Modded C64 eye candy

“Everyone needs a hobby,” they tell us. For the blogger mysteriously identified only as “R,” that hobby would be an almost fanatical nostalgia for the Commodore 64 computer.

At first we thought this was a fan community site, but apparently it’s all the work of a single person. [R] has tweaked, extended, repackaged and resurfaced this 1980’s icon in nearly every imaginable way. They tend to gloss over the technical aspects of these mods, but that’s okay – the C64 is such an exhaustively documented system now that the site dwells mainly on the aesthetics and meaning of these reborn devices.

The 64 has made an indelible impression on electronic music, and the machines are still sought after by collectors, composers and circuit-benders. [R] pays homage by housing these vintage systems in styles reminiscent of even vintage-er synthesizers. Any one of these would warrant a post here, yet there’s a whole collection to browse. Check it out!

[via Retro Thing]

Comments [21]

tagged: 64, c64, case, casemod, commodore, mod, retro, synth, synthesizer, vintage

Reader Comments

the picture on the left reminds me of harold on the red green show

Posted at 3:20 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by tantris

I came

Posted at 3:24 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by alvare

The picture on the left is just a case mod, adding piano keys to it. Pretty simple I guess.

What are the two on the right? They look like unrelated random sound equipment.

Posted at 3:49 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by Mikey

where do people find 64′s to hack up into other boxes

Id like to have one just to restore but not at the prices ive seen

props on quality work
poops on why didn’t you give me one lol

Posted at 3:52 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by osgeld

@osgeld I used to have four or five. A couple with broken keyboards, and a couple without the sound chips, they were neat though, petty modular, so I ended up making 2 working ones with sound, and eventually giving them to a school (back in the days of 486 computer labs, and individual class rooms not having computers). I originally got them from random second hand stores for about $10 each.

Posted at 4:04 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by Mikey

I need to clean my computer screen. Fucking Awesome!

Posted at 5:09 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by zacdee316

dude, i think i just filled the cup.

Posted at 5:15 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by rob

Might be worth mentioning here that there is now a pretty decent software emulation of the sound chip for the Parallax Propeller; it’s not exactly the same as an original but then neither were all of the originals:

http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=409209

Posted at 5:18 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by localroger

If this guy worked for Commodore in the day we’ed still be using them now!

Posted at 5:28 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by HIrudinea

this is crazy. i love it. some of the ideas obviously came from the holy alpha mod c64 http://hackaday.com/2006/10/03/c64-alpha-mod/

Posted at 6:31 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by walt

I had a c64 when I was a kid, best computer ever ! I even messed up the teachers programs at school ( math answers did not equal real math answers.) I gotta a get me another c64 before they go completely extinct. It has AWESOME games like, “Jumpman Junior”, The cartridge. Even had a modem for it. It was the coolest stuff ever. Maybe I gotz future shock?

Posted at 7:55 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by Mic

@Mikey

RTFA

Posted at 8:37 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by TJ

the pic on the right can be seen at the ucapps.de midibox project site. I have looked at the videos and pics of that project many times, its … incredible… but I believe it is run with the midibox core module, sequencer module, and sounds are from the midibox sid module which uses the commodore 64′s SID chip by MOS technologies.

Posted at 9:55 pm on Feb 8th, 2010 by enor

@TJ I deserved that.

Posted at 12:52 am on Feb 9th, 2010 by Mikey

They’re all freakin sweet. C=64 is my favorite computer of all time, besides a PC of course.

Posted at 7:24 am on Feb 9th, 2010 by yuppicide

@HIrudinea:
We are still using them. 8bit Ventures released the MSSIAH cartridge in 2008, the successor to their popular Prophet 64 cart.
R64 has been well-known on their forums for his amazing C64 mods for quite a while:
http://www.prophet64-forum.com/

Posted at 7:29 am on Feb 9th, 2010 by NXK

Pure awesome.

The C64 was my first computer. I’ve still got one (not my orginal), and two or three 64Cs. I’ve also got that music keyboard add on shown.

Posted at 9:39 am on Feb 9th, 2010 by Paul Potter

@ tantris, <3 the red green show.

Posted at 10:49 am on Feb 9th, 2010 by nachowarrior

I have a Commodore 64 with disk drive, monitor, joystick, and several games. If anyone is interested in purchasing it for a super deal, shoot me an email at hackmsp@gmail.com or check out http://discountuniques.com

Posted at 1:20 pm on Feb 9th, 2010 by Spencer Haley

How could something so ghetto be so badass!!! I actually found a 300$ diskette program from the good ole days for the c-64. It has “up to date” medical information and even simulators for brain activity.

Posted at 8:00 pm on Feb 9th, 2010 by Mic

@nachowarrior:
unfortunately, it’s not on anymore. it was a healthy contrast to the shows, that want you to “make sure to read and understand all the instructions that come with your power tools”

but to get all excited about a c64, somehow reminded me of harold’s stage control mods. i bet he reads h.a.d. ;)

Posted at 2:21 pm on Feb 10th, 2010 by tantris