Guitar FretLeds

[drwhofan981]

Good for making instructional videos with low quality cameras, like toasters and stuff.

[Macsk8ing]

Imagine Michael Angelo Batio playing on that fretboard? Shit those led would explode.

[DazReht]

If only your playing was as impressive as the light show

[The911SONIC]

do the leds use a pressure thing that turn them on?



[apteka2]

Why does the 7th Fret look different?

[punkvader77]

Those are some awesome tapping skills

[LavamanMusic]

this is awesome

[ACiDgaming9796]

say i pay u £100 can u do my neck for me?

[jw11432]

no link in the description? i think this is awesome, can you post link again? thanks!

[koenbus]

@jw11432

Check out my other vids, I've done a full guitar build with this... including a schematic

[ZoltarDen]

i want this in every fret

[koenbus]

@sublime88sublime

Wait, sorry, wrong video... I'm dealing with a HUGE hangover right now so maybe thats the reason. Anyway, these leds aren't covered. These are SMD leds which are square, and they are right at the surface of the fretboard.

[BARTISDOM]

Its quite simple! Put 1.5V on the bridge, and connect the LED with the frets.

As soon as you press the string against the fret, you make a circuit and lightie goes up xD

[MarkLittleVai]

ABOBE AFTER EFFECTS LOL

maybe.... ;)

cool though

[sean1985n4]

where can u get led lights for guitar please help me

[mrxaker95]

HOW ITS MAKE?

[Lippa100]

thats so cool

[MegaJaybee]

dude.... SICK!!!!!!!!

[dallasbluescat]

that is very cool,you dont by any chance have a video of how to do that ,i have a bunch of led's i bought and am fixing to build another guitar.

[koenbus]

check out my other video's, one of them is about my first complete guitar build. There's a circuit diagram in the description

[PQfile]

@ordignoinfernale

Shut it. I have heard him and his band play and he is amazing. You, on the other hand, haven't, so keep it down will ya.

Cool mod by the way ;)

[chrisgadd1]

Don't listen to the haters, sir. That's a wicked cool mod. Have you posted an Instructable on how to do it? I'd love to rig my guitar that way.

[koenbus]

Unfortunately not, but there is a link to the circuit diagram in the description. The whole thing is pretty simple: A channel underneath the fretboard, a few holes with leds poking through, and the negative led lead poking through a small hole in the corresponding fret slot. It makes a connection as soon as the fret gets tapped in. The rest is pointed out in the diagram.

It gets harder if you want to do this to an existing neck, since you have to remove the fretboard and do a refret..

[tannerthomason]

um I've loved this video for a long time, but I don't see any link to the circuit diagram...I'd be extremely grateful if there were one!!

[koenbus]

check out my other guitar video, there is a link to a diagram in the description ;)

[gengenrulez]

wtf where are the pick ups????

[tascouts120]

@gengenrulez it clearly SAYS NO PICKUPS

[spinaltap211]

@gengenrulez FAIL, but if you honestly dont know what pickups are, they are how an electric guitar " picks up" the signal from the strings. they are those little bars you see under the strings of an electric guitar.

[gengenrulez]

@spinaltap211 i know what is a pick up, i just didn't notice what was written in the description....

[spinaltap211]

@gengenrulez whoops misread your comment, i think i posted that comment at 12:00 in the morning

[puertto666]

That would be cool for pentatonic shredders!

[ESP1BEAST47]

awesome dude all u need now is to learn something

[ordignoinfernale]

ok , cool toy. Now learn to play

[alesexy21]

ahahahaha

[SeanSchecter]

yeah get one that has them on the whole fret board play some yngwie malmsteen and i'll pop some e and its all gud

[myhapylife]

Is that real guitar string? Is it possible to do that every frat got 6 lights and when you playing scales lights follow your fingers?

[xxKoRndudexx]

what the hell are you talking about?

[AvengedRuleTheWorld]

instructors on YouTube should use this idea...in EVERY fret, so its easy to see what they're playing.

[koenbus]

lol, that would definately make it easier.

(and Avenged Sevenfold = 100% awesome)

[AvengedRuleTheWorld]

write to a couple of online tutors to see what they think.

(And I don't really like A7X anymore :/)

[PLimaFerro]

to ca m u i t o ma l!

[a123456789stake]

are u gona put ickups on it

[kokid03]

Where'd you get the LED's from?

I want to get some for my bass?

[koenbus]

Just at any electronics shop around, or at an internet shop. Google is your friend

[ht448]

so did you ever finish that guitat? or did you just make it to show us

[robertlucky]

Nice :)

i suppose the frets are connected to a circut under the fret board which are conected to the strings to make a circuit :)

nice idea and design

[stevros48]

so how do you do that? can you buy a kit or something? can it be done when having all 6 strings on guitar?

[100roberthenry]

how the fuck dyoo do that ..pukka.man

[drockmuthafucka]

steve vai would love this guitar.

[ht448]

cool

[SKDskateteam]

please tell me how to do this

[back2thefutre]

that was way cool

[gamacaio]

AWESOME!

[citrenbalingo123]

that is fuckin awsome oh and lush pickups btw

[danoushie]

the guitar has no pickups lol

[karmapolice916]

that was the joke cowboy.

[DoctorSinner]

jajaja very very funny!

thanks for sharing this with us! I will do the same with my guitar

[jacobtb1]

koo

[emmaskater]

how can you do that? please tell me

[whynotfish]

why dont you put more strings on the guitar?and maybe some pickups...that would be badass

[MyCubicleRomance]

he is read the video info

[conor1148]

i see the string, you guys are idiots.

[canscheer]

You should really post an instructional video on how to install LEDs in guitar necks. Would help me and some others for sure.

[underwoodblog]

nice idea to use the freat and string as a switch!

[glad6667]

holy fake, it's movie special effect

[koenbus]

You are a fucking idiot

[glad6667]

But where are mic and string???

[koenbus]

There is one string on it but its the g so its too thin to see on my crappy camera. The sound you're hearing is purely the acoustic sound coming from the string. And if you dont believe it, watch my other video of my white homemade guitar, which has the same led feature

[Languille]

I love how theres... no strings! haha

[nightmarr1321]

Thats SO cool =]

[timjatomnee]

btw, add red or green leds to other positions would like a disco then ;)

[timjatomnee]

lol, nicely done

[modernworrior]

how u do it and wer u get em ?

[thebtompsonexpress]

Holy crap man that is awesome. I wonder if you could do that with a Fretlight? Cant wait to see it with six strings and pickup leds!

[kipkorner]

nice

[KEWB99]

just saw another video of LED inlays, and it was cool too, but I prefer this setup where only certain inlays light up based on the fret you're on. very nice!

[loktarwarrior]

lol must be a pain in the ass to replace them if they burn out out out out out-ph ch out-ph ch ouuuutttttttwaaaahhhhhh out-ph ch out-ph ch (search beardy man and ducky kaoss pad)

[nickalexrock]

but the pickups back in

[Denis543]

NICE!~! I LIKE HOW MUCH lol

[billbo2cool]

How did you get the LEDs in the neck?

[ZAB7]

hellllllllllls yeah

thats soo cool

time to customise my les paul lol

[crazyenright]

thats very kool

[metalhead456789100]

very cool! you didn't have to hollow out your guitar though, man, now it's an acoustic!

[DickMotorman]

thats the routing for the electronics that go under the pickguard.

[JAustinMunn]

Very nice dude. Any way you'd explain to us?

[halvathuvit]

very nice!

[canitrom1]

hola men

wow esta de lujo...

como se hace para instalar leds en el brazo???

pasa la receta jajajja, saludos...

[zecarnica]

"The guitar has only one string and no pickups or any electronics"

um berimbau uahiahiahiahiuahiahaha

mas ficou foda

[Samthenativeamerican]

How much does that costs?...To install LED inlays

[WhereMightWaldoB]

LEDs are cheap as tits, but to install them is a DIYer

[emokid2322]

Please let me know how you did this. I've been looking for the perfect mod for my guitar and this has to be it! please post instructions!!!!

[LeviMan2001]

when the string is fretted it completes the ground to the corresponding led via the fret, therefore lighting it up.

[Ntc2415]

Can i buy that from you...ill put electronics in it and make a video of what it sounds like...

[IamDaReAlSeaN]

he did this by sending a positive current through the strings,which completes the circuit once the string is pressed against the fret.Simple electronics people SIMPLE ELECTRONICS!!!!!!I coulda figured this one out when i was 6

[koenbus]

... and you're wrong :D the strings are grounded at the bridge, so sending a positive current through the strings would not work. The positive current is sent to the LED, and the negative LED lead is connected to the fret. But you almost got it right ;)

[pelleplayingguitar]

Een geweldige uitvinding voor dove gitaristen! Als je last hebt van string buzz kun je het hiermee ook zien i.p.v. horen ;)

Trouwens lekker optreden in Vlaanderen en gefeliciteerd! :)

[pelleplayingguitar]

Of gaan er dan niet meerdere LED's branden? Ik ben helaas (nog) niet zo'n genie met elektronica :P

[RadioActiveBacon]

so thats what a strat with no circuits is like

=0

[oliglock]

on stage you'd get the old 'oooh your just playing by copying the lights' xD

[SoloDallas3]

can you make a video of you showing or telling how you did it please? that is really cool and i have a crap guitar that i am fixing up, and i already did graphics kinda like eddie van halen on it and i am gonna put a zakk wylde emg 81 pickup in it, but with led inlays, it would just make it comletely amazing!

PLEASE POST A VID!?!?!

[jamhan456]

Could you give me instructions on how to do those? I'm really interested.

[guitarlips1]

Thanks for the reply. Very smart to run it that way. Keep up the war on errorism. NOFX rocks

[guitarlips1]

The guitar srings are part of the circut in every electric guitar. If you hook up power to one side of LED, W/wire. Hook up the other side of LED to the tang of the fret. Ground the power to trem springs then circut is closed only when you press a string to the fret. The string acts as the 2nd wire, lighting up only LEDs near the frets you press the string to. This requires making wood chips. Does it make hella "bad ground" noise through a PickUp? Might work best on an acoustic. Campfire n' LEDs

[koenbus]

Well, it works a bit different. I grounded the strings at the tuners, AND at the bridge. This makes the current run up through the strings, through the tuners, back into the battery. If you just use the bridge ground, the current flows through the strings, above the pickups, creating a magnetic field.. buzzzzzzz an clicks when the leds light up.

It would work perfect on an acoustic, if you have a steelstring one of course ;)

[hellspawn0391]

how you did that?

[GoldGlover39]

Thats really kool post a video on how to do that

[xxxapolloxxx]

any chance u can post a tutorial on how u did it?

[mickb69]

that is some impressive stuff

[vadge305]

is there even strings on it?

[PainlessSoul]

Doesn't look like..

[koenbus]

read the description -_-'..

[Logo3801]

it looks fake and computerized

[yovenshcoven]

Its obviously Fake! LEDs are a myth made up by NeoNazi propagandists! Anyone who believes that a diode can emit light is a fool!

[imixers]

Exactly!!!! That is just as likely as Santa not existing!!

[hellfugitive]

HAHA nice one :P

[rrhoads33]

Now the circuit of your LP/PRS is still bugging me; It's your possibility to switch from this mode here to all leds on; To realize that you must connect the other contact (this towards the string). If you do that with a simple wire, all leds would light, if you press any fret; did you use diodes between the frets, so that the current can't flow back? Do you use then an additional resistor in "only fretted" mode to compensate the 0.6 volts from the diode? Or am I totally wrong?

Best wishes!

[rrhoads33]

Ohh sorry, I meant : To implement that you must connect the other contacts together;

Otherwise the sentence doesn't make much sense;

Greetings from Austria!

[rrhoads33]

Ohh, sorry for the last stupid question, of course thy are parallel connected, so they need the same voltage;

But I'm very confused about the connection from the led to the fret; How did you drill or make a hole to them, especially on the 3rd fret? Did you take off the fretboard?

Best wishes to the Netherlands Wolfgang

[koenbus]

Not a stupid question, its one of the most important things in this circuit and it shouldnt be overlooked ;)

strat:

used a sharp knife to chip away some of the fretboard wood. Then soldered a little wire to the fret strip and filled the gap with wood filler

LP/prs mix:

This project was built from scratch, so i drilled a small hole through the fret slot, and put the negative led lead through it (you have to bend them a pit so they can lie down in the slot). Put frets in -> done

[koenbus]

and no I left the fretboard on the strat. Just drilled through it and filled the gaps with filler. Definately NOT the prettiest way to do it. You should try removing the fretboard (take a bit of guts to do that though..)

[rrhoads33]

I've noticed, that my leds are too big to be placed over the trussrod; I'm going to drill through the whole neck on the upper side (where your leds are on the LP/PRS guitar)

[rrhoads33]

I've read, that you lead the current through the strings; But this is only possible if the bridge/vibrato isn't grounded; Have you removed the connection with the mass there?

If the strings aren't connected to the mass, the guitar must be humming, unless you have your fingers on the string;

I've already thought about making a similar circuit in my selfbuilt model.

your video brought me to the idea that i can lead the current through the strings and through the trussrod. Thanks

[koenbus]

The ground wire is still there, so it is possible. You just need to set up the circuit like this: Battery->resistor->LED->fret->­string->Battery. Since the string is the 'ground wire' in this circuit: no problems at all.

[rrhoads33]

Thank you very much; On your other guitar you can also switch between the method you are demonstrating here and all leds burning; How do mange this with your voltage and the resistors; I mean if 10 leds are active, they need a voltage ten times higher than one single led;

To where is the 2nd side of the led connected? A wire in the neck or did you use the trussrod?

Thanks Wolfgang

[dashoz]

wow.

How did you manage to have the leds lightening up only when you play their frets ? I would love to try that on my guitar 8)

[messupinhead]

cool guitar...i think u should make a video explaining how you did that, so all us stupid people can do it.

[a7xforlife12]

how did you get to put the leds in the neck?

[silverdum]

FAKE!!! just look doesnt have pickups!!!

[koenbus]

Read the description you FUCKING idiot! And check out my other video of a completed guitar with fretleds.

[jordanzed]

You can play an electric guitar without pickups, just not in an amp, and very loud.

[SlitherSlash2]

You don't even need pickups to play.

[Shredder10213]

Damn that is truly awesome, you have to make a tutorial on how to do this man.

[dethklokm3tal12]

theres no strings its fake

[koenbus]

read the description before you start whining. If you think its fake, check out my other video.

[jeroenoost]

how did you get the fretboard of the neck??

[Cyeos]

Pretty cool!

I wonder though, is there any effect of the (9 volt?) current running through the ground wiring? I would think that would mess with the pickups.

[koenbus]

Nope, the current is running from the frets, through the strings, to the tuners. I tried using the bridge, but that indeed creates noise and ticks when you fret a string. Using the tuners creates no unwanted sounds.

Btw, it works with 3 1.5 V AAA batteries, located behind the headstock. But it can also be done with 9V, you just need different resistors.

[Cyeos]

Wow, OK. Very clever.

Doesn't the current flow through the strings into the bridge anyway, since they're connected? Or it somehow only flows from fret to tuner.

And how'd you get to the fretboard underneath? Did you take out the skunk strip and drill past the truss rod?

[koenbus]

No, don't know why actually, but it doesnt happen. It only flows up to the tuner, fortunately ;)

The way I fitted these LEDs was a bit rude: I just drilled right through the fretboard and carved out a spot to fit the LED and a resistor. After that I used filler and paint to cover up the spots. It doesn't look pretty, but it works very well.

I'm working on a new guitar right now, made from scratch. This allowed me to fit the leds from underneath the fretboard. Video coming when its finished!

[JimmyPage968]

it mi

[danielmillermedzon]

thats awesome! I neeed a tutorial on this!

[GunsNRoses76567]

Cool...except for the fact that the guitar has no pickups or pickguard!

[koenbus]

thats because it wasn't finished at that stage ;)

[nightingale013]

What A Deluxe Creation!

[quinoacat]

This is the best led example I have seen yet on youtube. The lighted pickups were nice but I was not impressed with the one with the lightning bolts as it was ugly and all the leds lit up like a bloody xmas tree every time the strings hit the frets anywhere. Yours has the best eye appeal to me. I am looking forward to your tutorial on how you installed these. Thanks! *****/*****

[Valentizzle]

That's awesome. I totally want to do that.

[Havoccus]

If you really made that tutorial, I'd be praying to you all night for the rest of my life :D

[ebuychile]

Hi man, where are you do that work? I have a stramer stage 2 and I want that amazin work

!!

[koenbus]

Hey mate, I live in Holland. Probably not near me, but you can try to do it yourself :) in planning to write a tutorial about it

[ebuychile]

Oooh man do that tutorial because is a great work . thanks for all.

[pari666]

how much would it cost me to have you do it to my bass>> lol i live in holland too haha

[koenbus]

ik doe het nog niet op gitaren van anderen, ik ben bang dat ik ze sloop :P

[cleanmonk32]

cool leds

[Havoccus]

This is simply awesome. I want it :)

[Vaistarr]

i think he wired each FRET to the circuit and to the brigde, and so , when he press a string , the led light up , and is like a switch! nice job ! What kind of leds did you use ?

[koenbus]

That's right. The strings and fret act like a switch, its really simple but it works awesome.

The leds are SMD leds, very small, rectangular leds, very nice but a pain in the **** to solder them

[iplaybass77]

wth where are the strings

[koenbus]

read the description -_-'

[koenbus]

...and it IS a cheap guitar ;)

[Hepnotic]

its cool, but i think it would get old fast. i'd only do it on a cheap guitar.

[ScotWithOnet]

Pretty cool. I did something very similar to my guitar, except they all light up at once instead of just the fret you are fingering.

[Dogma216]

dude how the hell did you do that!!! if you have a site with installation blueprints or somthing send it my way!

[carlopedraza]

ya man im wit this guy how da hek wus this possible???

[henkdedikke]

Nice nofx shirt koen :P

(eelke)

[Tsuekasa]

please give me a link to get some

[gr1mr34p0r]

Cooooooooooool man!!! Echt goed gedaan