Sitar simulator

[Nano]

Does anyone have the schem for the Danelectro DDS-1 Sitar Swami Sitar Simulator?

Thanks

[Mark Hammer]

Have you tried Tim Escobedo's "Jawari"?  It's the damndest thing.  Unbelievably simply yet you can't put the thing down.  Requires marginally finicky conditions to deliver, but delivers very nicely for the investment.  You will need a SC bridge pickup to invoke the spirit of Vinnie Bell, though.

[AL]

I would also recommend the Jawari. I've never built it BUT that Dano pedal is terrible. It sounds like an airplane taking off - like a constant flange. Noisy, Noisy, Noisy. I've never heard a sitar with that much hiss. No wonder it was on sale. Now that I'm thinking about it I should yank that circuit and put something useful in it. Sorry for the rant. Build Tim's pedals.

AL

[moosapotamus]

Hey AL,
When you rip the guts out of your Sitar Swami, feel free to send them to me. :mrgreen:

I luv my Jawari.

~ Charlie

[AL]

I'll see what I can do Charlie - it would make a great doorstop.  :wink:

AL

[Nasse]

Sorry to jump in but just remebered somebody mentioned these when talking sitar sound :roll:

Look for "SITAR SADDLES FOR TELE" at rockinger.de (bridge accessories)

Some kind of mechanical gadgets for tele...

No bypass available for these but anyway

[petemoore]

put rings on the strings, and push them up the string, from the bridge to over the pickups, tilt the head of the guitar up so they 'stay'.
 something like those brass string pellets that come with standard guitar strings? copper wire...wrap it around a 1/32-1/16th sized ice pick...then you can pull it off the string when you want regular guitar.
 Maybe Stewart Mcdonald has a sitar section?
 with a Sitar, the alignment is of the hinge pin that runs down the side of the neck, makes it seem that it might be fairly' easy to assemble one if you could get the mechanical pieces. then use a Bill Lawrence sound hole pickup, or your choice for  a solid body electric sitar!!
 I won't kid ya' tho' [not] building instruments is lots of experience and work, [  ] ~ results vary. Don't let that stop you. I built guitars with limited success...tools sure help.

[Mark Hammer]

When I was a lad, studiously emulating "the lads", I would simply lift out the saddle in the bridge of my Regent acoustic guitar (it was a non-glued bridge with sheet metal tailpiece) and let the strings resonate against the bridge.  Buggered up intonation but I could nail whatever George played out of the radio.   Spent many an evening rocking out with Eric Burdon singing "Monterey".    The "Jawari" bridge on a sitar has a very gentle slope that  provides a resting point for the string, but is so close to the the vibrating part of the string that small deviations cause it to buzz against the bridge.

[Jason Stout]

I made my first guitar effect by loosly wrapping aluminum foil around the strings of my bass, instant lo-lo-lo fi bass sitar! Works for 6 string as well.

[Rodgre]

I have a schematic for the Sitar Swami.

Let's see here, it goes from the input jack, to a ball of donkey dung, and then to the output jack. I'm not sure if it's true bypass or not.

I'm not usually a vitriolic or publically opinionated feller, but I've said it before, I will say it again. That pedal sounds about as close to a sitar as a chainsaw sounds to a cuckoo clock.

I was going to buy those Rockinger tele saddles until I ended up getting a Rogue Coral Sitar replica from Musician's Friend.

I don't think any pedal can really do a sitar effect. The clips for the jawari are certainly cool though. MUCH MUCH MUCH better than the dano sitar swami.

You are better off trying the above physical tricks.

Roger

[ryanscissorhands]

I've been working on my own sitar mod for a guitar myself. What I was working with was not rings on the strings, but a string across the strings. You know those chains made out of metal balls and little metal rods used in ceiling fans and lamps? Drap it over your strings, and it sounds sitar-like. The problem is keeping it from bounding all over from the vibrations of the strings.

With the use of a popsicle stick, duct tape, paperclips, and love, I found a way to keep the chain close to the strings. Observe the following text diagram:

                v-popsicle stick
             ___
            |  X |
            |   0  |
            |== |
            |   0  |
          |   0  |--1
            |  0  |
         |   0  |--2
            |  0   |
         |   0  |--3
            |== |
          |    0 |--4
            |   0  |
          |    0 |--5
            |  0   |
          |   0 |--6
            |== |
            |   0  |
            |  X |
             ----
The = signs are where I put the paperclips. The numbers are the strings, the X's are where I attached the chain, somewhat loosely. The 0's are spacers because of the way that spaces get deleted when you post.                

The biggest problem was getting the popsicle stick with the paperclips on under the strings. Because it had to go in sideways, and to do that, I either had to loosen the strings, or just jam it in. The paperclip in the middle sucks, too, but helps with the sound to keep the middle strings vibrating.

Sounds pretty good. But it's a bitch. Really, I shouldn't recmmend this. If you can build the jawari, do. If you want to try taping a popsicle stick and paperclipd to your pick guard to sound like a sitar AND look cool, follow the text diagram. . .

If my text diagram has insulted your intelligence or offended you for its craptacular simplicity, then I am sorry.

[Sic]

lol nice job ryan. i can never seem to draw those kinds of diagrams that come out looking balanced... mine are always lopsided and FUBARED

[the_badcliff]

I think that in the Wilco DVD they took a belt sander to the strings of a guitar.  Don't think it sounded like a sitar, but boy did they make a racket.