I've been hanging on to the catalog from
Maplin P. Jones and Associates for quite while, however no time is a bad time for a post about cheap parts from a US vendor in Florida. It is usually the case that a single supplier does not have all the best deals on everything. Fortunately for us their switches are very reasonably priced if purchased in
quantities of 100 for $32 US plus $8 shipping. Soldering stations are not bad either only
$15 for temp controlled. For those who are just starting in DIY electronics this
OP-Amp kit is highly recommended, simply replace the pot with a photo resistor and you have an instant optical theremin system with sine, square, and triangle waves for only $4.95 on a PCB that is ready to mount in a case of your choice.
I've been hanging on to the catalog from Maplin P. Jones and Associates for quite while, however no time is a bad time for a post about cheap parts from a US vendor in Florida. It is usually the case that a single supplier does not have all the best deals on everything. Fortunately for us their switches are very reasonably priced if purchased in quantities of 100 for $32 US plus $8 shipping. Soldering stations are not bad either only $15 for temp controlled. For those who are just starting in DIY electronics this OP-Amp kit is highly recommended, simply replace the pot with a photo resistor and you have an instant optical theremin system with sine, square, and triangle waves for only $4.95 on a PCB that is ready to mount in a case of your choice.
21 Comments:
At 3/09/2006 10:49:53 AM, indcutive said…
On a slightly sideways note, where is a good place to order some photo resistors? I'm waiting on a chunk of knobs and a ton of minitoggles, but I would like to mess with some photo resistors for sure. Radio shack out here doesn't carry them (or much of anything realy). I dont have a credit card, but most places are fine with checks or money orders. I'll work on getting one of these catalogs, but in general, do photo resistors differ much? It would be neat to get some that were larger, like dime size, only because they look neat on panels.
At 3/09/2006 12:29:33 PM, Master said…
Photo resistors do differ and some of the XLPC ones that you see in ebay are just huge, size of quarters! I think they have different light and dark resistances, some respond better in low light VS strong. I would ask radio shack to special order this pack for you. http://www.radioshack.com/sm-cds-photoresistorsassortment-of-5--pi-2062590.html
Its actualy not a bad deal. More info will be in a post very shortly
At 3/09/2006 01:35:07 PM, Anonymous said…
photoresistors are overrated unless you use them in conjunction with LEDS as vactrols.
At 3/09/2006 03:26:01 PM, Master said…
I would have to disagree, how else would you use light to control a timer IC besides using a resistor? Sure if you want to isolate circuits from each other then vactrols are good, but I usually use photoresistors in the same circuit and they work great instead of pots.
At 3/09/2006 06:06:21 PM, Anonymous said…
photo resistors
try the electronic goldmine
alltronics
all electronics
meci
these all sell photo resistors
At 3/09/2006 11:00:48 PM, Anonymous said…
Quote:I would have to disagree, how else would you use light to control a timer IC besides using a resistor?
Generally vactrols don't have the range great enough to warrant messing around with ambient light on photo theremins or the like UNLESS you specifically match one that has the right range. The only GOOD use a photocell to me was to advance a looping function I found on the Talking Teacher. A pushbutton was just too long and the photocell was just quick and "soft" enough that a wave of a finger would advance the phoneme loop. Also worked well on the speak models but I stopped bending before the "wave" of crappy bent items on ebay, well not all were crappy, just a majority.
At 3/09/2006 11:34:54 PM, goldenechos said…
"...but I stopped bending before the "wave" of crappy bent items on ebay, well not all were crappy, just a majority."
Thank god you got out when you did!
T
At 3/10/2006 07:54:44 AM, Anonymous said…
Goldenechos: well once in a blue moon you will see something innovative or original but for the most part you see the typical bends on the typical items. I've lost count of the times I've seen a Touch & Tell or a Talking Teacher on ebay that have just a pitch "down" mod when you can easily have it slow down and speed up. Then there's the "double" voicing mod that I discovered on the speaks & talking teacher that basically gives it two voices at the same time, one pitched lower than the other, gave some KILLER chorusing sounds, especially in loop mode. These finds aren't hard yet noone has found them, what gives?
The glory days was when one could sell a bent speak for $200 because only a select few knew how to do it but now you have everybody and their cousin flooding ebay causing prices and quality to degrade.
The real big reason why I stopped bending is because at a certain point you realize that everything sounds too similar. There's more rewarding moments designing effects pedals or synths.
At 3/10/2006 08:27:59 AM, Master said…
Well, yes the supply of bent devices has helped to bring the prices down. And it is true that there may be some lower quality gear available out there, but hey! thats free market for you. I used to take issue with copies of gear and same stuff everywhere sort, but now I'm immune to it, I never really check the Speak and Spells auctions anymore. The biggest issue I take is when people bid for stuff that they have no samples for, and just a vague description. That just maddens me.
But if you think you have such a great bending knowhow, please feel free to share it with everyone. Just email me the diagrams, etc.
At 3/10/2006 10:02:29 AM, goldenechos said…
"The real big reason why I stopped bending is because at a certain point you realize that everything sounds too similar."
Ok, that is a great reason to move on... It takes too much time and effort to build this stuff, you absolutely must be excited about what you are building.
"There's more rewarding moments designing effects pedals or synths."
Personally, I couldn't agree more.
T
At 3/10/2006 11:20:55 AM, Anonymous said…
master: I'll think about sharing my information. I'm just afraid to see what I've discovered found on some poorly bent item on ebay.
I'll grab my notebook and ponder after work.
At 3/10/2006 11:27:38 AM, Master said…
Changes are, some of those low-end benders will not even be able to understand your schematics or directions.
Besides you said that you are not into circuit bending anymore as much as synth building, so share the tips man, no sence in wasting your knowledge.
At 3/10/2006 02:16:57 PM, Anonymous said…
I always wonder when I see a newbie post asking for schematics to something, whether or not they could even read them. Or what they would do with them in terms of bending.
"Hey I'm new to bending.. does anyone have any tips or schematics for a ____"
At 3/10/2006 02:19:35 PM, Anonymous said…
I hate it when ebay sellers sneak their "company" name in the auction title. Like anyone gives a shoot or knows who the dang they are in the first place.
At 3/10/2006 02:30:49 PM, Master said…
There is nothing wrong with asking questions, just have to be the right ones. I try not to ask for help too much, but instead usually spend hours banging my head against the wall trying to figure something out. But when I do get it! Damn thats a good feeling. Knowing that you did it all on your own is better then crack!
At 3/10/2006 04:36:45 PM, Anonymous said…
Goldenechos:
"Ok, that is a great reason to move on... It takes too much time and effort to build this stuff, you absolutely must be excited about what you are building."
Well it really doesn't take a lot of time, it's just that the results are generally too "samey" to even bother. How many times can a speak & spell sound cool? Or a downpitched Creatoy?
"Personally, I couldn't agree more."
You betcha. There's much more to make than just something that does something glitchy.
At 3/10/2006 05:17:29 PM, Anonymous said…
hey anonymous expert bender- you're coming off as an ass. "...afraid to see what I've discovered found on some poorly bent item on ebay?" Please. You are not Ghazala II, because if you were you'd be sharing your expert knowledge.
Share what you know like getlofi does, or shut up and go build your pedals.
There is no room on teh internets for circuit bending nazis.
At 3/10/2006 05:39:21 PM, Anonymous said…
Nobody said I was Ghazala. I found my bends through trial and error and without the help of any fellow benders except for one friend where we'd swap finds. Just seems cheap to do all the hard work so someone else can just market it on their crappily bent instrument that was given a goofy name signed by an artist that noone knows, etc.
Bending Nazi? Hah. I stopped bending remember? Have I hurt your feelings somehow?
At 3/10/2006 06:06:09 PM, Master said…
Heh, all good comments and points. I understand that shameless self promotion in the case of some goofy benders is somewhat pretentions and there may be a time when they will include photos of their families and shout outs to their "crews" while they are at it. But who cares, you can't change newly emerging "everyone wants to be an internet celebrity" trend. I think that circuit bent category is the most interesting thing on ebay to look at. Dispite all the sameness. I also think that this topic is flying of on a tangent and if anyone wants to get more opinions on the matter just post to the benders list.
At 3/10/2006 07:09:00 PM, james anderson said…
maybe I don't have a clue but I still want that bend for two voices at once for my talking teacher! Hook it up!
meanwhile i'll keep looking
At 3/10/2006 07:29:22 PM, inductive said…
Wait a second, what are you even arguing about? What is the point of _not_ doing something because you think other people are doing it poorly? I think its cool people are selling things they have bent, more power to them. But personaly, i dont care if a speak and spell with a single body contact sells for 3000$ every day. How does that possibly affect you enjoying bending?
I'm just starting out or whatever, and tonight I just closed the case of my dr550, its the first real thing I've bent. Its got an ide cable sticking out of the front of it. I spent, I swear, like 5 nights just looking for bends. Another 5 nights learning to solder to little tiny chip legs. And another 2 more nights making tiny adjustments to the case with a red hot razor blade to make it all fit together. Its got this huge (8.5x11 hehe) breakout box with a pressed board (acualy, it used to be a clipboard) front panel. Its acualy set up a bit diffrent then anything I've seen. Not claiming its original, but I did it myself.
So 10 minutes ago I put the last screw in the case, scrape the hot glue of my thumb, load up the batteries and hit the power button. Know what? It didn't turn on (soldered the power leads backwards :) Then it turned on!
What do I do now? Put it on ebay? I'll bet I could sell it for a decent chunk of coin. It looks almost post apoc with this breakout 4 times the size of the original machine. Naw, I'm gonna sample it to death, make a video to prove it works. Then I'm going to take it all apart and take good pics. I took notes of all the bends so I could let people know at least what I did. Then I'm gonna take it to my friends house and let him sample it to death. Then it becomes part of a live act and eventualy destroyed, everything on stage dies at some point.
I lost my focus there, what I'm trying to say is. This is a fun thing to do, and if I do it long enough I'm sure I'll try to get into making my own circuits. I have some good ideas. Ok... I lost my focus again.
If you spend 12 hours bending some synth and end up with even one cool sound, one cool sample, one neat thing learned, or a new idea. Thats 12 hours you didn't sit on the couch smoking newports, eating big macs, and watching your fucking TV... I think that was my point.
Anyone ever circuit bend a cheap drill to try and add a speed knob?
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