homemade leslie?

[boulder4112]

stop me if you've heard this one before....

take a 1x12 angled monitor style guitar speaker cab and bolt it to a homemade belt driven lazy susan driven by a small motor. Then hook the motor up to a simple pedal that adjusts the amperage going into the motor, thereby varying the speed.

think this would this work?

 

[boulder4112]

Re: homemade leslie?

hmm leslie's seem to be fully enclosed... it would look really cool though to have a speaker spinning around on a stage.... why are leslie's enclosed?

 

[Artie]

Re: homemade leslie?

Remember, you need to use a slip-ring for the electrical connection, or you'll only get about 10 turns before sparks fly. :laugh2:

 

[Thames]

Re: homemade leslie?

Nothing... I mean nothing else can sound like a REAL Leslie.. believe me.

 

[Thames]

Re: homemade leslie?

Also, for guitar use, the top horn is necessary.

 

[boulder4112]

Re: homemade leslie?

Remember, you need to use a slip-ring for the electrical connection, or you'll only get about 10 turns before sparks fly. :laugh2:

Uh, right, yeah, obviously,

*whispers to person sitting next to me*

"what the hell is he talking about???" :smack:

 

[boulder4112]

Re: homemade leslie?

Also, for guitar use, the top horn is necessary.

I know basically nothing about leslies... what is this?

It doesnt necessarily have to sound 'as good as a leslie'... i'm getting a 50 watt 1x12 amp combo and will be getting a 1x12 extension cab to go with it...
my idea is to be able to use the extension cab both for this and in conjunction with the combo, unmodified, both in the same show! so basically i'm not looking for it to sound like a leslie... it just has to sound cool! would this idea produce some interesting sonic effects?

 

[Artie]

Re: homemade leslie?

"what the hell is he talking about???" :smack:

Somewhere, somehow, you'll need to get electricity to the speaker. Whether its the speaker only, the amp and speaker, or the whole stage. :laugh2:

So, you need to run the connection through a slip ring. Thats the same connector thats on the inside of an automobile alternator. Its a metal ring, with a sliding contact, usually two in a co-axial configuration. Find one of these first, before you do anything else. If you can't find one . . . you can't build it.

 

[Thames]

Re: homemade leslie?

you could also use a wireless for your guitar, let it ring alone on its stand, and run around the "rotating monitor" with your amp in hands.... :laugh2:

 

[FretFire]

Re: homemade leslie?

you could also use a wireless for your guitar, let it ring alone on its stand, and run around the "rotating monitor" with your amp in hands.... :laugh2:

Nah, just strap on a battery powered Pignose or MicroCube and spin in circles .

 

[boulder4112]

Re: homemade leslie?

ok I understand what you were saying... obviously just plugging speaker cable from the combo into the amp is going to have some pretty funny results when it starts spinning around yanking the cords out of the amp a wireless setup from the combo to the speaker would be ideal but your idea would probly work too. Wireless systems are also expensive and prone to interference/hum.

Hmm the only other thing i would really need to figure out how to do is select which speaker(s) i wanted to output from... what makes it a little tricky is that the amp is a combo but this seems like a fairly simple problem.

Basically though, the biggest (actually the only) question is, would it sound cool?

Oh yeah and can someone please let me know what the 'top horn' of a leslie is and why it is important for using this with a guitar?

 

[Artie]

Re: homemade leslie?

But you'ld still need AC power. You're best bet would be to just buy a real Lelsie system from eBay. Or simulate it. My Johnson J-Station has a Lelsie sim built-in. There must be others.

 

[boulder4112]

Re: homemade leslie?

But you'ld still need AC power. You're best bet would be to just buy a real Lelsie system from eBay. Or simulate it. My Johnson J-Station has a Lelsie sim built-in. There must be others.

BUT:

you could also just have the speaker spinning inside of the enclosure itself using the 'slip connect' thing you were talking about... this would allow you to plug it into the combo and the ac outlet without trouble. Granted it would not look as cool, and would also require building this thing from the ground rather than using an existing cab. I dont think it would be too hard though... and because it would have the exact same speaker as my combo the sound would match perfect when I wanted to shut the spinny thing off and just use it as a regular 1x12 extension cab. Plus I could probably pull all of this off for less than 200 bucks I think. Leslies are closer to the 400 dollar range used and I don't really think I could use one as a 1x12 extension cab. does anyone concur with this statement?

and what is the horn thing thames referred to all about anyway???

 

[Thames]

Re: homemade leslie?

Boulder,

I think you need to read more about Leslies and related stuff first

A Leslie is a fantastic sound machine, that nothing, I mean NOTHING, has ever come close. Believe me.

You can get close to that sound with an early 70's Fender Vibratone or Leslie 18 model, but they dont have a spinning horn, only 1 speaker. They growl, but they dont snarl. :cool2:

 

[Jeff Seal]

Re: homemade leslie?

Interesting how this comes up from time to time......I have a Leslie 122rv (big ol' cab), A Vibratone and a Rotophaser.... having always loved Leslie's, but also loving my current chiropractic health.....
I have a Marshall 412 that has two spinning drums in the bottom..(top two 12's, same as always, bottom two 12's facing straight down in to drums...split back cab)...works, but not good enough...the cab tone is obviously lost by cutting in half the enclosed portion...and as Thames pointed out, without the horn it's nowhere close..

So that was idea #1...worked but not quite!!!!!...(still lugging the 122 around)

Idea #2...since the basic Leslie principle is directing the signal source in a 360 degree rotation, it would seem logical that if the speaker phase were shifted an actual 360 degrees, a seamless "duplication" could be achieved when coupled with the appropiate amount of "dry" signal....(still using the 412 as a basis...2 - 12"s wired standard, 2 - 12's "phase shifted"..not to be confused with the pedals) .....so how to achieve this?

Either an actual revolving core transformer.....haven't tried it yet....but I'm not known for giving up.... or a 360 degree endless L-pad connected to a 1 to 2 ratio tranny that actually has a center tap, so no "dead spots" while encompassing the 360 shift, all of this coupled to a 48 v motor with a contact that constantly circles, variable speed....the next coolest part about it is if you actually reverse the + and - terminal on one of the speakers, you actually get two Leslies, perfectly timed operating at exactly 180 degrees apart coupled with the "dry" signal the unaffected 2 - 12's.
The horn section is achieved by attaching a separate motor to the other side of the L-pad and varying it's speed to approximate the differing speeds and then coupled to two Powerline tweeter's mounted in the 412, again using phase to it's full potential advantage.....


...ummm.. wait .....did you mean "homemade blow up doll .."Leslie".?? :smack:

Jeff Seal

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: homemade leslie?

Tie a rope to your amp, and spin it around over your head