August 29, 2010 3:00 AM

Tim6 said: Can find all these on amazon.com now Any updates on kick pedal input for drums I have had no luck in finding this accessory. Does anybody know if it is just 2 poles in foot pedal input (short 2 together to simulate pedal) or is it more complex ??? Thanks Tim

I pulled it a part after looking at photos already on here :) thanks :)

It is a standard 3.2 mil stereo plug (3 pole) if you short the common pole to the left pole of the plug get kick drum sound if you short the common pole to the right pole of the plug you get a closed hi-hat sound. So just need a box with two momentary push buttons.

Keep you posted on how it goes :)

September 6, 2010 10:58 AM

Levi said: Any updates on that momentary switch for the drum set? I can already jam out with just my fingers, but it would be too smooth to have foot pedal access too.

Levi, I'll start working on a simple pedal that one can make an will post a DIY thread on the subject. This will be a somewhat cool project to do.

I'll let you all know when I post the thread here.

Jax

GWJax, To Hack and make mods on robots is a life style and comes natural and not by choice. If a robot has a screw to open it then it must be opened!

September 6, 2010 12:14 PM

By the by... saw Paper Jamz guitars in BigLots this week.
Kind of surprised to see them there so soon. That's usually the 2nd tier channel that typically gets product at the tail end of production.

ScottE -- collecting and building robots for 40 years - details in profile

September 7, 2010 8:41 AM

Hey ya here's what I did using a lead with a 3.5mm stereo plug on one end and a pair of RCA connectors on the other, then fitting a mating RCA connector to a box (500mm x 300mm x 70 mm). I then connected 2 heavy duty momentary push buttons in parallel across the right channel of the RCA socket(this gives you a double kick pedal). Next was a third push button in parallel with a guitar effects foot switch across the left channel of the RCA socket - the push button works just like a normal Hi Hat pedal and the foot switch enables you to "lock down" the HI Hats just like a conventional Hi Hat quick release clutch (for playing closed Hi Hats and double kick at same - ie, for playing heavy metal or "Blue Monday" by New Order). I dont even bother with the one onboard speaker as the unit sounds sooooo much better plugged into the hifi. Will send pictures once i have neatened up the box and slapped a coat of paint on it!
regards Tim.

September 7, 2010 7:41 PM

Tim6 said: Hey ya here's what I did using a lead with a 3.5mm stereo plug on one end and a pair of RCA connectors on the other, then fitting a mating RCA connector to a box (500mm x 300mm x 70 mm). I then connected 2 heavy duty momentary push buttons in parallel across the right channel of the RCA socket(this gives you a double kick pedal). Next was a third push button in parallel with a guitar effects foot switch across the left channel of the RCA socket - the push button works just like a normal Hi Hat pedal and the foot switch enables you to "lock down" the HI Hats just like a conventional Hi Hat quick release clutch (for playing closed Hi Hats and double kick at same - ie, for playing heavy metal or "Blue Monday" by New Order). I dont even bother with the one onboard speaker as the unit sounds sooooo much better plugged into the hifi. Will send pictures once i have neatened up the box and slapped a coat of paint on it! regards Tim.

Dude, I am ITCHING to see that!!! Cannot wait.

September 11, 2010 11:38 PM

By the by... part 2...

I did see the amps at BigLots this week. They were on a toy section shelf, not near the guitars, which were hanging on the toy section rear wall.

The guitars didn't interest me, but an Amp might be useful for giggles connected to my laptop at the office.

ScottE -- collecting and building robots for 40 years - details in profile

September 14, 2010 10:30 PM

so, after week 1 of "getting to know" the home made paper jamz "double kick/hi hat extension module" I found the heavy duty push buttons to be quite squeaky, clunky and slower to break the circuit than to make the circuit. By substituting them for industrial micro/limit switches (pizzato mv17-these are far more responsive) the unit becomes much more playable, time will tell if these switches can handle the punishment associated with being part of a real pretend drum kit. This switch has a 13mm diameter roller at the top of its plunger which should work well in conjunction with a basic foot board/pedal and thus giving the system an even more realistic feel/playability. The hi hat lock down switch works a treat but I found the "foot area" became too crowded with this extra switch in place (it was fitted as an after thought). As there is plenty of room inside the actual paper jamz unit I shall hard wire the switch in the front or side based on whichever is easiest to reach while playing. Stay tuned!
Tim.

December 28, 2010 2:40 PM

Hello All,

I bought a Paper Jamz Guitar, Amp, & Strap combo set for my 7 year old son for Christmas recently.

We're having a problem with the Amp, as the sound volume is extremely low when the guitar is plugged into it.

On the otherhand, when I plug my MP3 player into the Amp, the sound quality and volume loudness is fine.

Does anyone know how to adjust the Amp sound volume when the Guitar is plugged into it? We desparately want it louder!

Any helpful comments will be appreciated!

January 3, 2011 11:46 AM updated: January 3, 2011 11:48 AM

Go buy a REAL guitar. This thing is a joke. I can see a kid losing interest in this piece of garbage really fast and wanting to play a real guitar. Then you end up spending more money anyway. While it is true that Paper Jamz are just toys, even some toy guitars enable consumers to simulate "real" guitar playing (playing notes, fingering REAL chord shapes, etc.), even if they don't stay in tune too long. WowWee should have taken more time to develop this product to actually simulate real guitar playing, and maybe they would have a winner. Cap sensor technology has so much potential, but WowWee failed to really maximize it, settling instead to make a quick buck. Development costs would have been higher for sure, but sometimes you have to spend a few extra clams to get some positive output. Simply put, WowWee jumped on the "fake instrument" bandwagon that Guitar Hero made popular a wee bit too late. Even Rock Band 3's "fake guitar" controllers are apparently set up to mimic guitar strings and fret boards.

To quote a musician: go procreate with yourself.

Just because we're buying these doesn't mean that we can't play a real guitar, or that we can't afford a real guitar, or that we even bought this to use as a real guitar.

I got mine to hack. Quite frankly, the "song" features were really disappointing, but the freestyle mode lets you play it like it's a piano, or as if you are only playing one string on a real guitar. It's actually quite fun for me because I can't play guitar for real: I can only pick notes.

But I've already taken it apart and am documenting the schematics and such and don't even "play" with it the way WowWee expects half its end users to. LOL!

On the topic of disassembling, though, somebody needs to take pictures of the teardown precess, including which screws go where. When I put it back together, I was missing one screw in one place and yet I had seven left over. ???

- Jordan

January 3, 2011 1:20 PM

GWJax said:

Jordan Gray said: On the topic of disassembling, though, somebody needs to take pictures of the teardown precess, including which screws go where. When I put it back together, I was missing one screw in one place and yet I had seven left over. ??? - Jordan

Jordan, since you have already ripped it down why did you not take some photos durring this process? LOL You could have posted them here instead of someone else. I have already posted some ripdown photos but not showing where the screws go.. How far have you gotten with the schematics? are you going to post the final schetch? Also what type of hacks do you plan for this? Jax

So many questions!

First: I didn't take pictures because I could always tear it back apart and take pictures then. I have never ever had problems with forgetting which screws go where, so I'm really beating myself up right now. That's why I wish someone else could do it, because I can't figure out which screws go where....

I'm mostly documenting the schematics of the inputs, and I'm doing it in my head ntil I can get it figured out. Something is wrong, though, I'll take some pictures and upload them to show what I mean.

As far as posting the final sketch of the input mapping, I will definitely do it.

Lastly, I was expecting a different sort of multitouch interface, similar to a normal touchscreen, where it sees the entire thing as one area. The Parer Jamz, unfortunately, see a bunch of buttons, basically, and they are activated my electrical charges rather than pressure. Oh well.

January 22, 2011 2:42 PM updated: January 22, 2011 2:43 PM

sorry to chain reply.

You might notice, in the second picture, the ribbon cable. It just gets pressed up against the PCB's contacts. However, as I mentioned earlier, I have been working on the input schematics.

The first picture here shows how the ribbon cable connects to the PCB. It just moves up and to the right, no rotation necessary.

This second picture is the schematic showing which contacts are used by the sensors on the guitar borad.
Note: I only have this guitar, it may be different on each model. Sorry if you can't read the tiny labels, they say Strum, Strum, Mute, Vol., Mode, and Demo.

Notice that the contact on the far left is "unused". In debug mode it is fully functional, which raises the question: are all the chips physically the same, and just have different limiting software on them for each guitar? If so, maybe some guitars have an extra fret that is used by that last contact. If that's the case then it might be possible to gain access to every song from just one chip, but that's purely hypothetical.

Please also notice that the frets' contacts are in reverse order, so the "first" contact would be the extra one at the end of some guitars (theoretically). Having the contacts arranged in such a formation makes it easy to do this.

Debug mode is interesting. Think about overlaying the frets over the contatcts in the proper order, except it goes from the first contact through to the last one; the second-to-last one has a random beep that sounds like a generated tone (555 timer or something). All the other fret-contacts (in debug mode) produce individual notes, scaled from the left to the right, so it's obviously tested in debug mode before they attach the front (with the frets and cable) while at the factory. Either that or it's opened back up to be tested and then put back together, but I somehow doubt that.

Debug mode contains a note for each contact but each note is different, which is another thing that makes me think you could get that extra fret. (It's actually more fun to play the debug mode than the regular "freestyle mode" because at that point it's like a giant multitouch piano. :D

 - Jordan AKA Stryker