There is likely to be more than one of you who has eyed up a child’s toy synthesizer in a second hand store, and considered making something more impressive with it. In many cases these instruments are underwhelming, having a very small subset of functions based into their black-epoxy-blob microcontrollers.
[Make Something] found a Casio toy synth that has a few more functions than the average model, and with the addition of some extra effects electronics and a beautifully made case, turned it into an altogether more interesting instrument.
Most of the video has an element of workshop porn about it, as he makes a very nice Moog-style console case for it, a task made easier by an impressive array of CNC tools. The electronics are slightly more interesting, being a selection of cheap guitar pedals gutted and combined with a cheap tube preamp board. The result is a machine capable of some far more interesting sounds
We think many Hackaday readers would be able to repeat these functions from scratch without the pedals, and while the case is a thing of beauty it’s likely a decent job could be done with a little less finesse on more commonplace tools. Perhaps it’s worth giving those toy synths a second look, because they really can be had for pennies if you look hard enough. Perhaps it’s an easier option than a previous toy musical upgrade.
Lots of high definition work and then he goes for lo-fi sound, that’s when I stopped the vid. Hot glue and cardboard would suffice if I stay longer, good work otherwise.
My thoughts exactly, it’s beyond ridiculous at this point
Fantastic sounds and styling! And good musical skills! Very nice.
I hope you got a good kickback from xTool for promoting that xTool advertisement.
TWENTY EIGHT affiliate links! Amazing!
Not even bent lol. Just added some fx pedals and then spent loads of time designing the case. That Casio actually has quite a few mods. Oh well.
He lost me at the start when he said the Casio SA-46 “sounds as bad as it looks”. Those SA-46 and its bigger brother but with same sound engine SA-76 Casios actually have some really good sounds and rhythms onboard, so straight away you have to wonder did he even try playing the original before “modding” it? And though his end product looked impressive, with all respects it’s sonically pretty much an SA-46 just being run through some effects pedals. Also the demo at the end used real drums and a guitar, and the Casio just sounded like the original but made more lo-fi. I’ve seen other videos where only an SA-76 and its sounds was used to play Kraftwerk’s The Model in its entirety, and another where it played all the sounds in an Axel F. style synthpop track, both to great effect. Meanwhile this “made it pro” creation is all fancy looking on the outside but the sounds don’t live up to its looks. IMO, it sounded inferior to the original, only adding fuzz to the sound.