Tommy of Roth Mobot pointed me in the direction of the SAW III Sampler from AllElectronics.com a few weeks ago. The device costs $2 and includes as set of 2 AAA Batteries! When it comes to bending there are a few interesting points and also some annoyances. The drawbacks include: no Loop Mode when play button is held, there is also a gap between each playback, and a audible beep at lower speeds before the audio starts. Despite the shortcomings there are a some very nice features. The recorded sample is stored even if batteries are taken out and the standard speed length of the sample is about 30 seconds. Low operating voltage only requires 3 Volts which is great and can be supplied with 5 volts by a 7805 Voltage Regulator without burning up the circuit. The best part is that the sampler is only $2 which is cheap as hell!
The board is fairly easy to work with and there are many components yet to be explored, but the pitch resistor labeled R4 was successfully replaced with a 1M Potentiometer effecting both playback and recording speeds. You can also trigger Playback by using an NPN PN2222 transistor with 2 outer legs connected to the playback button. When the Base pin of the transistor receives a positive voltage it completes the Ground circuit and will trigger Playback. As a bonus I marked a location on the circuit board to connect the Base pin to for a quasi-Looping feature. Pretty neat and at lower speeds works rather well. The Playback can also be triggered from an external circuit like an Arduino Board or some other Microcontroller, all you need is a common Ground between the 2 devices and connection for the Positive voltage pulse.
Last but not least the Output needs to be connected in Parallel with a 10 Ohm resistor, otherwise the volume is way to loud. This sampler makes a very nice candidate for rehousing or even incorporating into another bent device. Enjoy this bend and let us know you find anything else useful.
Awesome, this looks like a great intro for anyone getting into circuit bending. I think I may order some and house them inside an already bent toy (to create a built in sampler).
GetLoFi always coming thru with the cheap yet super dope projects!! Thanks. and keep up the great work!
Potar
Excellent, glad you guys like the ideas.
I’ll post a video of the sampler in action shortly here.
[...] is about 30 seconds.The batteries alone could cost you more – gotta love those surplus deals! – Circuit Bending a SAW III Sampler (Thanks, Doctor [...]
I was gonna add 2 “d” cells to make the sucker last. Now I have to figure the voltage regulator to make a 9 volt do the jobby job.
Awesome, yeah the 7805 should do the job nicely. Mine works on 9 V as well.
[...] a link that might save you a little experimenting on The Saw III… GetLoFi – Circuit Bending Synth DIY Blog Archive Circuit Bending a SAW III Sampler Shows the board, and various areas of interest, some modifications. Says it runs fine off 5 [...]
I have been working with a couple of these (very sensitive, can burn it out easily, careful when soldering to R4) and have found that rather than spaning R4 with a tuning pot, connect the blob side of R4 to the wiper and the solder point directly below R4 on the blob side to the outer terminal of a 1M pot, this slows the little guy down nicely.
I have been working to get a better loop out of it, and have tried to use a 555 (etc) timer to trigger the sample. if i trigger too soon, the sample stops, if i trigger too late, well there is a lag. I was hoping to use a NOT gate and retrigger the play button once the sample completed playing. I can’t find any point, though, to act as the trigger (NOT or not!). I though to trigger off the speaker as , once the speaker shuts off, the sample is complete, then retrigger. I haven’t figured out a good circuit for this process though, any thoughts.
-sam
This is a great, CHEAP way to hack a Staples “Easy” button! Most of the published “Easy” hacks use a voice memo board from Radio Shack, but that’s $12. I just picked up 6 of the Saws, and now I’m looking for Easy buttons! The two Staples I stopped at today were out, only got one, and it’s not Easy, it’s “Facil”!
Thanks!
[...] sound block contains a sampler pulled from the infamous Saw III toy, made popular by getlofi.com. The sampler is triggered by a simple oscillator. Samples can be picked up through the attached mic [...]
hey, this is a really great thread. i picked up a bunch of these and am currently working on padding down the input to take a line level. after that is done i plan on housing it in a case and adding a step sequencer to run through them. and finally after all that is done hopefully i will be able to post a schematic..has anybody else done the same??
Great thread! Is there any way to improve the quality of the input? Better mike or direct record from a PC speaker, etc.?
Tried this, worked fine until I tried to attach the 1M pot. The pad comes right off of the board, and it doesn’t work after that. Very frustrating trying to get it on there correctly
Yeah, gotta be super duper careful. Use thin flexible wire.
can you recommend a place to get this type of wire, I can never find it
Yeah, try Jameco. Please use the banner link on the side of the GetLoFi main page. Search for Kynar wire wrap it is the cheapest I’ve seen it anywhere. Great quality and will be in your hands before you know it.
another question, if I wanted to have two of these housed in the same enclosure, and be able to take input from the same source, but sample different input from that same source, how would I do it?
You should just wire all of the inputs jacks together ( in Parallel ). The units only sample when the record button is pressed.
anon: you should wire both inputs to a spdt toggle, and just wire the negatives together and the positives to either side of the spdt and switch.
These things are great at this price. Anyone know how to stop the tic noise that happens during playback?
Scott