Anyone ever tried building a small simple tabletop Leslie-like rotating speaker ?
I'm thinking cheap used turntable off eBay or just motor and small full range. More for beginning messing around with before trying serious builds.
Would be rough on stereo imaging, sure, more sonics experimentation than accuracy. Unless one is very clever or very immersed, be my guess. But look interesting to explore sonics. Timed triggering of sounds at various room placements even, along with circling sound, all sorts of imaging and accuracy havoc to test with for ideas.
Any thoughts ?
I'm thinking cheap used turntable off eBay or just motor and small full range. More for beginning messing around with before trying serious builds.
Would be rough on stereo imaging, sure, more sonics experimentation than accuracy. Unless one is very clever or very immersed, be my guess. But look interesting to explore sonics. Timed triggering of sounds at various room placements even, along with circling sound, all sorts of imaging and accuracy havoc to test with for ideas.
Any thoughts ?
Hmm no takers, eh ?
I realize it's kinda the opposite of clean and clear but it's more pretest experimentation I guess. This stuff eventually ends up back to pristine audio. Helps show me what those drivers up there have to go through to deliver clean plus can help drum up listening material to feed 'em.
If that helps explain the reasoning some i hope ...
I realize it's kinda the opposite of clean and clear but it's more pretest experimentation I guess. This stuff eventually ends up back to pristine audio. Helps show me what those drivers up there have to go through to deliver clean plus can help drum up listening material to feed 'em.
If that helps explain the reasoning some i hope ...
I'm not sure if a TT motor is gonna have the balls unless the horn is really light. This does sound like a fun experiment though.
Good point. Don't know if be hard to swap for bigger motor and dimmer switch or something.
Hadn't gotten to horns yet just small cones or anything else lying around. But yeah horns' advantages, guessing throw, directivity and no back wave (I think).
Good excuse to bug friends with synthesizers for custom test tones too.
Hadn't gotten to horns yet just small cones or anything else lying around. But yeah horns' advantages, guessing throw, directivity and no back wave (I think).
Good excuse to bug friends with synthesizers for custom test tones too.
Fender simply abused a rotating styrofoam scoop.
No sense making a first go too complicated. You
might not need the entire Leslie counter-rotating
whirligig with the bent horns.
You can cut elaborate foam shapes easy with the
thinnest guitar string from a standard set. A bow
of flexible bamboo or fiberglass or whatever. And
a 12V battery charger of 6 Amps rating or better.
Cutting foam any other way just makes a mess...
Gorilla (polyurethane) glue is compatible with
foam, but don't get any on your hands or clothes.
It absolutely won't come off skin for a week.
I recommend the pink 4ftx8ftx1in sheet at $12
from The Home Despot. Lowes Life has similar
blue sheet, I ain't tired cutting blue foam yet.
No sense making a first go too complicated. You
might not need the entire Leslie counter-rotating
whirligig with the bent horns.
You can cut elaborate foam shapes easy with the
thinnest guitar string from a standard set. A bow
of flexible bamboo or fiberglass or whatever. And
a 12V battery charger of 6 Amps rating or better.
Cutting foam any other way just makes a mess...
Gorilla (polyurethane) glue is compatible with
foam, but don't get any on your hands or clothes.
It absolutely won't come off skin for a week.
I recommend the pink 4ftx8ftx1in sheet at $12
from The Home Despot. Lowes Life has similar
blue sheet, I ain't tired cutting blue foam yet.
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Hey thanks neat tips-sure beats tin foil. The glue one too, thanks for the warning.
Think the scoop idea is good to know additionally, even if building different.
The contacts too a little tricky, (rotating) I pictured like a car distributor, only always on not momentary. Might try a ring bearing until I get less lazy and make something with better contact. Your scoop helps avoid all that though.
Think the scoop idea is good to know additionally, even if building different.
The contacts too a little tricky, (rotating) I pictured like a car distributor, only always on not momentary. Might try a ring bearing until I get less lazy and make something with better contact. Your scoop helps avoid all that though.
Turntable motor's a bit wimpy. I'd be thinking about kitchen appliances, variable-speed drill, maybe the fan from a fan heater - that sort of thing. Must be something lying around the house?
Caution: She who owns the kitchen may not be impressed (depending on your choice of sacrificial appliance) 😀
Caution: She who owns the kitchen may not be impressed (depending on your choice of sacrificial appliance) 😀
Thanks too didn't know until you guys told me.
Have couple of fan motors and dimmer switches lying around, so I'll be out of hot water around the homestead. PartsExpress.com sometimes has horns cheap, may go do some digging there.
Rotating wiring quick one, a 1/4" angled plug into a quarter inch jack while sorting out better speaker hookup wiring. Angled plug (to the speaker) rotating in the jack (to speaker input). Think I'd keep an eye on it while trying out though.
Have couple of fan motors and dimmer switches lying around, so I'll be out of hot water around the homestead. PartsExpress.com sometimes has horns cheap, may go do some digging there.
Rotating wiring quick one, a 1/4" angled plug into a quarter inch jack while sorting out better speaker hookup wiring. Angled plug (to the speaker) rotating in the jack (to speaker input). Think I'd keep an eye on it while trying out though.
The Leslie Magic....
Is in the rotating speaker connection. It is a mercury wetted set of contacts. I'd guess the environmentalists would have heartburn if they knew.... Your 1/4 inch jack idea will work for a while but it will become intermittent eventually.
Is in the rotating speaker connection. It is a mercury wetted set of contacts. I'd guess the environmentalists would have heartburn if they knew.... Your 1/4 inch jack idea will work for a while but it will become intermittent eventually.
I would use a decent ball point pen, one that has the longer grip. they are made out out of aluminium, and you the tip spins, just notch out holes in the pen, sollder a coductor to your tracer and just mount the base to a drill or motor, run whatever you want to on the contacts and well, disco music, simple.
Hack a set of wireless headphones to some piezo tweeters?
Even if you insist on using a commutator, at least you would
only be sending power, and you can use a capacitor and/or
batteries to filter out any skips in an imperfect contact.
I dunno why you gotta send music signal to the spinning parts?
Don't think Leslie ever did. 15 Scoop for lows, and bent horns for
highs. The driven end of Leslie's horn(s) is in the middle and don't
rotate with the mouths. The coupling is acoustic, not electric.
The top and bottom spin in opposite directions, and at different
speeds.
I've never heard of mercury wetted anything in a Leslie, but
thats not saying it isn't a possibility. What model would that be?
Even if you insist on using a commutator, at least you would
only be sending power, and you can use a capacitor and/or
batteries to filter out any skips in an imperfect contact.
I dunno why you gotta send music signal to the spinning parts?
Don't think Leslie ever did. 15 Scoop for lows, and bent horns for
highs. The driven end of Leslie's horn(s) is in the middle and don't
rotate with the mouths. The coupling is acoustic, not electric.
The top and bottom spin in opposite directions, and at different
speeds.
I've never heard of mercury wetted anything in a Leslie, but
thats not saying it isn't a possibility. What model would that be?
Re:rotating mercury contacts
There was a version of the Leslie that was built into small console organs, It actually spun a 6x9 speaker that was mounted in a drum about 10 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter. The amp was connected to the spinning speaker using the mercury wetted rotating contacts. The spinning horns that were coupled acoustically did not use or need any contacts. These were typically used with B3's, R3's, X66 or X77 organs - seperate external speaker cabinets. About the size of a small refrigerator. I worked at an R&D company that dealt with organs and Leslie speaker systems many years ago.
There was a version of the Leslie that was built into small console organs, It actually spun a 6x9 speaker that was mounted in a drum about 10 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter. The amp was connected to the spinning speaker using the mercury wetted rotating contacts. The spinning horns that were coupled acoustically did not use or need any contacts. These were typically used with B3's, R3's, X66 or X77 organs - seperate external speaker cabinets. About the size of a small refrigerator. I worked at an R&D company that dealt with organs and Leslie speaker systems many years ago.
good stuff folks
Interesting, the mercury contacts.
May be tied up for a while-got a new synth I have to figure out but this was kinda figure out before building anyhow so it works out well, I'll check in anyhow.
R&D on those must've been interesting-don't know my physics but acoustics must be a handful on any drivers, stationary or otherwise.
Interesting, the mercury contacts.
May be tied up for a while-got a new synth I have to figure out but this was kinda figure out before building anyhow so it works out well, I'll check in anyhow.
R&D on those must've been interesting-don't know my physics but acoustics must be a handful on any drivers, stationary or otherwise.
hammond
My HP laptop motherboard fried (dv6000-common)anyways I had files on Leslie repo parts, I found this at a Hammond resto firm. Price was cheap. It wasn't to far down on a Google search.
My HP laptop motherboard fried (dv6000-common)anyways I had files on Leslie repo parts, I found this at a Hammond resto firm. Price was cheap. It wasn't to far down on a Google search.
Hey thanks.
Looked through stuff a little a while back think Leslie prices scared me off but good to know about. Think I'd rather push a repro for long hour usage anyhow than an original.
I'm gonna tackle something small first plus want to build but good for eventually plus someone else maybe interested too. So that's check out repro's right? and gonna go see what I can find.
Looked through stuff a little a while back think Leslie prices scared me off but good to know about. Think I'd rather push a repro for long hour usage anyhow than an original.
I'm gonna tackle something small first plus want to build but good for eventually plus someone else maybe interested too. So that's check out repro's right? and gonna go see what I can find.
Mercury not
These days, there are alloys that are liquid at room temperature with no mercury in them. I think they're all eutectics of In/Sn/Bi, none of which is toxic.
A whirling paddle ahead of a speaker in an enclosure is indeed the easy way to get the same effect, that is, if you are determined to do it mechanically. Made a little one myself as a teenager to use with my guitar on some stuff I was recording. Even easier nowadays is to go out and buy an electronic device from a musical instrument store that can impose the Leslie effect on the original signal.
These days, there are alloys that are liquid at room temperature with no mercury in them. I think they're all eutectics of In/Sn/Bi, none of which is toxic.
A whirling paddle ahead of a speaker in an enclosure is indeed the easy way to get the same effect, that is, if you are determined to do it mechanically. Made a little one myself as a teenager to use with my guitar on some stuff I was recording. Even easier nowadays is to go out and buy an electronic device from a musical instrument store that can impose the Leslie effect on the original signal.
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Rotating zzsound
I didn't mention they had repo parts, I'm salvaging a Hammond and checked ebay for est. Check Leslie I found lots of $10-$40 for complete spin-a-roos not the top line Leslie but motor, controller w/cheapo speaker --- plenty of diy.
I didn't mention they had repo parts, I'm salvaging a Hammond and checked ebay for est. Check Leslie I found lots of $10-$40 for complete spin-a-roos not the top line Leslie but motor, controller w/cheapo speaker --- plenty of diy.
I've been interested in making a DIY Leslie for a long while now. I'm parting out a Kimball Swinger 800 I got for cheap at a thrift store. I played it before cutting into it, I thought the tremolo sounded "better," certainly different than I expected, and I opened the back and saw one side of the cabinet had a motor pulley ... the "Leslie" unit is a styrofoam drum in front of an 8-inch speaker, not quite the model that goes with B3's.
Does anyone have the specs of the big ones? I've seen diagrams, there are both bass and treble rotors that apparently run independently on different motors (except they both get switched between "slow" and "fast" at the same time). The design I've seen doesn't rotate the speakers - the woofer fires down into a rotating drum, and a compression driver fires up through a Lazy Susan type bearing into the rotating horn.
For a first approximation I'm interested in the crossover frequency and the RPM's of the slow and fast speeds of each of the two rotors. And do these parameters vary with different models, or are all Leslies basically the same?
Does anyone have the specs of the big ones? I've seen diagrams, there are both bass and treble rotors that apparently run independently on different motors (except they both get switched between "slow" and "fast" at the same time). The design I've seen doesn't rotate the speakers - the woofer fires down into a rotating drum, and a compression driver fires up through a Lazy Susan type bearing into the rotating horn.
For a first approximation I'm interested in the crossover frequency and the RPM's of the slow and fast speeds of each of the two rotors. And do these parameters vary with different models, or are all Leslies basically the same?
steering wheel..
Take a good look at your steering wheel on your car if it has buttons on it, pretty simple when you see how the contacts are laid out. just another thing to consider as using "horns"from parts express.
And you can pick them up cheap from a car recycle center. Just my thoughts and have fun. weird but could be the next thing. Have fun with it!
Take a good look at your steering wheel on your car if it has buttons on it, pretty simple when you see how the contacts are laid out. just another thing to consider as using "horns"from parts express.
And you can pick them up cheap from a car recycle center. Just my thoughts and have fun. weird but could be the next thing. Have fun with it!
Thanks rok-n-rol I'll check that. Sounds good for ideas whatever build ends up tried.
I do have a few guitar effects that have Leslie sims, just wanted to try out something mechanical based. Project kinda got back burner shelved due to other projects but still scrounging parts here and there while finishing other gotta-get-dones.
Hey sorry benb don't have specs but have seen new Leslies, maybe factory info available while you're chasing down specs. Don't know how they differ from the earlier ones though.
I do have a few guitar effects that have Leslie sims, just wanted to try out something mechanical based. Project kinda got back burner shelved due to other projects but still scrounging parts here and there while finishing other gotta-get-dones.
Hey sorry benb don't have specs but have seen new Leslies, maybe factory info available while you're chasing down specs. Don't know how they differ from the earlier ones though.
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