, 06:20 PM

Cool - well what I meant was, could you get a solid sort of connector and have the pandora sticking out of your output jack (and not clamped to the guitar?), then just run your headphones from there? And so half the time you plug your headphones into the pandora and listen to your guitar, and the other half you plug them into the ipod and play along? That's just crazy . . .

rgr · #14 10-18-2007, 06:30 PM

I think the Pandoras come with a clip for your strap, wouldn't that be the easiest? I got my used, it didn't have a clip, but it looks like it has some features for one.

**jim777** · #15 10-18-2007, 06:49 PM

I used to have a little cassette player (made by Ibanez, in fact) that was a headphones amp with distortion and chorus, and played tapes at half speed as well so the notes were the same just an octave lower. It was cool for figuring out Steve Morse licks and such. This was years ago....