2 x SID 8580, two more will fit into the case if needed
Measures 255 x 210 x 85 mm, weighs 2,4 kg
Case hand built from 1 mm stainless steel
Parts attached to case by gluing plastic sheets and rails to the steel case, parts screwed to the plastic
Case markings done with a vinyl cutter
2x20 lcd and modules as kits from Claudia
Push buttons, encs and leds from Voti
Filter joystick from Elfa
Enc knobs from Farnell
Uses C64 PSU
Built between August 2004 and April 2005 with a slow and unsteady pace
Build time around 100 hours
Parts cost 400 euros
Planned upgrades: expression pedal
Thank you Thorsten for making this instrument possible, as I have loved the SID sound since childhood and have always thought how cool it would be to actually play the chip with my own hands. Now I have a beautiful synthesizer module sitting on top of my Korg X2 pushing out those lovely sounds. Thank you!
Quite nice looking thing, good job! The joystick is neat idea but how useful is it? It appears that there are few of these implementations done in past as well.
@ Meta: About the filter joystick - yep, itās not all that original, and I couldnāt have implemented it in the first place without the help from the people who had done it earlier, thatās for sureā¦ Why I just had to have it - coming from guitar background, I just knew from the start that I wanted something like a wah pedal at my fingertips (now that I think of it - I could wire a connector for a filter cutoff pedalā¦). It sounds very cool to play an arpeggiated chord and spice the treble end up by tiny realtime adjustments of cut/res on the stick. Adds a lot of expressiveness. I could play a single chord for hours, just wiggling the stick listening to the beautiful little alterations in the sound. ;D And I built my box mostly for realtime playing, expecting not so much use connected to sequencers and such. Iām happy with the stick, but sure, it might not be very useful for everybody.
Maybe I have to give it a try as well! I know there are synthesizers with similar joystick implemented but I have never had chance to use one. Without knowing any better Iāve always been just happy with all these knobs and clutches. ;D However I think that top priority thing is to get everything into box now instead of my desk. I just havenāt made up my mind on certain decisions and this could be one more thing to try at.
@ Mr Chombee: I donāt know about the joystick data being sent out, but I suppose it should be possible if it already isnāt working. After all, the analog signal from the pot is turned into digital data on the PIC, so it should be ājustā a matter of programming.
A vinyl cutter is a computer controlled machine that cuts images or text or whatever on a sheet of thin adhesive vinyl with a tiny blade. After cutting, you manually dig or weed away the parts of the vinyl you donāt want on the design. Then you stick the weeded design to the target surface with the help of transfer tape (a bit like masking tape but as a sheet of suitable size). So basically the lettering on my MBSID is tiny letters that are cut out of adhesive tape. Seems to be durable, but itās possible to scrape it away using your fingernails with some force. And you canāt do as small letters as you can with some other methods. But it seems to work just fine for me!
I was going to ask about that lettering as well. Great looking box by the way! Iāve gotten some OK results on metal with the toner transfer method described at
Itās not as consistent as doing the boards, but it looks like it works for certain things. I recently tried to re-label the control panel on my kitchen stove, which looks like a similar surface to Jurboās box. I got about 95% of the label on, but kept peeling off corners and stuff. You can rub away failed attempts and retry. If (or when) I get them on there, Iām going to try to mist them with some light coats of clear acrylic or something. That may be enough protection against the āscratchabilityā problem.Ć
A vinyl cutter is a computer controlled machine that cuts images or text or whatever on a sheet of thin adhesive vinyl with a tiny blade. After cutting, you manually dig or weed away the parts of the vinyl you donāt want on the design. Then you stick the weeded design to the target surface with the help of transfer tape (a bit like masking tape but as a sheet of suitable size). So basically the lettering on my MBSID is tiny letters that are cut out of adhesive tape. Seems to be durable, but itās possible to scrape it away using your fingernails with some force. And you canāt do as small letters as you can with some other methods. But it seems to work just fine for me!
hi jurbo! where did you make it or do you have a access to use such machine by your self? (youāre from finland, right?)
I work in advertising / signmaking / decoration so we use a cutter all the time at work. Cutters use vector graphics as cutting paths so if you want to try the method, find a local signmakerās and ask what kind of file format they can use.
Iām happy about using the method, but I used it mainly because I had easy access to it. Otherwise I probably would have done it some other way (printing and many other methods will surely be less work and cheaper, too).
The three extra buttons (the one next to the encoder is the menu return button) donāt do anything right now, but they can be wired and programmed for extra functions. I basically added them for future expandability and cosmetics. But, as Thorsten has said, he will be making future changes to MBSID application in such a way that the default control surface will need no changes. So itās up to me to change the application if I want to use the extra buttons - they probably wonāt be seeing much useā¦ ;D
Yeh a friend of mine told me recently that she has access to a vinyl cutter, and I had been thinking about using it for labels or for masking out airbrushing/spraypainting, so I am just dying to see those pics!
euphoricgrey has been away for a year and suddenly comes back and posts in a year old postā¦ did you get abducted by aliens or something man? maybe thatās what the nick means?
