Saber Forum

What all do I need to accomplish adding econo to my initiate?

Im gonna let Big Andy take this one... He has an amazing Qui - Gon ultimate FX econo sound tutorial somewhere on here.


I would PM him. that board is probably the best econo sound I have seen and will probably be your best bet.

I haven't watched it yet but its the third topic in the customizations area.

From my research on the tcss forum (they have great wiring diagrams too), you will need at least - the econo board, a pnp transistor, speaker, a momentary switch, vented pommel (or drill out yours)

If you are running 6V you should get a 5V regulator so you don't fry the board.
If you have a green/blue/silver led I would run it off a single Li-ion and then you won't need a regulator or resistors.
The transistor boosts the output of the board, from my understanding making roughly a pass through of the battery voltage, otherwise the boards output is very small.
Some people advise changing the clash and swing sensors for the tcss ones for better sensitivity

I agree with Darth, definitely pick up some clash and swing sensors.

Ive heard mixed stories of running the econo boards off just a single 3.7v though, quite a few had issues with brightness with the main LED.

Honestly, after using 7.4v Li - Ion 14500 stick packs for all my sabers, I would recommend them. It's a lot of power, but like Darth Vapour said, thats what the voltage regulator is there for.

decide what board u wanna get first as they are not all the same, if u choose the 35$ string blade hasbro u probably wont need to order any sensor it just depends on the mounting to get good swing and clash results. If going for the cheaper 25$ board u can solder on new sensors for better results, I just used a 25$ vader board it has three LED on the board and only puts out 2V to the LED so i had to put meter on it find where i could get the 3V needed to power LED and i had to solder to the neg on clash and pos to speaker, it powers up fine and shuts off the way it is supposed to. Also gives a faint flicker to the sound and good brightness,  I would recommend u get the 35$ qui gonn board it is the easiest to disassemble no need to add sensors, brightness works good without any modding, Andy already made a tutorial on it, also picking up new speaker works wonders

After watching all 4 of his videos I'm feeling fairly confident about adding a qui-gon board to my saber. I'm actually considering building my own saber from scratch now!

I did, it was a lot of fun!

It does seem like a right of passage :p

It has a Ultimate FX ani board in it. I will eventually get a Obsidian set up for it.
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g432/kamakazy101/183c0efd.jpg)

Very smexy, what body parts did you use?

If you are planning on adding sound to an initiate V3 then good luck to you sir, if it's a initiate V2 then it can't be done. I have done it once for a friends V3 and will never do an initiate again. One of the main things that I needed was an extension from tcss to make the hilt longer so I could even fit the sound card into the saber. There is good reason why ultra says that in order for them to install obsidian sound into a initiate you have to get the Li-lon setup. It takes a master of the ancient art of cram-fu. It can be done but I just wanted to let you know that it is a challenge, especially if you are using the traditional battery/speaker combo.

Well I may look into another hilt if that is the case.  Do you know if it is possible to order unassembled hilts from ultra? With all the normal electronics they regularly come with?

I have heard of it being done but I would email deep at [email protected] just to make sure.

I already sent him an email, just seeing if any forum members knew the answer before he gets back to me so I can pick a hilt up soon.  I'm kinda leaning towards a Belli now..

Also, does your tutorial for adding a qui gon board work with a SY led?

Never say never. It is possible to add a sound board to a v2 initiate http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=773.0 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=773.0) like others have said it all depends on the board.

Would definitely be a challenge though!

That it would and I sure as heck wouldn't attempt to do it, but just the fact that its possible makes me respect those that have tried and succeeded in the art of cram fu.  :D

I don't know if I will or not :p, depends on Emory's response to my email.

In response to the SY question, it should work with any colour, you just have to get the voltage/current output correct.

I used 7"fluted Standerd hilt, 3" fluted double female,double male coupler with slots, style9 blade holder, mps style 8 pommel , mps insert style 6.
Future plans are Obsidian sound with Li-Ion set up and a Buckpuk, I'll need to replace the hilt section with one from UltraSabers so I can use MLS units. Currently it has UltraSabers regular led unit installed .

Dadgomn Boss. I honestly believed that it couldn't be done. I will have to add this to the bottom of my list of projects to try at some time in the future.

He did muff up two boards before he got it, but it's been done :p

I have added sound on and initiate V2, I used the 25$ hasbro mace board its a little bigger than a quarter, used one 18650 single li-ion cell 3.7V 2600mah. I hotglued all the solderpads to prevent breakage  and stuffed the battery all the way up to the switch, placed board underneath it and had a JST connector at the bottom of board for quick charging and of course the speaker under JST connector. speaker needs pulled out when charging on setup i did, so i hot glued solder pads on it as well to prevent breakage. I might have been able to add recharge port but it was fast build and just didnt do it. It wasnt even that hard just a little bit of tinkering and u have to be gentle with hasbro boards till they are firmly secured to prevent the cheap wires from breaking.