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Installing an amp/speaker into a LP Anyone?


mrjones200x

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Hi guys,

 

Some of you may of heard that ive got a project LP which is pretty crap condition at the minute and i was thinking of installing an MS-2 Marshall mini amp into the guitar. Obviously i wanna remove all the electrics from the box it comes in and if enough room rout out between the two pickups to install the speaker and make a custom pick guard to cover this too.

Will mount the amp knobs where the pick up switch is with a few additional holes and move the pickup swith so its like an sg near the guitar controls.

 

Anybody ever seen this sort of thing on a guitar before?

Ive seen some stuff in a book i got from the library.

Just wanted it be a practice guitar with built in amp. Not to loud but keep it looking quite clean and tidy.

Will also have an output so can plug into a big amp and headphone socket to

 

Anyone think this would be a good idea?

 

Thanks

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I would put the amp's knobs where the guitar's knobs are.

 

I'm not a wiring expert by any means, but I imagine you would have a Stat-like setup for the guitar (single volume, two tone) and a leftover knob for the amp control.

 

Fender one, also:

 

526061.jpg

It has a power adapter, headphones, and an output.

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^almost vomitted at the futura

 

Anyway, you can get components and a small amp circuit for far less than that marshall cost.

http://store.guitarfetish.com/on25waguamdr.html < Pot-sized guitar amp.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Jensen-MOD820-20W-8-Replacement-Speaker?sku=665015

Cost is less than the marshall, bigger speaker, more power, easier wiring.

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Everything you say you want is already included in this:

 

See ME!

 

This will be less noisy than almost anything, like an op-amp chip or other amp chip inside the guitar with all those wires (antennas) running over, under, around and through the amplifier circuit. Also much less expensive. Also much less invasive of the guitar. Also much less likely to get screwed up.

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Yeah there good but the origanal idea was a built in speaker they are only headphone amps

 

How big of a speaker do you think you can power from a circuit powered by a 9 volt battery? from an unpowered pickup? or were you planning active pickups? Because now you've got ANOTHER battery compartment to rout. And where are you going to PUT all this gear? Rout out for the speaker, and the amp circuit, and the controls, and the wire runs and the batter compartment. To big a speaker, you won't be able to fit everything in and you couldn't power it adequately from a battery anyway. Or will you rout out and fit a mains plug, too?

 

Thing is, this is the kind of project that people like Eric Clapton pay top professional luthiers to do, because nobody else has the time, skill or money to get everything fit in place and working properly without stacks of experimental tries at it first. The unit you see on stage might be the 152nd guitar that was modified trying to figure it out. People like us can't afford to duplicate all the failures to get to the one that works. All these problems have already been solved by someone somewhere, but they probably won't tell anyone except close acquaintances how to do it. Means it will go through 7 generations of change before you even hear about it, let alone make it work on the first try.

 

Modification is easy, even cheap, as long as you can go straight to the finished product. Ask one of the amp freaks, like Layboomo or Twang, how many tries they made before they were satisfied with upgrading a VJr head, and how much of that expense was just wasted exploring dead ends - not to mention how much of the original PC board removed, damaged or modified until it, too, had to be replaced.

 

No, you can do this -- but it will definitely follow the old adage: "it will cost twice as much and take twice as long to get half the result".

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well, with anything mini i guess sound quality isnt a priority.

so u can perhaps trying putting a speaker into the neck pickup cavity like what Edwards do for their mini guitars.

 

i would love to get my hands on one of them, but they're just abit too expensive.

somewhere around the region of $400.

 

edwardsmini.jpg

edwardsmini4.jpg

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How big of a speaker do you think you can power from a circuit powered by a 9 volt battery? from an unpowered pickup? or were you planning active pickups? Because now you've got ANOTHER battery compartment to rout. And where are you going to PUT all this gear? Rout out for the speaker' date=' and the amp circuit, and the controls, and the wire runs and the batter compartment. To big a speaker, you won't be able to fit everything in and you couldn't power it adequately from a battery anyway. Or will you rout out and fit a mains plug, too?

 

Thing is, this is the kind of project that people like Eric Clapton pay top professional luthiers to do, because nobody else has the time, skill or money to get everything fit in place and working properly without stacks of experimental tries at it first. The unit you see on stage might be the 152nd guitar that was modified trying to figure it out. People like us can't afford to duplicate all the failures to get to the one that works. All these problems have already been solved by someone somewhere, but they probably won't tell anyone except close acquaintances how to do it. Means it will go through 7 generations of change before you even hear about it, let alone make it work on the first try.

 

Modification is easy, even cheap, as long as you can go straight to the finished product. Ask one of the amp freaks, like Layboomo or Twang, how many tries they made before they were satisfied with upgrading a VJr head, and how much of that expense was just wasted exploring dead ends - not to mention how much of the original PC board removed, damaged or modified until it, too, had to be replaced.

 

No, you can do this -- but it will definitely follow the old adage: "it will cost twice as much and take twice as long to get half the result".[/quote']

 

You can run a Marshall MS-2 with a battery which is what the plan is. Nothing to powerful as its only a 9volt battery. The electronics are very minimal its just monting the speaker that takes up the most room. The speaker is only small tho. Very minimal routing, mainly for speaker and amp controls.

 

Can do all machining myself and whole lot. Its a practice guitar for home not for performing

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You can run a 4x12 cabinet with a 9v battery powered amp. I've done a 2x12 with my Smokey. It's surprisingly loud and it sounds good.

 

If you check out the demo on their site they run it through a cab http://www.smokeyamps.com/

 

I think I'd try to find a way to actually insert the enter little Marshall in to the rear of the guitar. Having a little amp that actually says Marshall on it would make the whole thing better imho. At the very least I would want to use the lower part of the mini-amp that looks like a cabinet and says Marshall as the speaker cover.

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You can run a 4x12 cabinet with a 9v battery powered amp. I've done a 2x12 with my Smokey. It's surprisingly loud and it sounds good.

 

If you check out the demo on their site they run it through a cab http://www.smokeyamps.com/

 

I think I'd try to find a way to actually insert the enter little Marshall in to the rear of the guitar. Having a little amp that actually says Marshall on it would make the whole thing better imho. At the very least I would want to use the lower part of the mini-amp that looks like a cabinet and says Marshall as the speaker cover.

 

 

Exactly the point I made without, apparently, being understood. SOMEONE ELSE DID ALL THE GRUNT WORK! with all the expense and frustration involved, of which you have no clue. Anyone with minimum skills can do the physical parts. Takes the equivalent of an EE to design in the 1st place. Got milk? That's all I'm saying. You are only looking at one side of thing, the side you have experience with. See, what you are thinking about doing is using off-the-shelf components designed for another job - and those parts probably will work in some fashion that resembles what you wanted when you started. But, just because you can change the oil doesn't make you a mechanic, let alone an engine designer! Don't expect to get a finished, performance ready, product on the 1st, or even 2nd, attempt.

 

Don't believe me? To fit your little Marshall, you'll need to buy it, break it to remove the components, enlarge the body cavity (figure you will need an open area between 3 and 5 times the size of the components you wish to wire in just so you can have room to wire them. Try this. Make same-sized cardboard cutouts of all the components you want to be in this cavity, then try to put them in a box the size you think you will need. Oh, BTW, one of the major reasons for having all that wood there is for tone. How much, in what places, can be removed without losing it? OTH, some people say the wood doesn't matter at all.

 

Mostly, what you wind up with is anything from a working jury-rig to a completely unusable, unsalvageable, POS that has cost you an arm and a leg to get to the point where you are modifying the 3rd modification of your 2nd plan of action. It still may not sound right. Voice of experience, here! But, go ahead. Its your life, your guitar, your time and your money. I just want you to know the things you will have to do, going in. And the biggest lesson of all is

 

PLAN FIRST! SECOND, REVISE YOUR PLAN BASED ON REALITY! BUILD IT LAST!

 

Try it. Guaranteed, if you can't get through the planning stage, you don't have what it takes to build something you would be proud to show someone else.

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I've seen alot of amp in guitar models over the years and, IMHO the reson you don't see more of them is they are kinda cool and a novelty for a minute and then people generally put them away and end up getting rid of them sometime in the future because they don't use them and they generally sound like crap, again, IMO. Like the joke, it's okay until your buddies see you with it..........

 

Alot of work for that eventuality IMO.

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The potential here is for a tinny sounding, modded guitar, with no resale value. A speaker with no air in a cabinet to tune it sounds terrible. I can envision a guitar that sounds like the 6 transistor pocket radios of the 60's and 70's. You'd be better off building the electronics into the guitar with a separate output jack for earbuds or headphones. At least that would sound good and might be useful to someone should you sell it in the future.

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I've seen alot of amp in guitar models over the years and' date=' IMHO the reson you don't see more of them is they are kinda cool and a novelty for a minute and then people generally put them away and end up getting rid of them sometime in the future because they don't use them and they generally sound like crap, again, IMO. Like the joke, it's okay until your buddies see you with it..........

 

Alot of work for that eventuality IMO.[/quote']

 

Exacly right just for home. not having to be perfect.

 

Wont cost me anything as i have the amp already which came free with a guitar magazine subscribtion and all the routing equipment plastic covers ect are at work as im an engineer. only thing is my time, and it'll be done at work in work time on lates which is just a cover shift so maybe if i paint it after that will cost a few quid but not much.

 

 

May give it a go.

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The potential here is for a tinny sounding' date=' modded guitar, with no resale value. A speaker with no air in a cabinet to tune it sounds terrible. I can envision a guitar that sounds like the 6 transistor pocket radios of the 60's and 70's. You'd be better off building the electronics into the guitar with a separate output jack for earbuds or headphones. At least that would sound good and might be useful to someone should you sell it in the future.

 

[/quote']

 

Or build in the controls and leave speaker external. Wasnt really the idea but would work

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