circuit bending: where to start?

[katri]

I'm just looking for any advice and/or simple projects to try out that people have tried before.

Cheers
Dan

[theavondon]

Give the cheap Danelectro pedals a shot. The effect portion of the board is completely separate from the power section, so you can't blow up the pedal (well, it's harder). Plus, did I mention they're really, really cheap? I modded a pastrami overdrive to be either a really crazy distortion or a two octave drop trem-like thing. Then, it blew up.

Did I mention they're cheap?

[rcubed]

Originally Posted by theavondon

Give the cheap Danelectro pedals a shot. The effect portion of the board is completely separate from the power section, so you can't blow up the pedal (well, it's harder). Plus, did I mention they're really, really cheap? I modded a pastrami overdrive to be either a really crazy distortion or a two octave drop trem-like thing. Then, it blew up.

Did I mention they're cheap?

+1. OD's, fuzzes and distortions are usually good places to start. Depending the the circuit, something as simple as adding a wire from one point to another can give you crazy oscillation effects.

[Swimming Bird]

Most of the old DODs are very easy to circuit bend. I've successfully bent an FX25, an FX56B and an FX69, but they've all been old stock. Also, I didn't find anything usable on my FX92.

My Ibanez Mostortion has a couple crazy bends. That said, it seems like a lot of tubescreamer-esque pedals have some sweet stuff lurking in their circuits.

In general, distortions and fuzzes are the easiest to bend. Whatever you tackle, make sure that it's an effect that is very hearable otherwise you may not notice you've bent it -- this has happened to me a couple times when bending subtle modulations.

[Pitbull Growl]

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

Most of the old DODs are very easy to circuit bend. I've successfully bent an FX25, an FX56B and an FX69, but they've all been old stock. Also, I didn't find anything usable on my FX92.

My Ibanez Mostortion has a couple crazy bends. That said, it seems like a lot of tubescreamer-esque pedals have some sweet stuff lurking in their circuits.

In general, distortions and fuzzes are the easiest to bend. Whatever you tackle, make sure that it's an effect that is very hearable otherwise you may not notice you've bent it -- this has happened to me a couple times when bending subtle modulations.

The FX25 bend has me curious.... what exactly didja do to it? I'm about to try the C11 mod on mine to extend the decay, so if I gotta open it up anyway I'd be interested in trying a bend on a toggle.

[kaputsport]

http://casperelectronics.com/

[bassman1185]

Is there are a certain method or first step that one should do before trying to bend? I'm kind of interested in this as well, but I don't want to blow up even my cheap pedals.

[Pitbull Growl]

That casper site kaput linked gives you instructions on how to make a probe for circuit bending that seems pretty helpful. He (that casper dude, not kaput) said to email him w/any questions... so there's another resource. I don't fully understand it myself, but I'm reading up on it. I guess the best way to start is to hit garage sales and pick up some cheap toys to start with. Just try to stay away from the power part of the circuits (fairly easy to trace by following the power input lead) or else you run the possibility of frying the board.

[katri]

Originally Posted by kaputsport

http://casperelectronics.com/

this is pretty cool because i have just got a speak and spell off evilbay for £1.20.
I might grab one of those dano pedals off a friend he has one that he never uses.