Custom Hardware

tone generators, pedals, circuits and fun noise manipulation devices

Custom Hardware, products

The Boom Case Store

By Dave on January 1st, 2012

I’m warming up to these hand made, custom order ‘stereos’ dubbed “Boom Cases”.  Get it?  Suitcase + Bass = ‘Boom Case’.  I’ve posted a couple of my favorites along with a couple of the more preposterous vanity shots.  Seriously though I can’t figure out if I love these or hate them.  As long as I never see these in the hands of roaming gangs of suburban youth in malls across america I think I love them.  From the website:

The BoomCase is a Self Powered, Portable Suitcase Stereo system that works with your iPod/iPhone or any device with a headphone jack. The BoomCase will last 10+ hours on a single charge (Charger Included). In addition to running on batteries, The BoomCase can also be plugged in when the party goes inside. To save on weight, you can opt for a plug-in only version.

Mighty Mini Gator

In the WTF category…
Spruce Goose

The Ripper

Custom Hardware, People

Vinnui’s DIY Modulation Bus

By Dave on December 24th, 2011

Vinnui has a concise site detailing the build of his modular.  He has put together some sharp looking modules and although he comments his wiring is a mess I think it looks exactly the way it should… made by hand, at home, with a soldering iron and a lot of patience.

Vinnui - YuSynth Dual VCO

It looks like it mostly consists of YuSynth modules though he also has a pretty cool idea for his own variation on the Moog Voyager’s modulation bus.  His expansion on the idea of a modulation bus is comprehensive and has about as many patching options as you could fit before it gets confusing or inconvenient compared to more traditional patch cables.  I could see something like this being very useful when you need to quickly dial something up without a handful of patch cables.

Vinnui - Modulation Bus

The layout consists of two buses, each sporting 12 possible sources, 12 destinations, and 12 shapers.  That’s a total of 1,728 patching combinations, per bus, with only the quick turn of three dials.  Purists may not like the rotary switch patching of modulators but I think its a brilliantly simple way to manage a large number of patching capabilities in an easy to remember/recall format.

amp - mixer, Custom Hardware

Groovewatt Tube RIAA Phono Preamp

By Dave on December 24th, 2011

I love the simplicity and classic styling of this DIY vacuum-tube, RIAA EQ curve, phono pre-amp. Bruce Heran via the DIY Audio Projects forums offers up exceptional build notes, pictures, and schematics of the build here. Admittedly I don’t know a thing about valve pre-amps and amps so I can only really comment on how much I like how it looks.


DIY Audio Projects – Hi-Fi Blog for DIY Audiophiles: Groovewatt Tube RIAA Phono Preamp.

products, Resources, Tone Generators

Workshop Osc Machine (W.O.M.)

By Dave on December 24th, 2011

An excellent thread detailing a build of the ‘Workshop Oscillator Machine’ (WOM) via Bugbrand. The WOM is a tone generator/oscillator designed around an NXP Hex Inverter and an NXP Hex Schmitt Trigger. What i particularly like about this kit is that it’s designed with the intent of usage in workshop and educational events and includes all required parts. Although i have not personally built this kit, I suspect by looking at it that it’s a nice balance between ease of build and functionality. And if you were so inclined Bugbrand includes the schematic on their site so you could always wire one up on your own, sans pcb, and see what happens.

WOM - Bugbrand

Custom Hardware

Synovatron’s A-100 Modular in a Halford Tool Case

By Dave on December 24th, 2011

A Doepfer A-100 modular synth fashioned in a customized Halfords Engineers Tool Case. Awesome work by Synovatron.
Synovatron's A100 in Halford Tool Case

Tone’s Analog Synthesizer Projects and Products: Modular in a tool case.

Custom Hardware

Mad Monkey

By Dave on December 24th, 2011

Spotted this excellent homemade device crafted inside a cardboard box on electro-music

The Mad Monkey

Custom Hardware

DIY Guitar Pickup Winder

By Dave on September 4th, 2011

Pete Mills just blew my mind. It looks like Pete’s a student in Ann Arbor Michigan studying what I can only guess is engineering based on his post about a DIY guitar pickup winder he’s built with, you know, some old stuff lying around the shop and a sewing machine.

Pete’s Blog: Guitar Pickup Winder.

Before proceeding I need to make a side-comment that I can relate to labeling everything in the workshop no matter how unnecessary.  I like the bin labeled “calculators”.

Moving on, Pete offers some images of the build process that are equally impressive as they are confusing…

but then he delivers the Fatality with casual comments like this:

Gaussmeter:

I think it will be useful to know the relative Gauss strength of the pickup pole pieces and knowing the polarity, north or south, will be paramount to success. Many websites on pickup making suggest using a polarity tester for determining polarity but, using a continuous, ratiometric hall effect sensor I can measure the magnetic flux density of the pickup pole pieces at 1.3mV/G as well as the polarity. This is an uncalibrated value, but it is sufficient for my purposes. The sensor I used is an Allegro A1302 hall effect sensor. In the gaussmeter mode, peak gauss values are recorded and instantaneous values are reported.

 

Say what? Then I look at this picture and I’m completely lost….

And because that’s not quite awesome enough he throws in a stroboscopic tuner for fun…

f_in: A! Pete Mills my friend, you win. I personally want to see phase two of this project where you wind the first ever “Pentabucker” and rock that shit through your next assignment… the guitar amp from Back to the Future.

Custom Hardware, Effects

Tinydazzler

By Dave on August 5th, 2011

Acording to this site site what we have here is ‘A. Magic Pulsewave. Tiny Dazzler – Radstyle.’ Radstyle indeed. I think it needs about a thousand animated gifs to kick it up a notch. Eitherway, what’s pretty cool is this psychedelic and aptly named “Mega Verb“

Controller, Custom Hardware

Livid Instruments’ Code Station Prototype

By Dave on August 5th, 2011

Many times when I look at someones work I think of it in terms of ‘could I do that?’. For example, if my system were a scale from 1 to 10 a 1 would be ‘I can definitely do that’ and a 10 would be ‘I probably can’t do that without going back to school for 6 years, lots of practice, and a butt-load of cash’.

Livid Instruments’ photo stream on Flickr highlights one of their most recent projects – the Code Station Prototype. This is definitely one of those times I’d give this a 10 on my ‘Can I do that scale’. I’m looking forward to seeing this i production.

Custom Hardware, Effects, Modifications, People, Tone Generators

Cavan Fyans (and his tape box)

By Dave on August 5th, 2011

Cavan Fyans at the time of writing this is a PhD student at the Sonic Arts Research Centre. His personal site along with detailing his extensive academic work also outlines a number of his DIY electronic instruments. My favorite is the “Tape Box 2” which as the name suggests is an updated version of “Tape Box 1″. It’s perfectly simple, does what it should, and doesn’t distract with excessive controls, knobs, and gimmickry. I also have to give him a thumbs-up on his use of high quality pictures documenting his work online. Nothing makes me more disappointed than a thumbnail that leads to a picture of… a thumbnail.