walkman distortion

kneadmomunny

New member
There has been this ...?myth?... i guess... for a LOOOOoooooonnngggg about turning a walkman into a distortion pedal.

If you haven't heard it then you just aren't cool enough. :6:

Has anyone here tried this? it sounds like a cool idea and they say it works, but nobody will post a sound clip or really much of anything else.

If you guys see or hopefully hear anything... throw it over here!

Munny
 
Re: walkman distortion

kneadmomunny said:
There has been this ...?myth?... i guess... for a LOOOOoooooonnngggg about turning a walkman into a distortion pedal.

If you haven't heard it then you just aren't cool enough. :6:

Has anyone here tried this? it sounds like a cool idea and they say it works, but nobody will post a sound clip or really much of anything else.

If you guys see or hopefully hear anything... throw it over here!

Munny
I did it years ago (when I was a kid and couldn't aford anythinhg) and it sounded nasty ... haha!
I thought a pickup is just a coil like the "tone head" in the walkman so I connect the guitar where head was connect and voila... a pickup has much more output than the tape and it distorts very hard!
I connected the walkman to a speaker... a friend of my sister thought I'm playing keyboard... weird!
 
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Re: walkman distortion

I've never heard of the Walkman trick, but here's how you can turn any stereo into an amp. If the stereo has an 1/8" mic input, use a 1/4" adapter on your cable. Then, put a blank cassette into the stereo, hit play/record, then Pause.
Voila, instant amp!
 
Re: walkman distortion

Wanna know what's way cooler than a Walkman distortion pedal? Howsabout walkie-talkie wireless :)

Rip open both walkie-talkies, connect 1/4" jacks where the speakers were connected, tape the button in on one of them, plug it into your guitar, and the other into the amp.
 
Re: walkman distortion

Have made a walkman into a portable headphone amp, and yes it distorts quite horribly once you turn the guitar vol. over 3. Was a good novelty while it lasted....wont be doing it again though
 
Re: walkman distortion

JB_From_Hell said:
Wanna know what's way cooler than a Walkman distortion pedal? Howsabout walkie-talkie wireless :)

Rip open both walkie-talkies, connect 1/4" jacks where the speakers were connected, tape the button in on one of them, plug it into your guitar, and the other into the amp.

Have you tried this? Would be fun just for the heck of it.
 
Re: walkman distortion

I have not. I read an interview with J. Yeunger (White Zombie) where he talked about getting lots of the weird Astro Creep sounds like that.
 
Re: walkman distortion

i also did it with a Panasonic cassette tape deck connected to a boombox back in the day. i plugged the guitar to the mic input, crank the level, hit rec button and you get instant distortion. an added plus is the Sony boombox also has a 5-band EQ for that scooped sound.
 
Re: walkman distortion

I got a really cool boost in an old tube amp by using one channel of a stereo EQ. I initially used it to just e.q. the sound, but I found that when I cranked every slider up to the max, it generated some killer OD. It seemed like my amp got too hot though, so I didn't want to risk blowing it up.
 
Re: walkman distortion

Check this one out.... I was playing my 1970 Gibson J38 in my room when I was like 14 or 15 and always played along with the radio as kind of an exercise... Well, I could really get the acoustic and the stereo to blend well, so I got all creative and tried to amplify the Gibby.... I had an old "boom box" with speakers that JUST did fit in the soundhole... then I ran the speaker into the input of the mixer and pressed the monitor button so I could listen to radio and play guitar... THAT was some ingenuity, if I might say so!

It actually worked well.. I mean the speaker was voiced in a manner that complimened the acoustic.....
 
Re: walkman distortion

You know how I got my gloss? Cheapest distortion ever.


I was having the nastiest distortion ever and assuming either the guitar or amp were asking for a visit to the tech I started disconnecting everything.

So, turns out I had hooked the amp up in such a way that I managed to get the batery adapter (my amp's power cable is one of those multi-adapters for bateries/various sized plugs/voltages, stuff like that...) stuck in the amp (small open back practice thingy). The magnet(s?) in the speaker held on to it and the vibration was the cause of the distortion.

Doubt it's very safe but you do get distortion ;)
 
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