gurzil (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} gurzil) wrote,@ 2007-09-18 11:02:00 |
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pedalboard project
It is an awesome feeling to put together a hardware project and have it actually work.
I needed a pedalboard, or bass pedals, to be able to play synths while playing an instrument for an upcoming band. MIDI bass pedals start at about $400. Having many other uses for $400 I tried to come up with an alternative. The pedals are a spare organ part. $16 off of ebay. The wood was spare stuff around the garage, but if I had to buy it it would have been $10 or so. The circuit board is from an Axispad USB game pad ($3?).
The wooden frame came together more easily than I thought, and I still need to add a removeable lid of some kind. I took all the wiring off the pedals and just used the switches, and found the right spots on the circuit board to solder them (I was able to always find the base of a resistor or a jumper, so I didn't have to do any desoldering or connect to a board trace), and now I am the proud owner of a set of USB bass pedals.
It is an awesome feeling to put together a hardware project and have it actually work.
I needed a pedalboard, or bass pedals, to be able to play synths while playing an instrument for an upcoming band. MIDI bass pedals start at about $400. Having many other uses for $400 I tried to come up with an alternative. The pedals are a spare organ part. $16 off of ebay. The wood was spare stuff around the garage, but if I had to buy it it would have been $10 or so. The circuit board is from an Axispad USB game pad ($3?).
The wooden frame came together more easily than I thought, and I still need to add a removeable lid of some kind. I took all the wiring off the pedals and just used the switches, and found the right spots on the circuit board to solder them (I was able to always find the base of a resistor or a jumper, so I didn't have to do any desoldering or connect to a board trace), and now I am the proud owner of a set of USB bass pedals.
The low C only sends some sort of a reset because I ran out of switches on the game pad, but every pedal is independent, so it effectively has no polyphony limitations. Outside of how small it is. Took about 6 hours of work, so even if I figure in my time I came out ahead.
What next? Figure out how to spend the other $384, natch.
EDIT: Yes, the pedals are angled. They are slightly curved to the ark of a leg. My woodwork isn't _that_ bad.
