A Different Kind of Stompbox
posted by Steve | June 17th, 2008
One of the guitar instructors from the Old Town School of Folk Music came to us with an interesting idea. He performs solo with an acoustic guitar and stomps his foot to create a sort of woody bass drum effect. He wanted us to help him design an amplified box that he could plug-in so the volume of his foot taps could be balanced with the rest of his sound. The final product is so simple it cracks me up;
it’s an unfinished cigar style box with a K&K Big Shot pickup mounted inside. We wired it to an output jack and “Voila!” a true electric stomping box. Now he’ll be able to play with different EQ settings, maybe stuff the inside with a sock to try deadening the sound… the possibilities are, if not endless, certainly intriguing.
Categories: Customization, electronics |
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I love it!
An electrified washboard has got to be next … or a line of antique cigar boxes for that authentic “vintage” sound.
hi
is it a transducer pickup that you are using?
will the sound change depending on the thickness of the wood on the top, where the pickup is?
and does it feed back cause its a transducer? (if it is actually a transducer)
thanks
lachlan
In truth, all pickups are transducers of some sort that convert acoustic sounds to electrical signals. The pickup used here is called a soundboard transducer since it is generally placed on the soundboard of a guitar. Because it is picking up the vibrations in the wood, it stands to reason that any change – from the variety or thickness of the wood to the placement of the pickup to the kind of shoes (or socks!) being worn by the player – would somehow affect the sound. We had no feedback problems at all with this one even when it was placed near an amp.
how can i get one and what is the cost?
I think the box came from an arts & crafts store and the pickup came from K&K. Not hard to make if you’d like us to make one for you.
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Ha ha I have an older B-Band core 99 end pin preamp and I wonder if I put a soundboard transducer in it like what you’ve done here, would I get similar if not better results? The active 9volt preamp may even Give it more punch… Either way might as well try it. Inexpensive. Thanks for sharing your creation. After viewing these boxes, I realized that they were WAY overpriced for what they were.