Electric Guitar Audio on an Oscilloscope 

+Rob T Thanks Rob, I was an Instructor Pilot in the Air Force for 10 years of my 21 year military career and I have always enjoyed instructing. I am completely fascinated by tube amplifier electronics and hope to help others understand it. Tubes are just so cool.

the wave will be clipped in a clean sound you can see sine waves they use diode to clip out the voltage so its a sine wave but flat on top

@@EonLimpiado11 well, yes, I know that. But it'd be interesting to see exactly how it clips. Not to mention there are lots of varieties, like asymmetrical clipping, etc, it'd be cool to see, not to mention the difference between transistors, diode, and tube clipping.

Same here, I am curious!

if your going to do this id recommend using a singal generator or reamping a sine wave, its what im going to do once i save up for a decent scope. Otherwise the notes pass by and change so fast much of the signature your looking for will be loss, with a simple wave to start I find I get a better feel for the result. But also who knows maybe a sine wave is too clean im just learning atm.

Thanks Al

No, sorry, I'm not familiar with sound synthesis.

You would need a 1/4" Y cable (guitar cable with three 1/4 inch male jacks) to send the guitar signal to your amp and to the oscilloscope. For the entire band you would use your mixer's monitor jack to the oscilloscope.

Rob Robinette Clever, clever! Thank you very much!

Rob Robinette Hey, I cant seem to find some anywhere online? Do you know if any places sell it on the internet?

Found in UK - www.amazon.co.uk/6-35mm-Stereo-Jack-Insert-Cable/dp/B01CIFASXI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485586357&sr=8-1&keywords=1%2F4%22+Y+cable

It wouldn't hurt it at all.

***** Just a standard guitar cable that's been cut so I can connect the two wires to the oscilloscope probes.

@@robrobinette I know this question is five years too late and you may never see it, but does that mean that you aren't using an amp here? I've never "played" an electroacoustic guitar, but I guess that we hear the "acoustic part" (probably a poor choice of words) through a mic and "see" the "electric part" on the "scope"?

Exactly what I was wondering! Could just be a microphone into the scope, but it would be nice (imperative) to know.

+Flylikechris Maybe you're seeing the voltage scale which is 50 mV/div. Actually, I saw around 250 mV for the low E.

Direct from guitar to oscope.

I don't know for sure but you probably could see how the waveform is distorted by the pickup magnet being too close to the string. An oscilloscope is mainly used in audio electronics to visualize, trace and measure the audio signal.

You could compare pickups, make adjustments, etc. Say you were going to change pickups but wanted the same output level. You could measure the original pickups, then put in the new "pups" and adjust their height until you match the original pickups' amplitude on the scope.

Just cut a guitar cable. Connect the oscilloscope ground probe to the shield and the other probe to the center wire.

@@robrobinette Or just clip the ground to the sleeve and the probe to the tip. Secure with electrical tape if needed.

Yes, the oscilloscope probe is connected to the Stratocaster's output cable with no amplification.

Yes, hotter pickups generate higher voltage and there is a difference between pickups' frequency response.

Alligators bite the other end of the cable. Or you can tape it up.

Yes, that is the norm.

The scope probe was connected to the electric guitar cable direct from the guitar, no amp involved.

@@robrobinette Thanks. And thanks for all that amazing tube amp information you have online. It answered a few nagging questions I've had for years. Very impressive.

Oscilloscope doesn't manipulate the input signal, it's purely for viewing and measuring purposes.

@@al3633 What analog device can be used to manipulate sound frequency? Let's say music: from 442 hz to 150 hz? It's part of an experiment...

@@jimmerhardy slowing down a vinyl record or old cassette would be an example

@@al3633 Is there a device that could precisely bring it down to a certain frequency? If not, I'll wing, but I'd like to be realistic. And does a sound played at an odd lower frequency simply sound slower? Thanks.

@@jimmerhardy if we're just talking about 1 note: middle C for example, which is 262Hz. If I lowered that frequency it would simply sound lower like a lower note, not a slower note. If we're talking about music, which is a combination of notes (multiple sound frequencies, different instruments) and rhythm (beat frequencies) and we wanted to decrease the frequency of the overall music, then both the note and the beat frequencies would decrease, all the notes would sound lower and all the beats would sound slower.

Electric acoustic. A pure electric would look almost identical. I used this guitar so you could hear the notes as well as see them.

". . .electric guitar connected directly to an oscilloscope." That's pretty much it. The oscilloscope probe was connected to a guitar cable center wire and the oscilloscope ground was connected to the guitar cable shield.