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Circuit bending

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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
anyone ever try it?
what's a good kit for starting off?
Aug 14 2007 3:34PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
you don't need a kit, just buy a cheap electronic keyboard at goodwill, or off craigslist or ebay and have at it. as long as you know how to solder, you're good to go.
Aug 14 2007 3:35PM
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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
but i dont have ANYTHING, not even a soldering gun
or wire
or switches
i was looking at the kit on bentmonkeycage.com
but i guess i could get all of that at wal-mart...hmmm
Aug 14 2007 3:37PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
do you have fry's electronics near where you live? i think maybe it's only on the west coast. if you go to a store like that, you can get the switches and pots and capacitors and whatever for really cheap, and soldering gun too.
Aug 14 2007 3:48PM
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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
haha, i have a home depot, lowes, wal-mart, and radio shack within walking distance
would those be of any help?
Aug 14 2007 3:58PM
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P.J.S.
Posts: 1782 - Karma: 11
i got my soldering iron, stand, solder, and de-soldering tools at radio shack. the only gripe about the iron is that i had to file and shape the tip after a few hours of usage to get a consistent enough of a point for close, precise and clean guitar electronics.
Aug 14 2007 4:02PM
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toominator
Posts: 4792 - Karma: 120
circuit bending? whats that when its at home?

if you're gonna be changing components etc get a desoldering gun as well, it makes it so much easier. get solder with a low lead content, cause you really don't want to be breathing that shit in if you can avoid it. along those lines, a narrow gauge solder is easier to work with than thick stuff. as for the soldering iron make sure it has a narrow bullet tip, nothing worse than a big fat tip when you're trying to solder on a compact pcb. avoid chisel tips for this reason too.
Aug 14 2007 4:05PM
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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
i got this old keyboard from my friend's basement, but i don't know if i should bend it

it runs on 5 AA batteries and has 7.5 volts and 1.7 watts

this was on anti-theory.com

Also important, audio toys are low-voltage devices. Reed suggests not trying the process with any circuit operating on more than 6 volts. Trying to circuit-bend any device operating on the "house-current" of your wall outlet is OUT OF THE QUESTION!!! This holds true even in the instance of AC adapters. Circuit-bending is for BATTERY-POWERED CIRCUITS ONLY.


it is battery-powered, and it's a toy

so is it gonna kill me?
Aug 16 2007 10:05PM
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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
=[
Aug 16 2007 10:23PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
just wear one of those grounding wristband things
Aug 16 2007 10:35PM
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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
where can i get one?
Aug 16 2007 10:42PM
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Gnarshred
Posts: 5670 - Karma: 18
I don't know a lot about electronics, but considering you can put a 9 volt battery on your tounge no prob, i wouldnt be to worried...
and i think 1.7 watts is prettylow current.

Can someone give me a straight answer on what cicuit bending is? Id love to do some shit with some old electronics i have...
Aug 16 2007 10:46PM
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Swan_Solo
Posts: 2374 - Karma: 14
you play with the circuits in low-voltage musical toys or keyboards to make them sound like analog synths, etc.
Aug 16 2007 10:59PM
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