N.F.S.

Not For Sale are the cherished devices in my personal collection…

This is a strange little instrument from Suzuki of Japan circa late 70′s, it’s a smaller version of their Omnichord model. What’s unique about this device are the ribbon controllers for strumming and chord selection, it make for a very interactive electronic experience. The chord voicings are very nice, especially in the minor & seventh modes. To give you the best of both worlds they added a sweet string accompaniment, much like a “String Machine”, with it’s own volume control. Tapping out chords with some rhythmic delays is it’s specialty.

I basically found this device in the garbage – on it’s own, that’s where it belongs with it’s wonky-ass slapback delays, passing itself as a reverb unit – very tinny indeed. So I made a rig for it to feedback on itself when the left switch is activated, and added a photocell to control the filter when the right switch is activated. The left slider controls the level of feedback and the right slider controls the filter volume. This adds up to a whole lot of sonic mayhem. It’s specialty is “instant guitar-like feedback”, as if someone just clicked on a fuzzbox with an amp cranked. You can then divebomb by sliding up the delay slider, or intensify by pushing the repeats up. It can sound like a Moog at times when riding the delay control, as you can lock into certain notes. I find it to be a valuable asset to enhancing recordings.

Originally a “Synare Sensor”, this device rose like a phoenix from the ashes in it’s new incarnation as “Synare Jupiter”. Once a lowly entry-level late 70′s drum-synth relegated to space toms in cheesy disco cover bands, now the “Jupiter” can create most of the favorite analog synth tones and textures, with oscillations, sample & hold, filters and envelopes. It’s quite an impressive, little machine and my first circuit-bending experience. When I procured it, there was no signal, after getting it running, I found the sensitive points and bridged them with switches that all alter the sound profoundly. The addition of the photocell adds pitch control and filter effects in certain switch combinations. Then instead of a drum trigger, I made the unit touch-sensitive through the 2 small screws on the bottom. None of this was intentional, just a happy accident that makes this device my all-around favorite. It’s very dynamic and lots of fun to play and listen to. If you ever find one, snap it up!

In 1980 Boss decided to put out the PC-2 Percussion Synthesizer, apparently it fell upon deaf ears, because it only lasted a year – that’s because it was way ahead of it’s time. If they came out with the PC-2 today, it would be one of their biggest sellers – that’s because it’s basically a pocket-sized, killer, analog synthesizer! Like the Synare, it was meant to be a drum synth for cheesy tom effects, but this thing really does it all – and I never even put a screwdriver to it. It’s not as versatile as the Synare because of the lack of photocell, and it sounds a little cleaner, but it’s nice having that big old sensitive pad – it seriously alters the sound upon different velocities. The input trigger is cool because any input will activate the synth, even a guitar. The PC-2′s specialty is UFO take-off sounds. It puts out intense bass and crispy highs and even could be triggered by foot. Don’t worry how hard you hit either, it’s meant to be whacked by crazed drummers. The PC-2 is also capable of a lot of popular analog synth-hit sounds from dub to electro – a great, little tool for the arsenal.

I found this synth-kit on Ebay for $35 and decided to give it a shot. It came with a beautiful booklet with big, color pictures of classic, analog-synths and their creators. Very nice Japanese graphics – almost worth the price of admission alone. I almost wished they sent a cheap pamphlet and a simple, plastic bottom for the device instead of the cardboard one. Cardboard? This isn’t disposable is it? Well needless to say for $35, you’re not exactly gonna get a Buchla. Flimsiness aside, it’s a great sounding little unit and lots of fun play with it’s little stylus and ribbon. The sounds are by no means infinite, but you can do some great vibrato voice effects and nice low basslines. The technique of playing the Gakken opens it up to different ideas & sounds. It’s easy to hit pitch too, locking into the guide-lines on the ribbon (you might need to add a few of your own). Surprisingly I haven’t rigged up a photocell to it yet, but it’s easily done through the” external source” input – just hook a photocell up to a 1/8th inch jack and plug it in. Well worth the money in sounds & enjoyment, if you don’t mind its broke-ass construction. Cardboard???

This is the little beast that started it all. There were other creations before MFT, but I didn’t nail the Theresynth™ concept and circuit until this device. It was the addition of the rheostat that really gave it range. It blew out the first time I jammed on it, probably because was 106 degrees outside, but it’s been running nicely ever since after replacing a transistor and adding a couple of heat-sinks. I keep it on my desk and mess around with all the time. The palm-fitting size makes it easy to play tight melodies and the sound is thick, but the casing too small to build into and the plastic kinda cheap. That’s why I never made another, but it’s still #1 and lots of fun and it actually makes dogs stop barking when tuned into the right frequency!

Nothing special to look at, but this unit spurned the “Guitar-O-Min”. It basically makes an square-wave tone that sounds cool along with guitar when run through a volume pedal and delay. I play guitar and then swell the Little Drone with the volume pedal to accompany the guitar. If you layer a few loops, it has a very synth-string sound. The switches change the octave ranges (low, med & high), the knob controls volume. The 2 photocell design makes it more sensitive to changes in light. Very interesting, but not ideal. More refined versions of this coming soon…

One of my earliest projects, hence the ramshackle look, but it sounds like nothing else. The circuit is meant for a toy car and makes siren, machine gun and other popular toy sounds. I added a couple of photocells, the big knob and a few switches that change pitch, speed and modes. The interesting thing about this unit is that it can be played via the probes, whether touching them to your skin or attaching them to the unit itself – they alter the sounds quite a bit. In certain switch combinations, you can get a great S&H effect that seems to do it’s own thing and change over time. My other favorite sounds are “seltzer” (like fizzing bubbles) and the bevy of Pac Man-ish sounds. Things get very out-of-hand when using adding probes into the mix. Ugly, yet very interesting.