Build an Analog Fiber Optic Guitar Cable | Recent Uploads & Activity | Forum

I play Boogies these days - a DC-2 and a Lonestar Special. But at the time I wrote that article, I was a 100% addicted Gallien-Kreuger GK-250ML die-hard... And I still have the 250, though I spray painted it in blue-sparkle automotive paint a few years back after replacing the speakers...

I hear that the old MP-1's are considered classic now and going for big $$$ on the used market!

I do still have the original one I made for that article and amazingly it still works. However, knowing what I know now, I'd probably change the design for a higher quality (lower THD) transmitter. I don't use it in practice any more.

But one of the things I experimented with after that project was published was "optical FX" -- we found that if you severed the fiber optic cable, but held the two ends near each other with a few mm (up to about 1/2 cm) the information would still flow and you could do things like place semi-transparent plastic in the "gap" to create distortion, or move a knife blade back and forth for a gapper effect. A friend of mine blew smoke across the gap and it made a really interesting distortion effect as well. Finding the parts would probably be the most difficult part - not sure if Motorola makes that stuff anymore...