stompbox for disabled

[pinkjimiphoton]

a good envelope follower is probably all ya need bro.

try the honeydripper on madbean's.... amazing auto wah with formants and fuzz.

[legless]

Wow-

I've been trying to discover something about this for months now- you have already sent loads of great ideas. I was not optimistic, hence the delay in replying. Thanks everyone for your input.

To answer some of the questions raised-

I am neither a musician nor techie. An off the peg solution would suit me best, and the quicker the solution the better. I have never used a forum before, so if it seems clumsy- apologies.

I need the information for my son, who has been battling with malignant melanoma cancer (skin cancer which spreads through the body) for five years. He was 12 when diagnosed. There were complications with his last experimental treatment, which acted well on the cancer, but reacted with earlier treatments, and left him paralysed from the navel down six months ago. For the doubters among you, don't feel bad, your cynicism is probably justified on most occasions.

Back to the problem at hand-

obviously he cannot use any part of his legs. Tilt switches and mounted pedals would be difficult for him, as he suffers spasms in his legs which can throw him off balance.

He has learned to play in the wheelchair, but prefers to play in a reclining sofa I bought for the purpose, which give support to the legs and assists balance.

He had a Dunlop  cry baby wha wha, and would like to be able to get the Hendrix/ Zappa sound. He has a Vox vavetronix amp, with effects built in. It has a footswitch, which he can manage to operate with his hand when playing to change settings. He also has an electroharmonix memory man with Hazarai, which is great, because he doesn'nt need to fiddle with it when playing. The downside is that it lacks the immediacy of the cry baby.

I was particularly impressed by the look of the Soul Kiss, but gather it is no longer made. Do you know of anyone who builds replicas? I also wonder if a pressure sensitive switch could replace the LED, as the Youtube video seems to say it really needs a quite bright room to work well.

Again-Many thanks for the input so far.

To RG - You are quite right about disability being a mental thing. However, to maintain a good mental state , you need to be able to do at least some of the things you used to do- albeit in a different way. Hence my following up this matter. If you have any doubts as to my sons drive- please check out this link
[/tt]314528918844?ref=stream]https://www.facebook.com/pages/YOU-62/644314528918844?ref=stream         Yes- this is a plug!

[R.G.]

To RG - You are quite right about disability being a mental thing. However, to maintain a good mental state , you need to be able to do at least some of the things you used to do- albeit in a different way. Hence my following up this matter.

Yes, I'm with you there.

The tactile switches on the guitar are not a standard solution, unfortunately. They would have to be custom built. The only reason I'm not up-front offering to build one is that my life is so busy that this might take a very long time indeed, and you are correct, continuing to do things is important in the situation you're describing.

[Jdansti]

You may want to contact the doctor in this article:

Operate a piano pedal with the mouth

He'll probably need to know that the device needs to operate a potentiometer in the wah.

Dr. Rüdiger Rupp at Orthopedic Clinic of Heidelberg University Hospital: e-mail: annette.tuffs(at)med.uni-heidelberg.de

[PRR]

Let's get the URL clickable:
YOU 62 ... band ...helping to raise money for The Christie Hospital and Teenage Cancer Trust {goes to FaceBook}

> ...a wha-wha type apparatus that could be used by a disabled guitarist...
> ....prefers to play in a reclining sofa...

I'd throw the wah-wah pedal under his elbow.

It will probably need a bracket, and maybe a spring, since elbow isn't a foot-on-ankle. Bracket might even be a cut-off shoe heel. Give him a C-clamp and let him experiment. If he's playing with YOU 62, then he needs a similar rig for his playing-out gigs.

Mouth-operated seems a good idea but is not off-the-shelf.

Get the hospital tech-staff to introduce the kid to whoever jiffy-fixes the hospital CAT-scan and PC-mounts. Gotta be somebody there with mechanical chops, maybe a collection of odd springs.

Seems your son can read and type. Tell him to come here, express his musical needs and motion limits. Beats going through a non-musical dad.

[Mustachio]

Was Checking out the facebook page and found a video with some music , Man your son rocks! What an awesome story of them all getting together to make music !

Should definitely get him in here to discuss what might be best.

In the mean time let me go through my parts I have on hand and look around for a pcb image of the soul kiss I can probably throw something together for him, I have a few ideas.

Another thing I thought about, was taking a morely wah and just wiring the ldr to an 1/8th inch jack on the case and then run a cable to an ldr like the soul kiss.

So yeah let me look through what I have and ill try to throw together something for him.

[deadastronaut]

^ good man. 

i found a ''verified' clone schemo/pcb layout for the soul kiss...

http://topopiccione.atspace.com/PJ10EHSoulKiss.html

[Jdansti]

^I'm probably missing something (not unheard of ), but how would you integrate the bypass switch? A water-proof tactile switch mounted adjacent to the LDR? 

How would you go about "saliva-proofing" the LDR and switch and also making it able to be sterilized with a mild bleach solution or something similar?
---------------------

>Get the hospital tech-staff to introduce the kid to whoever jiffy-fixes the hospital CAT-scan and PC-mounts. Gotta be somebody there with mechanical chops, maybe a collection of odd springs.

Also check with the prosthesis group.

---------------------

Re: Video- just checked it out and the playing and production are amazingly professional!!! Great work!  I posted it on my FB page.

[legless]

Hi again

Thanks for your kind comments re Pete and YOU62. I think they rock too. Many thanks also for spreading the story.

We have read the posts together, sadly some were just too clever for us. Whilst adapting his existing Dunlop Wah with a bracket and spring would give the sound he wants, he is not sure he would be able to control it with elbow whilst playing.

I have contacted the hospital as suggested by Jdansti  but have not had a reply yet.

All in all though, the Soul Kiss seems to be the best option. Many many thanks  Mustachio for your kind offer. Let me know if there is anything you need from me. Do you have any idea for saliva proofing?  Should I make enquiries  of the hospital tech staff  as to hygeine?

thanks again.

[Mac Walker]

Just wanted to make sure you saw the demo for the source audio hot hand, it was posted earlier....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Source-Audio-Hot-Hand-Wah-Wireless-Motion-Controlled-Wah-Effect-System-NEW-/330900685341

Seems like a perfect match for what you are looking for , 9 different wah sounds, controlled by a ring transmitter worn on the finger....

[Jdansti]

That's some funky jewelry all wrapped up in an off the shelf package. Nice!  

Edit:

$69 with wired sensor/$149 with wireless sensor... Really not bad!!!
http://www.sourceaudio.net/products/hothand/wah.php

Edit 2:  They have other effects that use the same motion technology at the link above.

[Mustachio]

Nice Find Rob Thanks! I think I can build this up soon for him. I'll try to etch the board tonight or tomorrow.

He was saying he can turn the effect on and off with his hand. I have a few ideas. One is an arm side pedal board for the wheel chair that can be taken off and placed on the arm of the couch. This can host all his effects and have them right there to turn on and off. Also have a goose neck mic arm on it with a clip to hold the soul kiss probe and he can easily move it out of the way with his mouth when he needs to.

The probe I'm still thinking about, Right now I'm thinking a something like plastic cylinder, like a cut end of a pen to house the ldr (sorta) with medical grade tube around it to bite onto and a clear 5mm or so led lens to cover the end and keep saliva out of the ldr. Also wanting to put an LED a few inches back from the ldr on the same piece to try to keep even light coming into the ldr even in dark situations. Could use a blue led and have a blue mouth while wah solo'ing! Might look really cool!

The hot hand is really cool too I remember seeing it posted on the board here a while back. Nice price too!

[petey twofinger]

cool , glad i could  help  please  , keep us posted how it turns out , this is very inspirational . i lost my middle two fret finger tips to a lawnmower many years ago , i knda should have quit with this guitar stuff but ... man , now that my back gave out its really all i have to keep me goin mentally .

[PRR]

> check with the prosthesis group

Good thought. There's a shadow-staff behind the white-coat staff keeping the wheels and slides working. Who hangs the M.D.'s diplomas? Their time, and fingers, are too valuable to hammer nails, jam copiers, etc. (I had a similar job in a college.)

> "saliva-proofing" the LDR and switch and also making it able to be sterilized

Not sure I understand LDR in the mouth.

However most LDRs are essentially waterproof. At least a token encapsulation. Else high humidity would limit the >>Meg dark resistance.

But I would not stick one in my mouth and rock-out. I might get excited and bite. The stuff in there is not good for you, and Pete's had enough toxins for now. But there are metal-glass encased LDRs.

Sanitation? It's not a rental sax or community crack-pipe. Only Pete will ever stick it in his mouth. (If the tech-geek needs to try it, let him use his own LDR, they aren't that expensive.) And the metal-glass LDRs can be swished in Chlorox or EverClear or Listerine.

[Jdansti]

>Not sure I understand LDR in the mouth.
See:

>But I would not stick one in my mouth and rock-out. I might get excited and bite. The stuff in there is not good for you, and Pete's had enough toxins for now.

Good point-one good-looking groupie can have that effect.   Jim would need to protect the LDR to an extent.

I like the idea of having it on a goose neck so you don't have to find it when you want to use it or worry about it hitting the ground.  Jim, I've got one or two of these thin LED goosenecks that could be adapted for the LDR/LED.



Just let me know if you want me to send them to you.

[Mustachio]

Nice John! I could probably use just one , Attach the ldr in front of the LED.

That probably uses the 5v from usb for the led. So probably doesn't have a resistor ill check it out. Cutt off the end put a resistor in the front of it and run the ldr cable down the side probably. Nice, thanks a lot guys for the help in ideas I think its coming together well. Ill see if I can get an LDR that is covered in glass/metal and put that inside the medical tubing. I think I can get it pretty safe. But ill try to bounce ideas off you guys when I start getting things put together more.

[Jdansti]

Sounds good.  If the built-in LED doesn't work out, you can use the gooseneck as a physical support.  PM me your address and I'll ship it out this week.

[PRR]

Thanks. Looks awkward, but worth messing with.

The Peter Frampton talk box guitar effect (Show Me The Way) is a limited-range wah (if you use it as a sound-filter instead of a vocal effect). That's a dead-standard low-price item in the guitar store. It does require a "singing mike" to pick-up the modified sound from the player's lips; as this act may be "short-handed" they may not wish to add more wires and mikes to the pile of gear.

> lost my middle two fret finger

I've known several "stumpies" play guitar. Some famous: Django Reinhardt was severely injured in a fire, right leg paralyzed and the 4th and 5th fingers of his left hand partially paralyzed for the rest of his life. Jerry Garcia was short half a finger, right hand; also a brain-crash and he had to re-learn how to play. Tony Iommi's last day at a sheet metal factory, he severed the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand -- because he's left-handed, his fret hand.

Lots of different-abled musicians: Itzhak Perlman had Polio and gimps around (though he does not use foot-Wah on his violin). Kenny G (sax) has Asthma. You could form a band out of blind pianists.... George Shearing, also Ronnie Milsap, who once worked for Ray Charles (blind leading the blind)... Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was thrown from his Corvette, severing his left arm.... didn't stop him. Teddy Pendergrass may have 'only' been a singer, but also a cool dancer.... car-crash paralyzed him from chest down. Worked through it and did well again. Flippin' Little Richard is as old as my father, older than the Rolling Stones(!), just had hip surgery, needs a wheelchair, but let him slide onto the piano bench and he hoots as good as ever.

[deadastronaut]

i bought a few of these ''encapsulated'' ldr's...will take a lot to bite through that...its solid.

great idea on the gooseneck, and these ldrs will most likely be a more suitable fit, and waterproof/chemical proof (to the dude.)...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Encapsulated-Light-Dependant-Resistor-LDR-Photo-Cell-/300929011909?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item4610c450c5



an off the top of the head idea!..

ldr + led in a tube facing each other...with a 'bite' gap between....

and use the 'darklght' to reverse the wah action...hmmmm....just thinking aloud fella's.

[Mustachio]

Nice encapsulated LDR! I'll take a look around for something similar near by.

The bite down idea is good too if we can come up with a way to make it comfortable and safe. Medical grade tubing is what I'm thinking is the best around the outside no matter we go with. I was looking at dental supplies for idea's for the housing too. The probe is gonna be the tricky part. Wanna make it safe! The pcb is printed and transferred , getting ready to etch it in a few minutes.