Neon String - not what you think!

[dtsamples]

Has anyone seen this?

http://www.neonstring.com

I want to line my strap with this stuff! Only problem is the website indicates that the driver emits a high frequency sound that will be picked up by other electronic devices in close proximity. I wonder how close is too close?

Anyone messed around with this stuff before?

[ShredderMaximus]

Thats pretty cool, I could imagine some pretty epic uses for that stuff...

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Find any Neon-light transformer and try it out.

From the minimal experience that I have with neon-light transformers is that they're a total PITA.

Regards
Sam

[NeonString]

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.

Find any Neon-light transformer and try it out.

From the minimal experience that I have with neon-light transformers is that they're a total PITA.

Regards
Sam

"Neon string" is just a descriptive way to describe EL wire, aka electroluminescent wire. Neon lights use electricity to excite neon gas, which takes a lot of juice. EL wire is completely different, and just takes a little electricity to excite a phosphorous-coated wire and make it light up.

So it doesn't involve an actual neon light transformer, but the EL wire drivers have to create high-frequency alternating current, and yes, you can hear it. It is louder on some drivers than on others. And it can bleed over into musical equipment. Unfortunately, there are so many variables, it is nearly impossible to tell if a given setup will suffer from bleedover or not, without trying it.

In this video, when I get close to a 5-channel sequencer, you can hear the sound it produces:

http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/25483180

-Eric

P.S. I may forget to log back in on here but I can be reached on the website, where it says "Contact Us" if anyone has EL wire questions.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Thanks for the explanation and correction Eric.

And welcome to Talkbass.

I was in a hurry, so I didn't take a look at Your website. For an engineer, the misunderstanding based only on the web site name was perhaps an understandable one though.

EL is something I've been facinated about for a very long time and if my friend hadn't sold his '60 Chrysler 300 Golden Lion back in the day, I would've repaired (=replaced) the EL illuminated gauge panels for him. The poor availability of the kits in our country was the only thing that did hold us back.

I have to take a closer look at Your site when I have time.

Regards
Sam