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Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | Every Friday at the jam I attend there are usually around 10 acoustic players all strumming the same chords. There's George who, ever since somebody commented my 36 year old custom built Yairi sounds louder than his new Taylor costing several thousands more, bangs away as hard as he can to be heard foremost above the fray. Then there's 3 or 4 very old people who miss the timing of their chord changes incessantly but whose vintage Gibsons and Martins voices are prominent enough to cause others to mess up as well. Finally, there's me who is working with the 83 year old incredible Tele player weekly to try and learn his technique for solo improvising to take some of the load off him.
My problem is hearing my own guitar when 5 or 6 players are seated across from me, their soundholes aimed right at me as they vigorously strum away. I'd like to be able to hear myself while I'm experimenting in the background with riffs I'm trying to play with the chord progressions. I got an idea for something that might help a lot. The idea came when I was advising a lady at the jam I recently gave a restored Kay archtop from the late 50's to because the Fender dred she had was too big for her tiny, frail physique. She asked me about any pickup I knew of that might work with the F hole Kay so she could play it with her amplifier at a nursing home gig she does weekly. I told her about the contact mics that are applied to the top with a suction cup and are very inexpensive but do the job adequately.
It hit me right then. My daughter still has a stethoscope from her days as a nurses assistant. I thought about a stethoscope idea for an acoustic guitar that would be a single flexible tube attached to a small suction cup to put on the back of the guitar. The other end of the tube would be attached to a single earpiece so you could passively amplify your own guitar directly into one ear. I'm going to gather the needed items asap and try to make a working prototype before this Fridays jam and see if I can finally overcome the issues I have with hearing my own guitar at the jam. Putting this idea out here for any suggestions on improving it, OR for anybody who wants to try and make their own who has a similar dilemma as me in group playing sessions. I recently installed a Baggs Lyric in my Yairi that works very well but the only amplified guitar at the jam is the lead player's Tele. Of course if I could quickly find another Elite with the shotgun holes near the top I might not have any need for this at all. I'm still shopping for the right one. |
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November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | And just like that I googled guitar stethoscope as soon as I finished this post and found a number of them already in existence! Happens all the time with me and my ideas. Like when I thought of online funeral viewing for people who live too far away to make the trip for a deceased loved one. When I looked it up it was already a thriving industry. So.... never mind. |
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December 2003
Posts: 848
Location: Canada | It's a common issue and you have to ask yourself about what's the point of attending a jam where everyone bangs away and no one cares what others are playing, how do you even know if you all play the same tune? So to participate you can bring an amp and step it up a notch, and of course it also helps to be confident about your playing so you know what you sound like without hearing it. When I'm in such a situation I don't care about hearing myself if I know the song and I focus on the others, but if it's a new song that deviates from the I-IV-V scheme or has key changes then it can be tricky and I tend to put my right ear down close to the body so I can hear myself until I figured out what's going on in the song. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | You bring an amp, they bring an amp, you bring a bigger amp...
It is important to have ground rules and perhaps some agenda such as full group with break out sessions.
When I sit in I try not to be a full chord strumming monkey... take an alternative line, Travis pick, only strum the first and change chords to learn a song.
And yes... tuning to a standard is important! |
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November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | Actually I already ordered an existing acoustic guitar stethoscope from a website exclusively for it. It even has a volume adjustment, that being a way to adjust the suction of the cup attachment. Hey, it was only $14.95 so it was worth the small amount to see if my idea had any merit. I'll let ya know Friday when it gets here and when my next jam is as well. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12755
Location: Boise, Idaho | You're lucky to have people to jam with. I never get invited back. Maybe I'm the guy that drowns everyone else out so they can't hear themselves play.
Actually, I prefer to finger pick, so I'm rarely loud enough to hear if everyone else is strumming. If I try to show someone else how to play a song, I'll forget what the chords are because my fingers know where to go, but my brain doesn't remember the chords. If I stop and think about it, it never works.
I guess my report card should say, "Doesn't play well with others."
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March 2007
Posts: 841
Location: CA | Used to jam with a bunch of guys in the in SF Bay area after work years ago. In a marine engine repair shop of all places. One guy - very enthusiastic and with a lovely booming Martin D35 (I think) was often a tad off on timing and chord changes. And on some songs, he just seemed to play the chords HE thought fit, even if they were in a different key. What the ....? Anyway, it was all in good fun an the rest of us could drown him out of needs be (or stand farther away so you couldn't hear him). So after I left the area, a few of the guys actually formed a group and started performing around the waterfront - and this same guy would show up even though nobody really wanted him to for reasons stated above, plus the fact that he is really a great guy and nobody wanted to hurt his feelings. Plus he just LOVED playing. I had moved out of the area but still communicated with several of the guys (including him) and my buddy Andy, the banjo player, kept me updated on how they were handling the issue. One of the early tactics was to tell Mr. Martin that his guitar boomed SO LOUD that everyone else was going to small amps, just to be heard. Then they'd just drown him out. That worked for a while and then Martin guy showed up one day and happily announced "I got a pickup installed." But they said he coudln't plug into existing amp(s) because the electronic kanootin relay wasn't compatible - or some kind of made-up excuse to delay a bit longer. So then Martin guy bought his own amp. The last I checked, they had assigned one of the girlfriends to sneak back behind everyone and turn his volume down when he wasn't looking. Ha ha ha. The funniest twist on the whole thing is that HE is the one that gets the group most of their gigs these days! |
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August 2011
Posts: 887
Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Don't know if I would have the heart to try the stethoscope idea but it might help you with the beat and the rhythm?? |
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December 2008
Posts: 250
Location: Seattle | https://travelerguitar.com/pro-series-antique-brown .......”unique internal resonant pickup system with the included stethophone headset, which allows for private listening without batteries or an amp.”
Downside is that no one will hear you if it is a acoustic only situation
Edited by kentrookie 2018-04-09 11:35 PM
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Yep, bought a Traveler deluxe pro 20 years ago and it came with a stethoscope. Still have it.. |
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November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | DaveKell - 2018-04-09 11:31 AM
Actually I already ordered an existing acoustic guitar stethoscope from a website exclusively for it. It even has a volume adjustment, that being a way to adjust the suction of the cup attachment. Hey, it was only $14.95 so it was worth the small amount to see if my idea had any merit. I'll let ya know Friday when it gets here and when my next jam is as well.
I've had it for a couple of days now. It's so loud in my ears that if I used both earpieces at the same time, my playing is all I would hear. My idea of a single earpiece would've been an improvement. Even with just one in the ear, the volume is very substantial! I must have received a defective one because the instructions say that by turning the retainer ring you can control the volume. Problem is, there's no adjustable ring. Also, there's no over the ear clip to hold it in place. Not very well thought out, but at least it proves the concept works very adequately. |
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Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 250
Location: Seattle | or perhaps http://www.voxamps.com/amplug2
works pretty well but needs batteries/preamp pickup on the guitar...... but does have a volume control
Edited by kentrookie 2018-04-19 8:27 AM
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Joined:
November 2011
Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX | Finally got to try the guitar stethoscope at a jam last night with up to 8 others playing at once. I solved the no ear clip problem by looping the flexible tube to the earpiece over my glasses. It never dropped out of my ear. When it was my turn to play and sing it was great having the ability to hear just my playing over everybody else. The biggest benefit was being able to hear myself riffing over all the chord progressions in anticipation of improvising a solo. I'm sold on this device. I thought it would be a suction cup attachment like the idea I had for it. Instead, it has a velcro pad on the part that attaches to the back of the guitar. They give you four small velcro pads that stick to the guitar for attaching the device. You only need one. |
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An Invention Idea...
