Build a Talk Box
A talk box is a guitar effect that makes your guitar sound like its talking, using the power of your mouth.
Steps
- Get a computer speaker.
- Remove the casing of the speaker.
- Cut the wire going to the LED light.
- Flip the Tupperware container upside down. The lid should be on the ground.
- Insert the speaker into the Tupperware container. Make sure the circuit board is outside the container, only the wires and the speaker go inside.
- Make sure the speaker cone is facing the bottom of the Tupperware container, about 2" away from it.
- Duct Tape the speaker into place. Make sure no Duct Tape touches the speaker cone!
- Take out a drill with a large bit, a little bit smaller that your tubing width (the tubing should be no more that 1/2"-3/4" wide).
- Drill a hole in the bottom of the Tupperware. Be sure to avoid cutting into the speaker cone.
- Insert your tubing in the hole. The tubing should be 1/2" away from the speaker cone at most. The tube must not touch the speaker cone or it won't work.
- Duct Tape the tube closed. You might want to use some hot glue as well.
- Stuff some cotton balls behind the speaker until the whole container is full. Make sure the cotton balls do not touch the speaker cone.
- Close the Tupperware lid.
- Glue the lid down.
- Insert the Tupperware into an airtight box. Put old T-shirt and socks around the Tupperware.
- Close the box.
- Drill a hole in the side of the box to let the tubing go through.
- Drill another hole in the box to let the cable go through.
- Plug the cable into the CD or external speaker jack on your amp.
- Turn up the volume to 3 o clock. Don't worry, no sound will come out of your amplifier
- Turn the gain up to 3 o clock.
- Put the tube next to your ear to check for sound.
- Put the tube in your mouth. Make lip movements, but no sound. Pretend your lip syncing. You can say whatever you want.
Tips
- A good song to try is "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith, as the beginning has a talk-box intro.
- Don't let anyone use your tube, it goes in your mouth.
- If your tube becomes foggy, stop playing and let it clear.
- When doing the Lip sync, don't speak!
- Make sure the speaker has a headphone cable coming out the back
Warnings
- This may hurt you amp, but it is very unlikely. Just use an old amp.
- If it begins to hurt when you are playing, stop.
- Use proper hearing protection.
Things You'll Need
- An old computer speaker.
- an airtight Tupperware container.
- {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of clear tubing.
- Duct Tape
- Old T-shirts and socks
- Cotton balls
- Hot glue gun
- a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter.
- A drill.
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