/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>436626
Just tune the EQ for your mic channel to make it sound the way you want.

Walkie-talkies do 2 things to the voice : band pass filter (that is, drop lows and highs, letting through only a narrow band in the mids) and distortion. A good parametric EQ will allow you to tweak the band-pass filter part. Or a graphic EQ with many bands. Put all of them as low as they will go, move one or 2 in the middle up. For distortion, any pedal will do.

>>436699
>For distortion, any pedal will do.
For distortion, you just turn up the preamp for that channel and turn down the fader, just like you'd do on a guitar amp to get distortion.

>>436699
wouldn't buying a decent parametric EQ be way more expensive than just buying a walkie talkie and gutting it? I've got a graphic EQ but I use that on my guitar already. Plus I've been needing a mic.

>>436703
You should be able to do close enough to what you want to do with just the EQ on one channel of your mixer.

>>436706
>implying I have the money for things like mixers

>>436707
Well, what are you running your vocals through, then, before they go to the power amp and speakers, or do you just scream at the top of your lungs over the drums and guitar amp(s)?

>>436703
>>436707
Oh, you don't even have any PA equipment at all? Is it just you and a guitar?

I'm going to make a leap here and say that I think you need to get some basic PA equipment before you start screwing around with weird shit like this.

>>436708
>>436712
it's just never come up before. I play guitar, my friend plays bass and keys, I can sing really loud. But now we're probably gonna be having drums in the mix, so I'm gonna need something more. I don't have a load of spare money, so a PA would drain me pretty well. Plus I like the sound and just thought it would be fun to try to get it all to work. I've put pedals together before and always enjoyed it.

But, just so I'm clear, the fucked up sound that a walkie-talkie gives the voice isn't just due to the shittyness of the mic itself? It's a filter to reduce the signal down to just the mids?

>>436715
if you have multiple channels on your guitar amp use one for vocals until you can get something proper
cheap hi-z mic wired up with xlr to 1/4" cable
as others have said, slap a pedal on and you're good to go
decent PA gear can be found fairly cheap used
i should buy a horse mask

>>436719
yup

>>436726
You do NOT want to run vocals into a guitar amp, unless you want to fuck up the speaker.

Get a proper PA. Look for used equipment on Craigslist.

>>436767
>You do NOT want to run vocals into a guitar amp, unless you want to fuck up the speaker.
baseless claim

>>436626
I've been thinking about the same thing, and after seeing a video of Jack White playing live I got the idea to just get a harmonica mic and run it through effects into a guitar/keyboard amp, made easier due to harp mics having a 1/4" output usually.

maybe base your design around harp mics, use a telephone receiver, and send it through a 10-band eq pedal if you have one lying around somewhere to better nail that LB tone

>>436715
if your friend has a keyboard amp, they're great for vox, but a bass/guitar amp that's floating around extra will work fine too

>>436719
It's dues to [a] the mic (and it's assiciated electronics) on the sending end, [b] the speaker (and it's associated electronics) on the receiving end, and most importantly [c] the limited bandwidth for transmitting information. You can't broadcast a walkie talkie at 20-20khz, it's just too much information. Even land-lines are limited to about 300-3khz. Hence dropping out the lows and highs and adding preamp distortion. You could probably mimic this effect by running a mic into an old cheap boombox and cranking it, although you will eventually destroy the boombox.

You can buy cheap used dynamic mics on ebay for under $20 all day.

>>436807
what you're referring to are hi-z (high impedance) microphones
what people refer to as harp mics were originally intended for vocals
a high impedance mic provides more signal and will distort if you hit it with lots of volume
signal will degrade if your cord is over 15 feet or so
you can get them dirt cheap
the new ones marketed for harmonica are overpriced
>use a telephone receiver
really want to try this now

>>436786
Guitar amps are not full-range amps, they're designed for a guitar. If you connected a keyboard to one, you'd eventually damage the speaker. Same goes for vocals. At the very least the vocals would sound like shit through a guitar amp because it's not EQ'd for vocals. I do live sound so don't tell me I know nothing.

Just crank the mids on your amp and scream into your guitars pick up.

>>436626
You mean something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wfamPW3Eaw

>>436835
sounds like someone told you this once and you go around preaching it now without really understanding what you're talking about
a synth might fuck up a guitar amp speaker since it produces a line level signal, but don't overdrive the amp or slam it with a bunch of bass and you're fine
>Same goes for vocals
a hi-z mic into a guitar amp sounds badass
feedback is all you need worry about
>don't tell me I know nothing
you're doing a fine job of that on your own
nobody cares what you do or what you know
we're talking about creating distorted vocals
but you know important things that someone told you
fuck off

A few years back I did something similar(because I love Brian Chippendale too). just took a phone from goodwill, tore into it with a dremel, soldered the quarter inch jack to the carbon element and I got something that sounded perfect for what you're describing. It's really easy and I recommend going for it.

>>436872
This guy(Bob log III) uses a telephone receiver built into his helmet for hands free shitty sounding vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGmF1TTwHqE

> soldered the quarter inch jack to the carbon element

negatory, good buddy. the carbon element refers to the mic, coz it contains carbon granules that change resistance as you speak into it.

what your pic shows is the speaker, which works like a normal speaker except it's high impedance, and very sensitive, i.e. it can work from very small signals.

I saw lightning bolt a few years ago... those guys are ultima level

>lightning-bolt-outside[1].jpg