built in g- tar effects

anyone know if it is possible and also where to buy built- in effects in a guitar? U c, i have this dream of building a built in chorus effect in my guitar so that I shant bother with setting up them pedals and shtuff. u c i own a beautiful epiphone les paul es (an imitation of the gibson les paul florentine)- basically think of an lp except with f-holes and a semi hollow body!!! Beautfiul instrument I tell you- very beautiful sounding and very versatile indeed! And I think its due to them mods I did to improve it- changed them pickups with gisbon 57' classic and classic plus, changed them scratchy cheap korean pots with 500k dimarzios, changed them crappy epi pegs with vintage grovers, them plastic nuts with graphtech tusq and recently them saddles with graphtech's piezo system the ghost. Can't complain much I should say except that bit of chorus when I use the graphtech piezo- wish there was a bit of chorus since i like to add a pinch of chorus when playing acoustic stuff- So I'm thinking of adding a built- in effect like a chorus or sumthin. anyone have any ideas where i could buy them parts?

I'm very very skeptical about built in effects or even active electronics. Besides, it would probably be significantly cheaper to just get an outside unit.

what's wrong with built in effects hammurabi? are they crap? what's your honest opinion about it? i know danelectro have built in effects on some of their guitars- i haven't tried them myself but i heard they're good.

i am also aware that if it is ever possible, the parts will be more expensive than effects boxes but I read about some folks who actually placed the circuit from their box effect in their guitars to make it :built in" the guitar . For instance check out the "bastardcaster" at this site: http://users.ev1.net/~medusa56/guitar.htm - most weird site i'd ever come accross. I don't know if I'd do this mod on my guitar though. I don't know how to fit it in the first place. My epi les paul es' electronics cant be accessed by openning some stuff on the back since it doesnt have those covers on the back like lps. you can only access the electronics through the f holes or through the pickup (which means I have to remove the pickups!- a lengthy job). So I guess I have to settle for buying built in effects if they do have it.

Check out Danelectro guitars.

i checked out danelectro guitars. i think they only sell guitars with built- in effects- not the just the built- in effects themselves. Besides, i wouldnt want to buy another guitar even if it is a danelectro. heck, i wont even replace my baby even if someone gives me a gibson for it! i already said to myself, i'll never touch another guitar except for my beautiful epi. That's how strong my guitar's connection to me is. I just love my epi so much! Wish I could show u guys a pic of it but I dont know how to post it. I was really lucky to get it. Everyone knows that epis are crap but everyone- even my personal luthier admits that this epi is the best sounding epi that he has ever heard!

There isn't anything really wrong with them, in fact it could be a great idea what you're doing. I'm just part of an odd situation where the only things like that I can afford are the things that cut down on a guitars versatility (selling just one sound), and since I can only afford my current guitar it's in my best interest to use what I know works for the most stuff.

If you're going to be getting good fx for the guitar and its done well it could be awesome, it's just not an option for me right now.

Well, you're not alone- everyone has money problems. To tell you the truth all my salary goes into either buying equipment or modding my guitar so I don't have any savings at all- just debt lol. But I just love guitars and its what makes me happy so its worth it i guess even at the end I know i'll have nothing when i reach for my pocket. You see, modded it and add upgrades, the more my dreams come into fruition except for that bit of built in chorus that i've its just this guitar is the best thing that ever happened to me. Julia (my les paul hollowbody) came along, I already had a part of my dreams come true- to own a beautiful looking, sounding and versatile guitar (seem, when I was a child, I had nothing- if i did, they were crap). When I been longing for all this time. But to do all these things, I had to wait many years believe it or not because I always didnt have money.


By the way, here are the pics of my 2 beloved guitars.

Sophia- the strat, is my very first electric guitar which is Samick's strat imitation (has a HSH configuration). I got it when I was 13 for xmas. I didnt know it only had 21 frets at that time! As you can see, i haven't used this guitar for a long time and it had seen many years of abuse so I need to bring it to my luthier to get it back in working order. I plan to add a floydrose trem and fullshred humbuckers when i get the money. Some people say its not worth the money to put upgrades on a crappy guitar but i just feel that i had too since this is my first guitar and it has too much emotional value for me to just discard of it.

Julia- the les paul hollowbody that you see there is my epiphone les paul es- my main guitar which i have modded several times ever since I took this pic. I haven't had the piezo system attached in the guitar yet at this pic. I only have the classic 57s.



[Edit: Fixed the image links]

[Edited by iamthe_eggman on 12-10-2003 at 11:06 AM]

they didn't work for some reason. how do u put pics in the message boards?

Hey, I fixed the links for you. You should use the vB code for inserting images or links, not HTML.

Here's a little tutorial on vB code

hey eggman. sorry for posting in html, i didn't know. i'm just new to this forum. thnx for fixing the pics.

Ok... First off you need to realize that nothing is sacred to me and that I am of a sick mind... Now with that being said, I see no problem with adding a chorus to your guitar, providing that you have no issues with drilling holes, cutting wood, yada yada.

Here is what you do... first go to http://www.tonepad.com and download the chorus project there and proceed to order all the parts from http://www.smallbearelec.com . You will probably be better off ordering the premade board from tonepad, since it's a pain in the ass to etch your own...

Next you have to figure out where you want to put your 2 pots to control your chorus effect. Oh don't forget to order Mu Metal to shield this from unwanted noise... Make sure that these are as short of runs as possible. The longer the wire runs from the board to the pots and jacks, the more you are susceptible to noise entering the circuit.

Now that you got the board and pots lined up and wired, cut a hole into the back of the guitar and insert a battery box from http://www.stewmac.com and wire this to the board. Rewire the input jack of your guitar to go into the board and then out to your electronics, wire a switch to turn the unit on and off and drill that into the guitar and you have a chorus pedal built into your guitar. Make sure you mount the chorus board solid, to insure long life.

There is no reason why this won't work, and it will give you way more options than trying to make a simple chorus circuit. Enjoy and use sharp drill bits!

[Edited by hairbndrckr on 12-10-2003 at 07:02 PM]

thanks!!! that's the answer i am looking for.