Saber Forum

Hey folks,

I'm very probably going to get the Dark Shock when it comes out with an RGB option. That's going to be up around $260+ and I simply can't add sound for another $150. Wish I could, just absolutely can not. I'm not sure if it's kosher to ask this here since it's Ultra's forums, but I've seen Caine's Luke saber posted and it's obviously not Ultra's product, so, here goes: Are there other custom options elsewhere that could take that Shock and add sounds to it? I don't give a flipping hoot about getting Lucas his cut (any brand allegiance I had with him died with Greedo's itchy trigger finger), so it wouldn't matter in the slightest to me if the sounds weren't "official". If it schnicks in and out, hums and clashes a bit I'd be happy. Obviously, this mod would have to fit in the Shock and come in enough under $150 to make it worth the trouble.

Any advice?

Of course, if Ultra has an econo Hasbro sound board option by the time the RGB Shock comes out I'll tip the project to them. They deserve it. Well, wait, my son has already started bugging me like we're on a road trip asking whether or not his LE Initiate will be here soon. So maybe they deserve my head ache too.

"Will it be here today Dad?"
"No son. We just ordered last night."
"Where are they shipping it from?"
"I'm not sure son. It'll get here as soon as they can."
"Will it be here tomorrow Dad?"
"No son. Hopefully pretty soon though. I'm excited too."
"What about Friday Dad? Do you think it'll be here by Friday?"
"I don't think so buddy. They ship UPS and UPS is the Dark Side."
"Think it will be here next week?"

Thanks a bunch... Ultra Sabers. If this question rubs you the wrong way Ultra, I totally understand. Just kill it. But, take it as a strong vote of encouragement to get an econo sound option on board! ;-) You guys rock. I should probably just set my business account to tithe you guys 10% every time I make a sale. It'll be easier for all concerned.

There is another sound option, it's called Petite Crouton and the board itself is $125, not including installation.  The battery pack/speaker combo is a $20 part in itself, so a PC wouldn't be a cheaper option.

I can probably offer the Econo-board solution on a case-by-case basis for $75, half the normal cost, but I need to test it with an RGB setup. 

I'll get on that today and will report back.

You're killing me with good customer service.

The thought of Ultra offering Econo-board installation is awesome! An affordable sound option for the poor people who are all thumbs with electronics! Hurray! ;D Again, US amazes me.

*Raises hand and jumps excitedly*I'm one of those!  :D

It's getting absolutely freakish how similar we are... XD Lucky me though, my Pop used to work in Electronics so whenever he gets to Orvac for the parts, I'll have sound in my Prophecy.  ;D 'Course, I shoulda been smart like this guy and just asked Ultra in the first place... lol

I want to maximize my information here because I've got a pile of nerd money burning itself out of my pants (go go bartertown super trade) and I want to plan some purchases. Some of it has to go to a foosball table, some to a pinball machine, and now some has to go to a flipping... LIGHTSABER.

Bong!

Anyway, from the above, and I want to stress that I fully understand I have not received a commitment from Ultra for any of this, what we are talking about is the feasibility of an econo sound option only in the wider diameter hilts, like the Bane and Shock, correct? This is a different, harder to answer, question on things like the Aeon and Prophecy. Am I on target here?

Thanks man.

Actually, the Prophecy is MHS compatible(the pommel at least) so an eco sound option would apply.

That'd be awesome. The nickel prophecy might be my favorite hilt here. But I'm puzzled then as to why no sound option at all is offered for it from Ultrasabers.

It really is. It's starting to scare me! :-[

 The prophecy was not to designed for sound. But the hasbro board is so compact, it might be doable.

You are utterly ruining the chances other companies have of impressing me with their customer service.

Should I contact you personally from here on out regarding what seems to be, however sought after by a sizable chunk of your demographic, a sort of custom job? I guess I don't really mind being your guinea pig as long as I'm fed a steady diet of food pellets. One of those little push buttons that injects me with some sort of designer test drug would be OK too.

A cheaper sound option would be awesome. I was floored the first time I saw the sound option for a saber and saw ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY US AMERICAN DOLLARS for a sound board and a speaker, and thinking why the hell is it so expensive.

And I still don't know why it's so expensive :/ but life goes on.

Still, with the Shock LEs soon coming in RGB that puts my saber upwards of $400 now, and if I could shave some of that maybe I could get a Shock LE AND a grab bag saber as well(I really wanna try the grab bag and see what I get ^^)

@Raze: No kidding!

@Ultra: I've heard others have done it aftermarket (which is why I started my attempt), so it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be doable. :)

@navajas: LOL Put me down for one of those push buttons too!

I don't normally like to break down pricing, but in this case I'll make an exception since it's a valid concern. 

The normal sound option is expensive because the board comes out of a brand new $110 Force FX Replica. Some FX's cost more, some less, but $110 is the average cost after shipping.  The speaker/battery pack combo is a $20 part.  We don't make it, we have to buy it like everyone else.  So we're at $130 in parts.  There's labor involved in taking the FX apart to get to the board, and then there's the installation itself which takes more time.  At this point we're losing money, but we can recoup a little by turning the now empty FX hilt into a Stunt and selling it later.

There are other incidentals which further cost us when we make sabers with sound, like warranty replacements of the FX board should it fail.

When all is said and done, we're lucky to break even with the sound option.  But, yall want sound and offering the sound option helps sell the sabers, so we continue to provide the service.  If we could make it cost less, we certainly would.

oohhh, so is that where sabers like the stunt anakin are coming from? The remains of cannibalized sabers to build new ones? I thought you guys already had a line on soundboards(and pretty much everything else :P)

This is pretty much exactly what I had figured. I want to be clear from a personal standpoint that at no time did I complain about the cost involved, I'm just unable to make it happen. Sounds to me your margins might be better on the economy options anyway. Well, I guess depending on how well those hollowed out Master Replicas sell.

I eagerly await news of how your testing / prototyping goes!

Thanks again!

That's basically what I figured as well. It's really a very reasonable price for everything that goes into the option, it's just that for alot of people... one of the best things about shopping here is the sabers like the Initiate and Standard Issue that can be purchased for a 2 digit sum. A quality saber, without breaking the bank is a WONDERFUL thing that Ultra's given us! :) I have to say I'm really stoked at the possibility of a cheap sound option coming to the line (especially given my love of hilts like the Prophecy! *strokes hilt lovingly* what? lol) as well as seeing that Stunt Anakin! US really is the best in the business.

The Eco-Board stood up to my initial testing, but there are some things to know:

• Sound quality is actually very good.  I'd say it's on par with the Force FX line.
• It's not as loud as a Force FX board.
• Motion sensing is adequate. Impact detection is excellent.
• It flashes.  Like the toy, it flashes on ignition, impact, and shut down.  Some may like the effect, some might not. It's the only thing that reveals that the saber has an Eco-Board in it.
• Momentary switch must be used and the board does not have Accidental Shutdown Protection.  Bumping the switch will turn the saber off, but there are ways to help prevent this.
• It will work in an RGB setup just fine.

I went ahead and ordered enough parts to do several more installs.  I'll make some videos and if it's something yall still want, we will likely be able to accommodate.

Stunt Anakin is here, BTW:

http://www.ultrasabers.com/Luke_ANH_p/snt-as-rots.htm (http://www.ultrasabers.com/Luke_ANH_p/snt-as-rots.htm)

If I was 15 years younger, female and single I'd marry you. Instead I'll just start buying more things from you.

Can't wait to see the builds. I really, honestly, think this will be a good business option for you guys. By the way, my son's LE Initiate has already been tagged by UPS. Thanks for the fast service. I haven't told him though, I'm still on the "Oh, two or three weeks bud, sorry." angle. When it shows up a week from now I'll be enshrined in the coolest Dad ever museum.

That's great news! I would put sound in my hilts if it only cost 50 bucks more. I refuse to pay 150 to have sound installed.  Not to say that that's unreasonable, it's just that having sound in my saber is honestly not THAT important to me. But if the Eco board is as good as you say Ultra, and it's like 50-70 bucks, that I'd be more willing to pay.

For what it's worth as you figure out pricing, Saber Forge offers this econo sound upgrade for $65. They apparently do not have a full sound option.

Timestamp says you said you'd try it at about 8 o'clock last night and you told us it worked today at about noon. Damn you work fast :P

If it weren't for that ANNOYING flicker i would do it in a heart beat but... I hate that flicker lol

The flicker doesn't bother me. Although I could do with out it. I think maybe Ultra should hold off until those new Ultimate FX sabers come out. They only cost $35 so it would be cheaper than the FX option, and those don't have the flicker. In fact those MAY be the FX boards. Either that or they're just eco boards without the flicker.

Just my 2 cents.

If that was the case that would be awesome.

Oh, hell, yeah. Hadn't heard about those things. My guess is same board, maybe cheaper speaker? Didn't sound very good in the demo. Good news. I'm not waiting five months for my saber though. :(

I saw these mentioned earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYQ9UUlcLn0#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYQ9UUlcLn0#ws)

Looks considerably cheaper, no econ. flicker, sounds nice. I dunno. Just my two cents.

Wow, you and Darth Raze have remarkably similar $.02 pieces!

We apparently both use Sith currency...

Wow, I hope we're all talking about the same thing. I just watched that (really sweet) custom job on the Prophecy for Novastar. Man alive, that's not the sound board I'm talking about. I think everyone here knows that, just making sure.

That sound board is from the GOD AWFUL spring loaded jobs, not the cheaper (100x better) self extendo ones. They are very different. The spring loaded ones are much loader, but, that's NOT a good thing here! :) My son got one of those for Christmas and has demanded no one ever turn it on ever again. It's too obnoxious for a five year old. Ha!

Anyway, good to know you can cram stuff up the hilt though. Would the recharge port be necessary for what we're talking about here?

When someone says "eco" sound board they're referring to the boards out of the rotoscope toys from Wal-Mart/Target/Toys R Us/K Mart or wherever you buy toys from. Which are the ones I believe you're talking about. Though I'm not sure what you mean by "self extendo ones."
Aside from the yet to be released Ultimate FX sabers in the video on the previous page, I'm only aware of 3 types of sabers made by Hasbro, the $10 no light or sound rotoscope style sabers, the aforementioned rotoscope ones with light and sound, and the Force FX replica line.

To be fair, the eco boards sound much different in a custom saber. The reason for this is, it's not the sound board itself that sounds bad, it's actually the cheap crappy speaker they use in those that causes it to sound bad. Most people putting those in say, an Ultra Saber, replace that with a better one. It's the same as your car stereo. Your stock speakers get the job done, but replacing them with a set of after market ones, even a lower end set, will dramatically improve sound quality.

I know the different types of boards out there.  The board in the Prophecy I just built is from an obscure Chinese toy that costs less than 2 bucks.  It is not from a Hasbro saber.  A budget is a budget, and that Prophecy was stretching it. 

A recharge port is required for a sound install in a Prophecy or Initiate, but not in a saber we normally offer sound in.

The saber I built for my niece Lauren uses the 2010 Clone Wars Eco-Board, and it sounds good as you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAT-CDiZ9l4# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAT-CDiZ9l4#)

Quite a difference, but again, the Prophecy was built for a small child who will be more than happy with that saber.

There's four. There is a line, much like the more popular econo sabers (we have three), but with horrid sound. Pretty much exactly like that Prophecy, so much so as I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same thing. Unlike the econo line, which has, as has been said in the thread, pretty darn good effects only hampered by a cheap speaker and flicker, the blade of this series goes all the way into the hilt and shoots out under spring tension. They have, obviously, MASSIVE hilts. You do not have to extend it yourself. You pull down on a switch and the thing shoots out. That part of the toy is actually pretty cool. It's just every single OTHER facet that's pretty bad.

It's called the "Force Action" saber. Seriously, we know our toy sabers here. We've got zillions. When I think of the money spent in this house on toy sabers before I knew places like this exist? /shudder

Price range goes; opaque plastics $10; the electronic with the, painfully bad, DVD at $20; the Force Action spring loads at $40+, then the Force FX we all know. Both the $20 and $40 ones have the flicker.

Strangely enough though, the order of sound quality goes: Force FX at $100, "Electronic" at $20, Opaque at $10 and finally the Force Action at $40+. I imagine the Ultimate line will cut out the the other two.

We are certainly not talking about the same boards, then.  The Eco-Board being used by most saber smiths these days come from this saber:

(http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/3641/obiwanhasbroeco.jpg)

NOT this one:

(http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/9430/starwarsclonewarsforcea.jpg)

Thanks for clearing that up Ultra. He/she was starting to confuse me.

No, we're on the same page. My post was clarifying that, because the springloads and the normal econo's sound very different. The econos, the one people typically mod, sound fine, the springloads, sound very different, like the Prophecy in the video. Since the first video of a saber with a non-FX board I heard was the custom Prophecy, I was worried we were talking about different boards. We're not.

Then Raze came in and said there was no forth. I tried to clarify that and apparently confused things.

We have pretty much all been all on the same page. I've just never seen those spring loaded sabers before, but then again I grew out of toy sabers years ago.

As far as confusing things goes, it happens.

I've managed to dissect an econo-obi wan lightsaber, with the electronics (mostly - one wire got cut through, but nothing a soldering iron can't fix) intact.

Do you guys reckon there's enough space in a war glaive to fit in a whole extra circuit? - Separate power pack included, or should I wire this up in parallel to the existing electronics?

(I'm liking the idea of having the econo-LEDs as accents shining through the pommel speaker cutouts.)

Oohhhhh.....wait, what's the difference? I had one of the bottom ones, ripped it apart and still have the board and LED and all that jazz, but what's the top one have that the bottom one doesn't?

I'd go get one just to rip it apart, but I just don't have the money right now  :-\

Hey guys! Just joined on the forum and I'm about to buy my first saber and I just want to say that the level of service I've seen from ultra in these three pages far exceeds anything I would expect from other sabersmiths and is the reason I will be buying from you guys from now on! I look forward to our future business:):)

What sabers can fit the eco board that you offer ultra because my friend plans on buying a saber and wants to go the eco route?

Any saber that can fit the premium sound option can fit the econo-sound option. The Prophecy can as well, but, with not without extra customizations. You'd be best off talking to Ultra Sabers directly than on the forums methinks.

The reason Im asking on this thread is so that when another person has the same question they can search the forums and find the answers here on this thread, and I know the sabers that offer the fx sound can fit an eco board Im wondering which sabers that can fit the eco other than the prophecy, like maybe the liberator or SI etc etc. I think someone on the forums even has sound in a Initiate, think their name is youseekyoda.

Right, sure. People have done it to the smaller hilts, but, if you're looking for Ultra Sabers to do it (who need to clear a profit), my answer above is where you stand. I've had a fairly lengthy conversation with Alex along these lines. At this point in time it's either a Prophecy hilt or "bigger" or a DIY.

Prophecy or bigger? I've yet to handle an ultrasaber yet, my only one is a force FX construction kit converted by US, but I had plans in mind to get a Standard Issue down the road and install a soundcard myself. Will that not be possible in the hilt due to the size or did I misinterpret that?

The point is, anything that is not MHS compatible will be a DIY. It can be done, as has been mentioned a few times, and there are plenty of examples. I'm not comfortable speaking for Alex and Ultra Sabers, which is why I recommended you contact them directly. As I understand it, any hilt that can not take an MHS pommel can not have sound (econo or otherwise) added by them at reasonable profit. That is a far cry from saying it "can't be done", but, that doesn't mean it makes business sense for them to offer it as an option.

Sound (econo or otherwise) in smaller hilts? Yes, however, Do It Yourself! (youseekyoda crammed it into an Initiate for heaven's sale. He also went through three sound cards, had to drill holes in his pommel, etc...)

Sound (econo or otherwise) in MHS compatible hilts? Yes. Contact them directly.

Ah, good to know. I haven't held or seen a SI saber personally, so I was unsure of the diameter of the hilt. I had to wonder.

Oh shoot, I never read this fully. To my ears, and those of my household, the spring loaded Obi Wan light saber is the aural equivalent of water boarding. In addition, the motion sensor broke almost immediately. Even if you don't have the money now, my advice would be to wait until you do. I shudder to think of that board in a quality item like an Ultra Saber. But, hell, maybe you think it sound's fine. Do what you like!

Oh god no. The sound on that thing is so bad that I removed the batteries and used it as a stunt saber. But it's cheap enough to use as a learning tool since I am literally JUST getting started learning to solder. But the sabers look so similar, and I've never gotten one of the other sabers that weren't the spring-loaded ones, so I didn't know if they had different boards.

I would absolutely love an Eco-Board saber. I actually prefer the flash effect. I'd definitely order one (a shock, catalyst, or arbiter) right now, if you had it available.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if a eco-board would fit in the Redemption hilt?

As I understand it:

Fit? Yes. See the multitude of posts regarding putting econo-boards in US (non-MHS) diameter hilts. DIY. If you're looking for US to do it for you at custom costs: No. Too expensive / time consuming to be profitable. Not sure how many other ways there is to say this.

Can't wait till those Ultimate FX sabers come out ! Ill probably get one of each just to ripp em apart, and salvage the sound :D I feel kinda bad to open up my Anakin ROTS FX since it's (still) in perfect working condition.

I was hoping to start my project of putting sound in one or both of my halfs of the Phantasm i ordered this week \o/

If that could be done it would be just awesome.

One thing tho, i havent been able to find on forums:

I know all Ultrasabers are durable, and made to high specs and all that, but what about ultrasabers with sound boards in them (no matter the quality).  Are the extra exectronics durable too ? Since they were salvaged from a Hasbro FX that is NOT intended to drom from your hands (lol :D)

How do they perform (durability wise) in dueling sabers ? I have no dueling expiriance, other than extreme light sparing with a dude that allso had a FX, but was wondering if they break up after a cupple of normal hits from sparing, or are they durable like the hilts and blades themselfs ? How does US make sure they dont break up, since their sabers, unklike the FX series, are ment to actualy be usable :D

Any feedback from you guys with sound in yours sabers would be great !

Thanks alot

Anyone broke their soundboard from dueling ? Any issues at all ?

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the explanation and break-down of the sound option costs! I'd suspected as much, but seeing it in black-and white drives it home!

I believe a eco sound option would be a perfect way to get people to click on the Add sound option. I have seen Hasbro for about $65.00 but that is just the part. I can;t wait to see what happenes  ;D