My synth reborn!

Any of you who have seen my synth know what a pain in the ass the layout is/was.

Those stupid rolling racks which I have outgrown have modules right down near the floor - makes it so hard to use them. Plus they take up way too much space, are too far apart, are hard to move, and are ugly as hell. I get so jealous when I see someone with wooden housings for their modulars, I think that wood and modulars complement each other so well.

Anyway, I couldn't find anything available to solve my problem at all, so I took matters into my own hands. I know nothing at all about woodwork, but I put in some effort and took my time, and things worked out far, far better than I had ever hoped they would. I solved all my problems, AND the entire project only cost me $40!

Here's a couple more pics for you, as always be sure to click for fullsize...





Finally, if you'd like to see the step-by-step process of making these, have a peek here at this forum thread where I documented the whole project.

Really, REALLY happy about this. My synth finally has the enclosure it deserves, and a layout that is fun and easy to work with. It's waaaaaay overdue.

DIY Blacet Modifications

Over at the forum there's a thread about all the different modifications that can be done to wring some cool extra functionality out of Blacet modules.

Yesterday, I added more comprehensive step-by-step information, along with photos of the process, for two of the mods - one which adds an AC/DC coupling selector to the Blacet VCO's FM input, and one which moves the 'range' DIP switch on the Micro LFO's circuit board to a front panel mounted switch. These are two of the easiest mods to perform, and great place for beginners to get started - and are both mods which add some very useful functionality to the module.

Check out the VCO's AC/DC FM Coupling Switch mod here

And peep the LFO Range Switch mod over here

This was prompted by some user requests, along with the fact that I've been promising to take photos and get the information up for over a year now. Sorry for the delay... one other cool reason that gave me a push to do this was that one of our forum users, BananaPlug, pointed me to information he had written up on mods for Blacet's Improbability Drive. BananaPlug gave me the OK to post his info at the forum, which was really cool of him - so I'll point you guys to that one as well...

BananaPlug's Improbability Drive Mods can be found here

Finally, be sure to have a peek at the general 'Blacet Modifications' thread as well, for summary info on a variety of other mods, as well as a place to get news when more mod info is added.

If anyone has questions about performing any of the mods, feel free to join up into the discussion at the forum. For beginners out there, this info doesn't qualify as a primer on soldering practises or anything like that - it's assumed you have the right tools, have a rough idea how to solder, and have some patience and common sense. None of us are to be held responsible if you destroy your modules! Have fun though, and be careful not to burn your fingertips ;)

The Great Destroyer

I received this AWESOME little box from Dwarfcraft Devices, and I can't really believe how much fun I'm having with it!

Named after the wonderful album by Low (who use at least one of these pedals....), and handbuilt by TheOneTrueAen, this thing is nuts. I don't really know what it's doing, except that it has two gain stages, neither of which really acts like a gain stage. One acts like a bitcrusher that bleeds clock signal, and the other acts like a perverted tone control. There's a master volume out (which is really handy), and a battery starve knob, which is really fun. Super cool little box.

Aen made a small run using these vintage water-transfer state decals. I was very happy to get Texas :) I think he may be out of the decals now, so no idea what he's using for graphics.