Source for plate reverb driver

[rancho_relaxo]

Hey gang, I've got a plate, a frame, and a damping plate. Now I need the driver itself. All roads seem to lead to Jim Cunningham at JCC & Associates / www.platereverb.com. However, while the website is still up, it doesn't seem they supply plate parts and electronics any more (my email bounces back from them). Any suggestions for obtaining a similar driver? Brand name or model number? Related question: does the driver actually get attached to the plate and move the plate, or is it simply very near the plate? Thanks!

[Matt C.]

i think the most popular option is the Vidsonix Ghost Transducer.
http://www.vidsonix.com/vidsonixnew/info_vxgh72.htm

available plenty of places online, including ebay.

I think it gets mounted so that it's actually touching the plate, but I don't remember for sure. there's instructions on the website.

[The Scum]

A second vote for the Ghost. $20 on Ebay.

Unscrewed the "mushroom" thingy because it rattled & bussed on the plate, and had a machinist friend make me a spike that screwed in instead. The tip of the spike touches the plate. The ghost sits on a little arm that extends from the frame, with foam isolating the driver from the arm, so it vibrates the plate, and not the frame.

Touching? You have to get the plate to vibrate...you could just point a speaker at it, but the direct driver seems to be a lot more effective.

The unintuitive trick: the damper doesn't touch. It constrains the air over the surface of the plate, and shortens the reverb that way. The closer you can get it without actually touching, the happier you'll be. Most of the range in in the 1/8" to 1/2" spacing.

There was a thingy called a Soundbug, a suction-cup/speaker with a battery powered amplifier...pretty lowfi in comparison to the Ghost, and I'm not a fan of battery powered anything.
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[dmp]

I have an ecoplate with a cunningham driver.
It has a piston like thing attached to the plate that sits in a driver that is mounted to the frame. The driver is basically a speaker coil acting on the piston thing.
I also have a monitor speaker setup about a foot or two from the plate to drive it. The two methods both sound good. Very different. But I don't think an external speaker works well for all plates.

[rhythm ranch]

http://www.platereverb.com/#
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[rancho_relaxo]

Thanks, all. I've got a ghost on order (what sold me was the part where they say it's useful for hot tubs and plate reverbs!) and a friend has an EMT 162 amp to sell me. Not a ton of information about these things (the amps themselves); any suggestions for what I should offer him?