Hello from Nashville

[tncaveman]

Hey guys and gals. I am a star wars enthusiast like most of you and have been wanting to build my own saber. I have been reading through tons of forum posts but can't find exactly what I am looking for and wanted to ask a few questions. But first here is a little about me and what I want to do.

I am a backline (instrument) tech for alot of bands and award shows you see on TV. I have a pretty good grasp on wiring and soldering, as I have had to fix plenty of amps/keyboard/speakers in my day. I am not saying that a simple saber build is beneath me but I know off the bat I would like to do more than just have it light up, and the wiring/soldering aspect of that doesn't scare me. Here is what I am looking to do;

MHS system for sure
purple blade (which I can find the wiring diagram for but am not sure which LED is the right one)
purple momentary switch


But when It comes to deciding speaker, sound card, batteries I am a little lost.

Do the sound cards come loaded with sound or do you have to add the sound to them?
Is it better to get the speaker battery pack combo or should I be looking into a rechargeable internal battery?
is there something that I am not seeing that I should be aware of?

I appreciate any help that can be offered, even if its just new key words to search for.

Thanks

[amwolf]

Welcome to the Forum! My mother's family is from Nashville - it's a great town. Don't get down to visit as often as I'd like...

Best advice is to read, read, and read some more...

The sound cards do come with "standard" fonts on them, but they can be changed so you can personalize the sounds to the saber (and you) if you wish. As far as the speaker and battery setup go that's really up to you, your design, and the sound card you're thinking of using. If you're going to go trooping (I think that's the phrase) then you may want to go with a removable battery or pack. If you've got a design sketch, post it and we can provide some more... direction.

[snilam]

Hello and welcome. If you want more of a challenge I would do the petit crouton soumd board. That willgive you sound and the abillity to mix your colors to get the purple you want with R.I.C.E. you will need a 7.4v batt with which you can add your recharge port. For your led you will need a tri rebel RGrB to mix to get purple or any other color for that matter. With the petit crouton you can switch between 3 sound and color fonts. The card comes peloaded with 3 sound fonts, tons are available for download at saberfont.com. As far as speakers go its chocolate or vanilla. The premium speaker is more clear I guess but the bass speaker has you guessed it more bas.

[tncaveman]

Awesome! thanks for the info guys, after looking through parts this is gonna get expensive!!!! As experienced individuals, can I achieve my goal in steps? For instance can I achieve a purple blade and momentary switch without adding sound yet? and could I use the 7.4 in a building over time setup?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Welcome to the Forums. Generally, you can build a saber in stages, however, without careful planning, you will inevitably waste some money in extra shipping expenses, resistors, and other small things.

[Hellgeist]

Welcome to the Forums. Generally, you can build a saber in stages, however, without careful planning, you will inevitably waste some money in extra shipping expenses, resistors, and other small things.

Welcome! I'm new too, jumped in to build first saber, and did exactly as described above. 'Working as you go' is fun, but there's shipping each time, and worse yet, multiple WAITING. If you don't like waiting, wait till you make yourself wait several times

Everything you could possibly need to know is in these forums, but generally, there are two kinds of soundboard: ones salvaged from toys and replicas, and the ones made specifically for custom sabers. ie: the Petit Crouton. Main difference is that the custom boards allow you to upload custom sound sets (sound fonts), and more features like saber color change.

[setelf3of5]

Welcome to the forums