iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 15h

I like the bit where for some reason fully tracked shipping with £50 insurance to an EU country for a small parcel, is actually £1.33 cheaper than untracked shipping with only £20 insurance, which in turn is £2 cheaper than economy shipping which takes weeks. I'd like this to make sense please...

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 14/10/2026

Absolutely devastated to say we had to say goodbye to Assistant #1, AKA Wilson last night. Rest assured that next time the inkjet printer has the audacity to print something, we'll be staring it down on your behalf. RIP.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 11/10/2026

Well, will you look at that! An Alesis Microverb I converted to a Microverb II that runs the preset reverbs of both units, with an added reclocking knob. Theres something you don't see every day* *unless you work here...

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 10/10/2026

Yeah, but you're not goth industrial royalty😉

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 10/10/2026

See this? This is Trent Reznors Hate Echo. He said he didn't want the uber goth black text on black case one, because at his age he needed to be able to see what he was doing... Loser😉 Anyway, for some reason this probably means you need to buy this orange one circuitbenders.etsy.com/listing/1173...

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 07/10/2026

Alesis Microverb I with a switchable operating system to turn it into either a Microverb I or a Microverb II. Both operating systems are now on one EPROM with a switch to swap between them live, without crashing. The only difference between the OS files appears to be in the 16 preset parameters.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 06/10/2026

One of the most baffling eBay AI descriptions I've ever seen. For a start it's for an Alesis Microverb II and literally every single claim is completely wrong, but a frequency range of 240v? Tabletop unit? 7 different sound settings? Does the colour contribute to the ease of connection? What?

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 06/10/2026

Ahh audiophiles are fun... I would say something sarcastic, but it'd be pretty much exactly what they've said in the first sentence, apparently with zero irony... Why not pay thousands to not hear the things you can't hear, mainly because they weren't recorded, but also because... human ears. 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 02/10/2026

Probably the most tedious thing we've ever made. You know when you want to use a 9mm pot on a panel with no PCB and wiring to the pins is a massive pain in the ass? Well heres some 'exciting' news... They can't all be white hot marketing genius. 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 01/10/2026

If you own a Yamaha effects unit from the 80's then you probably need to check for cracked solder joints like this, especially if it has those plastic board mounted jacks often made by Jalco, although here its a DC power socket. Any sockets that might take some stress are VERY prone to this issue.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 01/10/2026

21 days from wondering if it was doable to a finished product! Switchable operating system on an Alesis Microverb 1/2 giving the 16 presets of both units in one. Here swapping between the reverse reverb of the MV1 and the small room of the MV2 in the same effect slot by switching the OS live.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 30/09/2026

Even the logo was kind of cool. None of this weird tentacled cthulhu nonsense of USB. Just a straight up futuristic fascism logo. 😉

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 27/09/2026

Never quite been able to work out why every single week we get 4 or 5 emails from people saying "i was just looking at these mods on your site, they look great, can you tell me how much they cost?" You were just looking at the page with the prices clearly shown! Where else are they going to be? 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 26/09/2026

This is a drawing of my friends sadly deceased cat Colin watching an episode of Midsomer Murders, expertly executed on Microsoft Paint. We liked it so much we had 1000 stickers made, which seemed like a great idea at the time... 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 25/09/2026

Jünger Audio b42 digital dynamics processor. £30 because it wasn't starting up and the screen was black, but there were a few LEDs on and the relays responded to button presses. Turned out it's a really early OLED screen that dies quickly. Dropped in a new OLED we happened to have and it works fine!

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 25/09/2026

Glow in the dark HATE ECHO and another orange sand textured one available on etsy. circuitbenders.etsy.com/listing/1173... Buy it, don't buy it... its all the same to us. We're too busy achieving synergy on the information superhighway... or something along those lines anyway.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 25/09/2026

All I want is a mechanical solenoid buzzer that runs on 12v AC, like you get in old doorbells, entry systems or every office intercom on episodes of Columbo etc. A real offensively raspy old school thing. The Videx RZ102 phone buzzer exists, but all 4 sellers have mad shipping costs for a tiny part!

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 24/09/2026

Just renewing the domain circuitbehringers.co.uk for another year with no other justification than a real dedication to absolute stupidity. Why not buy a tshirt for similar reasons... circuitbenders.teemill.com/product/circ...

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 23/09/2026

MAM really did use the cheapest components is was possible to buy in the 90s. Which explains how the MB33 and Freebass racks sold for £99 in 1996. I think they call this contact oxidisation... erm... I'm not sure what metal that supposedly is, but I don't think I've ever seen it that bad before! 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 21/09/2026

Dull component knowledge post #119: The Roland 7X7 power socket has a 1.8mm pin and also oxidises wildly, which means that a normal modern 2.1mm PSU plug often doesn't work properly and an original 707 PSU won't work in anything else. See the next post for exciting details of how to make some cash!

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 20/09/2026

Theres something rather pleasing about getting orders from Japan and the address is often something like "906 Maison Supreme" or "169 Quality Mansions".

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 16/09/2026

You know when someone comments "this wins the internet" and you want to punch them for not just taking a moment to do a bit better... well, i'm afraid that in the wake of this pair of posts from @strategictaper.bsky.social all other social media is now redundant. Mankind has peaked.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 10/09/2026

Eastern Bloc drum machine knobs. Goes up to 12, but clearly won't have any of that decadent western 'using even numbers' business. Also appears to be designed upside down and back to front, unless the soviet authorities issued them with knobs that only pointed one way and they had to bodge them in

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 09/09/2026

Hold on... I fear we've been here before. 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 07/09/2026

This is what they call 5 star customer service...

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 07/09/2026

Alesis Microverb 1 on the right and a slightly cannibalised Microverb 2 on the left. They're absolutely identical, apart from the OS eprom and the MV1 having what are on paper slightly better opamps. The internet is full of people saying the MV2 has wider bandwidth and sounds much better... 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 06/09/2026

Sunday night and I thought I'd test an Alesis Microverb1 we just got in. Thinking that the board looks identical to the Microverb2 I thought I'd try swapping operating systems, which worked perfectly. Half an hour later we have a Microverb with a prototype ROM switcher so it can be a v1 or a V2.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 06/09/2026

PCB for a possibly abandoned EMS VCS3 Ring Modulator project from a couple of years back. It was suggested that the text might be a little 'tasteless', but we prefer to look at it as the basis for a character in an exciting new series of books for children......

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 03/09/2026

Gratuitous reclocking knob on a Boss SP303 photo #001.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 03/09/2026

BEHOLD, the Holy Grail! The electro kit expansion cartridge for the mighty Cheetah MD16. For decades we have heard whispered tales of its existence, but never thought we would actually see one. Given its rarity, we might look at cloning it for the lucicrously small demographic that might want one.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 03/09/2026

Assistant #1 kindly volunteered to help with packaging an Akai S2000, but seems to find the whole affair far too hilarious to actually get anything done. 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 01/09/2026

Some more Boss SP303 reclocking with better quality audio than the previous video. Apparently theres no way to change the speed or pitch of samples on a standard SP303, which seems something of an oversight... Why are they so expensive? 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 01/09/2026

You want lofi? We've got lofi... Reclocking on a Boss SP303 Dr Sample. On paper the LTC1799 clock chip can't go fast enough to even reach the SP303's standard 33.8mhz clock speed, but it turns out you can overclock the new clock used to reclock the Boss clock... despite what the datasheet says. 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 31/08/2026

My other half found the front panel of the xray room warning sign from a local hospital at a car boot sale, so naturally i had to build this... Each section is individually controllable over WiFi and it'll also do programmed sequences. Its really hard to take decent video of things that light up!

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 28/08/2026

IT LIVES! This Yamaha RM1x has been the test midi sequencer and sound source in our workshop for 20 years. It's been battered more than any other kit I've owned. It's on its 3rd set of LEDs and tactile switches, with dozens of repairs due to cracked or corroded PCB's over the years, but it plays on!

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 27/08/2026

A Terratec Warp 9 filter on the bench. Basically a MAM Warp 9 multimode EDP Wasp filter, but with a TR707/909 themed front panel. There's loads of triggering and LFO options with full midi control of the knobs. Basically the kind of weird kit where you never quite know if it's working properly. 🤔

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 27/08/2026

And if you need any encouragement here's Chris Liberator from legendary 90's acid techno label Stay Up Forever having a moan. If you're running a small label that has physical product then these rules absolutely fuck you over completely.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 26/08/2026

Assistant #02 would like to thoroughly endorse Makita power tools, as you can see from this very obvious display of enthusiasm.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 25/08/2026

A classic from Analog Devices for two tiny SMD logic chips. You can't help thinking theres some kind of mad packaging competition going on somewhere.

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 25/08/2026

Sometimes you do have to wonder if maybe the insane new EU PPWR package recycling rules might have a point. At least if they were delivered in a massively less arbitrary and heavy handed manner it might stop shit like this from happening!

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circuitbenders.co.uk @circuitbenders.co.uk · 24/08/2026

Apparently he's guided by "Chinese Phil"... whoever that is? 😉 ...but yeah, i can't imagine its a surprise to anyone that a man so apparently in favour of wholesale theft of other peoples talent and work, would be massively enthusiastic about AI.

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