Crazy Experiment! - Laser Guitar Pickup

Frickin Laser Beams! What’s easier and less evil than mounting a laser beam to a shark? Building a laser guitar pickup. $10 dollar laser guitar pickup.
Crazy dumb idea number #42.
Last year I made a touch capacitive guitar pickup switching system. It was just a silly idea that turned into an actual working prototype. This time I’m briefly and casually exploring how we could use solar cells to capture the voltage changes produced by a laser-illuminated plucked string. I doubt it will evolve into anything useful but it was a fun project.
Thanks for watching. Take it easy.
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Kitten toy laser pointer
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Mini Solar Cell:
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Battery clip
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You can get these much cheaper elsewhere, I’m just providing you the details.
.47 uf electrolytic capacitor
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2.2 uf electrolytic capacitor
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My favorite soldering iron:
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Really good, cheap multimeter:
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My favorite snipers:
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All Music Composed by Mark Gutierrez

[@UltraNyan]

In the future people will be discussing which laser brand gives the best tone.

[@reneebear3641]

I really like the combination of a blue gibson superlaser combined with mahogany, gets a nice warm vintage toan

[@coryfeldman-hz2yj]

Green laser is smooth and mellow, red laser is bright.. Lets start that tone myth right now!

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

I think Willcox Guitars' optical Lightwave system does something similar to this. It produces a very clean sound without any magnetic drag on the string. I really like it for acoustic guitars are fretless flatwound bass.

[@sc0or]

The hum is not a problem. All is needed is to modulate the laser with some signal of a very high frequency, and to use a corresponding high order pass band filter. Secondly, we can use an infrared laser/diode and an IR camera lens filter (I assume that the photovoltaic panel is sensitive for infrareds.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

There is such a thing called the Light Wave Pickup and associated electronics.

[@MarkSDD]

There's a pickup called the Opik that's using a similar principle. They've employed infra-red LEDs to bounce the light off the underside of the strings into a receiver.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Killer, I just googled Opik. They are light years ahead. haha.

[@adairguitars]

That is awesome! Endless possibilities how this could all be created and mounted on/in the guitar. With an added bonus of the visual effects.

[@MarkGutierrez]

I agree. Lots of DIY possibilities. Someone below mentioned there is already a commercial product coming soon via Kickstarter. Opik.

[@maistrovdwilligen7792]

Super smart, this simple idea is the best!

[@elvinebovine1297]

Put the laser on the opposite side, so the beam hits all strings as the gauges ascend.

[@derekwalton16]

Light 4 sound do this type of pickup and is an interesting concept indeed. Cant wait to see how you develop it!

[@stevepethel6843]

Pretty much one word ...GENIUS

[@gstube1]

Great experiment!

[@wantanmee8716]

This is interesting. It certainly did not cross my mind that a solar cell could be sensitive enough to pickup the signal. Very cool indeed.

[@didierleplae5170]

I may be missing something here, but not sure why the dc of the solar cell would create a hum. A capacitor should be able to eliminate the dc as you say. I wonder if hum could be coming from other light sources, such as fluorescents, that flicker at frequencies high enough that we can see them but low enough to hear. I friend once showed me a cool trick where you plug a headlight into the speaker out of a guitar amp. In a darkened room, you can then use a solar cell to receive the sound from several feet away. You can also make sounds by running a comb or spinning a bike wheel in front of the light.

[@tonyb8660]

I think 11 lasers per string is an appropriate standard

[@kthornbloom]

This is super interesting. More weird guitar stuff please!

[@MarkGutierrez]

I have the most fun doing the weird guitar stuff. More is definitely on it's way. Thanks for watching!

[@spastickitchen]

DC is inaudible, but can damage some amplifiers. Hum comes from ambient light sources.

[@GahMehGrrrr]

Genius. I'd like to hear it going into a Chase Bliss mood or bloom.

[@froggyvids5050]

six lasers pointed from the nut up the strings, angled.

[@foljs5858]

12 lasers to make a laser-humbucker!

[@matthoy2844]

I wish I had more interesting stuff to contribute, but all I can say is this was so cool.

[@MarkGutierrez]

I just appreciate the comment. It motivates me to keep going. Thanks for watching.

[@normbarrows]

Super cool! Need 2 lasers for tracking, the larger solar cell, and a noise circuit. I wish I remembered more theory from electronics shop back in high school. I also love the MacGyver approach to acquiring parts!

[@markmccawley2526]

Six Infrared emitters in the neck pickup angled to project on the strings over the solar pickup? Recess the LEDs in a holes to help with the projection. You are so far outside the box I doubt you can even see the box. Great job. The neck PU could be a single coil occupying a double coil foot print and hold the circuit required to drive it appropriately. Additionally thin, light tinting of the pickup would keep the ambient light reception down and tune the output (for better or worse?) Sweet concept. When do we get part 2? Edit. A tradition single bobbin in the neck PU so you still have functionality of a magnetic PU....That is all, carry on.

[@MarkGutierrez]

That would work. I'd need a 3D printer to print the housing. Sounds like fun. I may pursue it.

[@xCr00k3Dx]

Do you have a fuzz pedal in this video, or is the voltaic cell naturally creating that fuzz-like noise in the output?

[@lutheriedbill9910]

Thanks man,

[@conrad5342]

Thank you for mentioning DC.

[@LoserDub]

For real, marvel gets all the attention, but o think they have better story driven heroes right?

[@conrad5342]

@@LoserDub Well, I was referring to direct current. The sensor creates a superposition of an alternating and a direct current. Conventional pickups only do alternating current and devices like amps and effects consequently do not expect direct current.

[@EVAmucc5569]

So would it work with neon bass strings best?

[@picksalot1]

Very cool. If the strings passed through some some sort of mirrored tube with a Laser in it near the saddles that might work well. It may be a way to get a high quality signal capable of accurately triggering MIDI Instruments with accurate pitch information.

[@markjames1713]

did it seem to make any difference which orientation the solar cell is in regards to the strings? ie the long lines going across or with strings did that seem to matter? going to try see if we can get this to work in a sub octave bass with 6 strings the lowest being e an octave below a normal bass with a 200 guage string the magnetic pickup/preamp side is sorted but thinking use a bit of thiis as a seperate output as it might track the low 20hz fundamental better than the mags? plus we usualy record/process the low end off a seperate feed anyway might as well be different pickup type lol

[@chrisliddiard725]

As this works with LEDs, all you need are six LEDs shining up from the body of the guitar onto the strings. You could even mount them so they are emitting light through holes in the same device which reads the reflected light off the strings. I can see this as a single unit mounted in place of a conventional pickup. Would this work on bass? Is this just measuring the frequency of the shifting light, or is it measuring volume as well? One other question, would this work in normal or outdoor lighting, or would you need some kind of polarising filter so it only works with the right kind of light? ;0)

[@markjames1713]

literally here to ask the same i have a low tuned 6 string bass id like to apply this to .........

[@jakubrogacz6829]

There are optical pickups like that described, even as far as 60s

[@NikiDorian]

How about using an optical disc (cd, dvd, etc.) laser/sensor assembly?

[@SWHBOYCE]

Very cool ! Lazers can easily 'bounce' from a surface to 'reach ' a certain point , kind of like playing pool to explore 'ricochet 'options ; with laser ,beams , they can be reflected from far away too . I worked with a guy in the 'mid '90's who would work with those options ) listening to people across the street , for an example . He was able to 'hear ' what they were saying .just with the laser bouncing back from their window ..I don't recall what he used to amplify a conversation though . Great job ! , I had no idea about the LED's ! I'd say the sound you produced sounded just as good as Leslie West substituting Radio Shack speakers for high -end JBL's through his 10 Sunn amps !!!

[@MarkGutierrez]

So many great ideas and suggestions. Things I never thought of. Lots of opportunities for tinkering on this laser project. Thanks!

[@SWHBOYCE]

@@MarkGutierrez I think LED'S have many of the same applications as LAZER . Iv'e been wondering for a while now about that solar collector ( on Casio ) calculators . They seem to work as well with artificial light as well as sun light .Also , night vision is nothing more than a vacuum tube with argon gas in it .It makes one wonder how many 'combinations of things can be used or condensed for applications . It's kinda wild ! ...chemicals ,pressures ,temps , ...et al...

[@Theansilgregoryshow]

Ir led ir detector easier. Done in 60s by a canadian. I talked to him when i built mine in 09.

[@bigbasil1908]

My Morley combination wah/volume/distortion pedal uses an infrared led and detector for the wah wah effect. It has a thin piece of plastic between the led and detector with a slot that goes from narrow to wider, to change the amount of light that gets through to the detector

[@Theansilgregoryshow]

Not sure what that has to do with the pickup? But congrats. Yeah your wah has a an led and a ldr in place of the 100k wah pot. I design and build pedals and amps as well as repairs

[@noelsolares7cb]

I think you would need an active high pass filter in order to get rid of that DC voltage.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Just read up on active high pass filters. Nice suggestion Noel!

[@jcedricguitars]

I'd imagine an option would be to have a single laser bouncing off a reflective surface to hit all the strings. Perhaps something like a mirror/metallic cover that sits over the strings like an old Jazz bass.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Clever. It could also double as a laser mounting solution.

[@theRandy712]

Perhaps an over-string setup where there is a mirror and a laser and the pv receptor surrounding the strings

[@MarkGutierrez]

@@theRandy712 I'm really digging the mirror and over string ideas. One thing to consider is the amount of room needed for strumming. It was already kinda cramped. We'd need to push the over string setup closer to the neck.

[@LoserDub]

Nice vid, so i have old parts from my old stratocaster, pickups etc, i have a solar board from a broken solar battery charger, a wooden box, and a kalimba, i think im going to use the pickups under the kalimba rods, and then maybe have the solar panel act in place of the tone knob? I have no idea what im doing lol anyway where did you get the capacitors and which would you recommend, 2.2?

[@MarkGutierrez]

cool project, keep me updated. I buy all my capacitors from Tayda. www.taydaelectronics.com. I think if you read the comments, folks have suggested better alternatives to capacitors, I can't remember what those suggestions were, but might be a good route to take. I don't remember which value I used. best to look through the vid. I think I posted the value on the screen at some point.

[@williamnimmo104]

If you move the laser so the light hits the high e string first instead of the low e enough light might get through to all the strings as the thinner strings wont block so much light and the edges of the thick strings should be Visible to the laser

[@5urg3x]

I believe there are actually a few builders that have done this already. I know for sure there's a bass with laser pickups, I don't recall the name (edit: Willcox, that's it). I don't particularly care for the sound of them though. I think the reason why everyone likes traditional passives, especially P90s and other true single coil pickups, despite the hum and noise, is that they have a lot of character to them, and it's just what they've been used to hearing for so long. I tried Fishman Fluence pickups the other day and I was like...this is cool and all, but it definitely doesn't sound like what I'm used to hearing, it's like there's too _much_ information.

[@MarkGutierrez]

So true. Our ears are used to a particular set of frequencies. I think the only benefit that light offers over magnetic fields is that the strings aren't being pulled by the magnets and can freely vibrate.

[@realitystudioscustomshop]

very cool, you can get some laser levels that produce a line rather than a dot, could that work?

[@MarkGutierrez]

The one I was using produced a line but the line was made via the cheap plastic lens at the tip. Being plastic it was blurring the ends of the line and not producing a strong beam all the way across.

[@realitystudioscustomshop]

@@MarkGutierrez ah ok, that makes sense. Must admit, this video made me realise how little I know about pickups and how they work... back to school i go 😂😂

[@thomaslthomas1506]

Did you try a diode to keep the current going 1 direction. I’m not sure if I’m on the right track haven’t worked with DC in a decade or more.

[@MarkGutierrez]

That is something to explore. I think we want current. Traditional pickups create very small amounts of AC current. The solar cell creates DC. Need a way to reduce the voltage and invert it to AC or stop the DC from entering the jack. Thanks for the suggestion. Thanks for watching!

[@MrFlint51]

@@MarkGutierrez A solar cell can produce a DC voltage of up to 0.5 volts. Your 6cell unit therefore produces an output that fluctuates between 0volts and up to 3volts (probably less). When you put a blocking capacitor into the circuit, this becomes an AC voltage of +/- 1.5 volts. To reduce hum I would sleeve all the wiring with de-solder braid, earthed at one end.

[@johnpruett6980]

What about a laser splitter? Hit all 6 separately from one source...

[@MarkGutierrez]

Fancy idea. I did a quick google search. Beam splitter optics are kinda expensive. But the idea of optics in general is a sweet idea. Thanks!

[@markmccawley2526]

The StewMac Laser Uke? ehh...ehhh?....ok maybe not.

[@anthonyb5279]

OH MAN!!!!!!!! I'm doing that!!!!!!!! I know just how to quiet it down. Angle lasers up at the string and back down threw a hole where the photo voltaic is in shadow.

[@bizmofunyuns9693]

To reduce hum you could try stretching pantyhose over the pickup . Another option might be to tape over the pickup except for a thin line for the laser to pass its Lightwaves through. That reduced focus of light might cancel hum

[@mcwooley]

This is really cool Could you also use a CO2 sensor as a wind (instrument) pickup? SAT JAN-20-2024CE 2203 EST

[@mcwooley]

To clarify: An optical CO2 sensor rathar than an acoustic one For exhaled sounds Because I want to know if this can exclude other sounds (for example, drums) SAT JAN-20-2024CE 2239EST

[@72mardy]

Pardon my French, but that's cool as fuck

[@mcwooley]

I love how you're getting the traditional electric sound (I think these normally give the traditional acoustic sound?) Never heard this before I can imagine loving both kinds for Wake Me Up When September Ends; I'd just flick a switch for the second verse, lol SAT JAN-20-2024CE 2201EST

[@foljs5858]

no, the traditional acoustic sound is achieved by the soundhole, the body as a "chamber" and wood resonating, captured with a mic or piezo which doesn't happen in an electric. In electric the magnets track the changes in the magnetic field (the motion of the strings), and send electric signal. The same happens with the laser, it just needs a converter from tracking the movement of the strings via laser to electric signal.

[@Muzikman127]

You say "I doubt this will turn into anything useful", but it 1) sounds dope 2) looks dope and, most importantly, 3) WOULD WORK ON NON-FERROMAGNETIC MATERIAL i.e., this could potentially compete with piezos for nylon string guitars. You're playing with gain here, so I don't know how it sounds clean, but I don't hear any of that buzzy quacky piezo horribleness in this at all! That's quite something!

[@MarkGutierrez]

WOW, I never considered the use of non-ferromagnetic material. Now I'm wondering if we could make a stringed instrument out of twine or kite string or even use it on a snare drum.

[@willmorrison1022]

Sorry I'm late to the party. It occurs to me that if you're going to do this with a nylon string guitar, you could, at least on the top three strings, aim a laser or LED down the end of the string and have a lighted string that would be easy for the pickup to register. Not sure what to do on the bottom three strings, but hey, that's someone else's issue. Also, if you remember the cover over the strings on the original P basses, something like that could be made that would be able to hold lasers or LEDS for each string on any type of guitar, making sure they are held in place securely. That could solve some issues, not the least of which is you don't want anyone looking directly into these things. Then, voltages would have to be lowered, or the inputs of the amps raised so you could get a clean sound out of these things. They are clearly way too strong for the amp he is using. Cool ideas, all the way around.

[@Jefferson-ly5qe]

​@@MarkGutierrez any chance of putting some nylons on these and recording it clean? Would be a super interesting expdriment