Inexpensive wireless guitar gear

[theGleep]

'Way back when I was a teenager, I liked the idea of wireless guitar. Not that I could play; but that didn't stop me from buying a $15 pair of walkie-talkies and taping the transmitter button down on the one I hooked to my electric guitar.

(Oh, that poor guitar! It would probably be worth $1250 - $1500 now, if I hadn't decided to "remodel" it!)

Anyway...fast forward 20+ years, and I find a Nady wireless system for $18. SWEET!

But it SUCKED! Every time I moved, crackle-hiss-pop. UGH!

Still, I really liked the freedom. So I do some research to find what the pros are using. Now that I've accepted my talent as a bass player instead of a guitarist, who else would I want to research but Geddy Lee!
Turns out that he used Samson gear on the Time Machine tour.

So, when I go back to eBay, I find a LOT of samson handheld wireless microphones for < $20.

They are easy to change if you don't care about "ghetto". But having the microphone body rubber-banded to my guitar strap is just plain embarassing.

So...I'm working on moving the electronics out of the microphone and into a "body pack" type of transmitter.

I'll post back with some more specific instructions later...but I wanted to share what I have so far.

The initial ("Ghetto") conversion is actually pretty easy. The silver "ball" at the top unscrews, and the actual microphone piece is screwed in to the "body" of the handheld unit. Unscrew that, pull it out and clip the wires.

Set the microphone aside to use for a wired microphone for your drummer.

Wire up a 3/8" mono surface-mount jack (Is "surface mount" the right term? The kind that you screw on to your project box, rather than the kind that you solder onto your circuit board). Use this because it's compatible with most of the other wireless guitar gear.

Make/buy a 1/4" mono male -> 3/8" mono male cable. Plug yourself in and you're good to go!

If you want "stable ghetto", make yourself some fake sugru by mixing cornstarch with 100% silicon caulk. While it's still wet (and gooey and sticky and very annoying), pack it into the open "mouth" of the handheld unit so that the jack won't wiggle and break the wires.

An alternative mount for the jack (but I haven't tried this one) would be to "cave in" the silver ball, drill a hole in it and mount the jack there. But those things are too pretty to cave in like that.

I've had this setup working for quite a while, now, and as long as I don't jostle the cords, I get really good sound and really good range.

Now I'm working on a completely new housing for the circuitry. I have removed the circuit boards from the handheld unit, and they really are small. Including the 9v battery, they easily fit into an Altoids tin. Which will be my first mounting platform (drill/chisel a couple of holes for mountpoints and switches, apply fake-sugru liberally and viola!)

Once I've gotten there, though, I want to fire up a 3d design program and 3d print a nice, really good looking, container.

Thanks for reading my ramblings! Feel free to ask questions (except for why I ramble so much...I don't know the answer to that)

[Deven]

Sounds awesome. I'd love to see some pictures!