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This blog documents the production of my Kaoss Pad 1 Guitar Modification. The posts appear newest to oldest, so it may be easier to go bottom to top if using it as a guide or reading the whole thing, or just go off the archive navigation below.



Cheers for stopping by, hope its in some way interesting, please feel free to comment!

Friday 16 March 2007

Job Done! well nearly..

Jesus. A few glitches, but I think although I cant really get the full effect without a cable and neatening off woodwork and stuff, but as far as the problematic bit, IE: doing the electronics without blowing anything or just, being unable to do it, transferring the pad without breaking it or the ribbon, making it all fit without destroying 99% of the guitar, creating a suitable cover (well, sorta suitable, it'll do!)... you get the idea.

Thats all Done!!!!!!!
Electronics in, honesty.. I never thought would work. Every time I checked it and turned it on, especially when I tried to check it with the pad somehow connected, I was almost sure it would just not work. I still am sure it will break like, but thats different.

I finished it. I have a Kaoss Pad, which has a 9 pin serial connector in place of the ribbon screen connector, and works just as well as it did before I changed anything, all LED's and buttons, effects and everything work perfectly still, as checked an hour ago.

I have a touch pad from the KP-1, seperated, in the same condition it was previously, with a connector on leading to another serial connector that will by cable simulate the original much shorter ribbon connector that previously linked to two up.

I have a guitar with a hole in it suitable for the touch pad component of the now two-piece device to fit in and be covered, and a good idea of how to do this again, much better, on a new guitar.

So I guess to all intensive purposed, the project was successful.
I would love to know about using 12V power from the pad still, and also to get a hole button on the guitar. I wouldn't mind copying Phil one more time and built a pedal board like he did. And hell experiment with god knows what else.

What i mean is, the project isn't finished, I'd not say. Besides, I still have to finish it off anyway so expect plenty more blogging on this for a while, then theres the other things listed above, plus the process of transferring the mod to another brand new guitar, hopefully using a much more sensible and guitar-considerate method of removing wood. And keep all flatbladed screwdrivers far far away to avoid temptation.

I'd also like to mention my guitar..

Its utter shite at present. It has a grounding / earthing issue, apparently, which is caused a really prominent humm / buzz that pretty much renders it useless, as the sound of the strings is barely listenable over the noise, sometimes. However, thanks to my E-Bow, which to be honest is way better for the KP-1 than standard picking, I can boost the signal that enters the humbuckers loads so that the noise cannot be heard...

The E-bows great for mixing with the delays and stuff so I'll be able to get some samples.

But what I'm trying to say mainly is that unless I control with my guitar and play with a working one, the sound from my own WILL suck. Lots of hiss and whining on some settings of the pad due to the noise input, and just generally the quality is going to be low, crap strings, virtually no bloody wood left in the guitar anyway, and:
Both humbuckers are now loose and unfixed, no screws.
The neck bends loads in normal playing causing pitch bends to occur on bar chords
The electronics are screwed anyway, regardless oft he earthing problem.

So just remember, the pad works the same as it did before. It's digital, its a microcomputer, so the tendancy is it'll either work, everything will work, or it wont.. effects wise CERTAINLY, so any rubbish sound quality on any samples I may record at any point, well, its not the KP or the Mod, just the shite zombie of a guitar.

So keep watching, I made this sound quite final but like I say I've only just started!

Just wanted to show off that the only bit I thought wouldn't work is now done, working.

Proof of concept, proved, as Phil said.

So thanks very much to Phil, both for his own site and his active ongoing communication and help, and to the people who leave the comments and use the site, its great doing something with a bit of an audience (except for when I thought it had completely failed!).

Cheers people!
-adam

4 comments:

Patrick McMaster said...

Congratulations! It's been very inspiring to read up on your (at times too hard on yourself) documenting of this great DIY project. Any chance for some sound samples? Good luck with future gear hacks!

citizen said...

hey,

Thanks very much, hehe I guess by pointing out the rushed and silly mistakes I made, maybe people wont encounter the same things when they try it, if they try it.

Im still waiting on a DB9 cable to link the two parts up.

At present, I've tested it by simulating the cable using 4 normal wires plugged into the appropriate holes... The wires are about 4cm long. meaning the pad and guitar need to be awfully close, so all I did was use my mates Strat as the guitar input, and my guitar mod as the control..

I'm reluctant to really make apoint about this, just because, well, when its like that, it kinda makes me wonder why I didn't just leave it in the pad!

I'll still record some stuff, some of it may be through a seperate Strat to show general kaoss with guitar effects..

my guitar puts through lots of noise, grounding problem..
most the KP's effects turn the noise into a kinda, whistle or a screech or just a squeek throughout..

I can use my e-bow with my modded guitar though, this gets rid of the noise as the pickup input is so high from the e-bows active nature.

I'll try me best like,
watch this space, as.. people that know what they're doing might say!

-adam

Anonymous said...

I think it is great that you are doing the mods yourself and this not an easy job you have undertaken, the inherent faults that come with electronics and audio pick ups will test your resolve.

Dylan said...

The time put in really makes it worth it in the end! Korg Kaoss Pad 3 Review Please check it out!