Synth Mods: Expand the Synthesis Possibilities
Amazing mods from Tubbutec, Kiwi, Circuitbenders and more!
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Take your gear into the beyond with synth mods, aftermarket modifications that can transform the capabilities of your synthesizer.
Synth Mods
Synthesizers, drum machines and other kinds of music production gear are made with care, with engineers spending sometimes years creating products that they hope will become useful to musicians and users. Often, they hit the mark, but sometimes, whether because of the march of time or just a change in trends, end users feel the need to modify their gear and add new features. This is nothing new – the original Moog Minimoog was modded almost from the get-go, with many of the most common ones ending up in the modern re-release.
There are all kinds of synth mods, from basic ones that add MIDI or individual outs to more complex modifications that completely change the operating system. Most mods are for vintage gear, but some are meant for recent releases. Many you can do yourself, but others are so complicated, you need to send your instrument away to have it done. (If you do plan to do your own modding, make sure you’re comfortable with synth repair. We assume no responsibility for anything you may break – including yourself.)
Here are some of the most common synth mods and modification companies available today.
Tubbutec
Tubbutec is a company that provides modifications to extend the functionality of your gear. It’s grown over the years into something of a superpower, with not only mods but now controllers and even Eurorack modules.
The company specializes in deep mods for vintage gear, with popular kits for the Korg Polysix, Roland SH-101 and 202, and Juno-6/60. New to the lineup is a series of breakout controllers for its more popular mods, offering direct control over the new parameters. It also does MIDI retrofits for organs and synths, old-school drum machines and more.
Tubbutec doesn’t do installations itself, but it can recommend techs who will.
KiwiTechnics
KiwiTechnics is a New Zealand-based outfit that has been modifying synths since the early 2000s. More than just simple add-ons, Kiwi synth mods change not only the functionality on the inside but also the appearance on the outside, like custom cars.
As with Tubbutec, the focus is on classic vintage synths. Some of the company’s mod packages include ones for the Roland Alpha Juno-2, JX-3P and JX-8P, Juno-106, and Korg Polysix.
Given the complexity of the modifications, you’ll need to send your synth off to New Zealand.
Circuitbenders
Circuitbenders is a UK-based company that does (as the name suggests) circuit bending. This means that the focus is often on crazy modifications that take the original unit way beyond its original capabilities, often with the goal of making weird noise rather than just improving on lackluster MIDI implementation, for example.
As you’d expect, many of the circuit-bent mods on offer are for digital devices like the Roland TR-707, Kawai R50 and Casio SK1. Send in your instrument, and it’ll come back with all manner of new jacks and switches designed to terrorize and torture the original circuitry. The prices are quite affordable too.
GliGli Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 P600fw Mod
Sequential Circuits’ Prophet-600 is the perfect vintage synth candidate for an upgrade. One of the first synths with MIDI and designed around a Z80 chip to save money, many users had long lamented the poor MIDI functionality, slow envelopes and low parameter resolution, resulting in audible ‘stepping’ in the cutoff, for example.
Developer GliGli developed a firmware upgrade to address these issues and many more, including a more robust LFO with new waveforms, a vibrato, unison detune, and more, releasing it on a Teensy++ board that replaces the old Z80 chip.
Unfortunately, those Teensy++ boards are no longer available, making the mod hard to do now. You may find one already installed up for sale. There’s also the Behringer Pro-800, which reportedly incorporates many of the GliGli mods into its circuitry.
Gotek USB Floppy Emulator
Vintage gear is fun and all, but when a part goes kaput, it can seriously derail your good time. Anything with moving parts is particularly prone to failure – and that goes double for floppy drives, which have rubber bands that can also stretch out. What to do? Replace it with a Gotek.
Gotek USB Floppy Emulators are what they sound like: USB drives that slot into the old floppy drive location on your gear. The benefit is since it’s USB-based, it can now hold much more data than the old disc. They’re also easy to install and generally don’t require soldering. The only downside? You may find yourself longing for the sound of grinding floppy drives.
Gotek drives are available for pretty much any instrument with a floppy bay. You’ll just need to configure the drive for the instrument in question.
Korg Volca Beats Mods
Of all of the Korg Vocas released, the Volca Beats is still one of the best. With its analog drum sounds and vintagey vibe, it manages to stand its own compared to much more expensive rhythm machines. However, it could always be better. And that’s where the mods come in.
The most common Volca Beats mod is on the snare. Oddly dull, the snare sounds out of place compared to the rest of the sounds. Adding a capacitor to the circuit board brightens it right up and makes it sound more like an 808 snare.
Another popular mod is adding separate outs for the different sounds. Having all percussion elements summed to a single output isn’t very helpful when mixing. By installing jacks for the kick, snare, toms, hats and PCM sounds, you can go crazy in the mix.
More information
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