VL-Tone
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A word of warning:
Be careful with the LCD screen. It receives it’s data from a plastic ribbon with conductive ink printed on it. The screen doesn’t use solder connections. Instead the data ribbon is pressed against the screen to conduct electricity. That means if you break the ribbon there’s no way to solder in a replacement wire. The conductive ink on the ribbon dries up over time and will come off if you move it around too much or move the screen. I did this and it couldn’t be fixed, so I replaced the screen with a whole bunch of LEDs. It doesn’t work the same as the LCD, but at least it looks cool.
There are two boards inside the VLtone. The first one you will see when you open it is the sound board. The one under it is the control board. The control board holds all of the switches, keyboard keys and the the screen. Avoid removing this board if you can. If you DO have to remove it, be careful not to move the LCD screen around. Maybe it could be taped down while it’s open. Once the LCD ribbon breaks, it CANNOT be fixed.
In the picture above you can see my custom faceplate. I etched the design in copper clad board (PCB material) and then dipped the etched plate in a nasty chemical called Liquid Tin that tins the copper and keeps it from tarnishing.
A word of warning:
Be careful with the LCD screen. It receives it’s data from a plastic ribbon with conductive ink printed on it. The screen doesn’t use solder connections. Instead the data ribbon is pressed against the screen to conduct electricity. That means if you break the ribbon there’s no way to solder in a replacement wire. The conductive ink on the ribbon dries up over time and will come off if you move it around too much or move the screen. I did this and it couldn’t be fixed, so I replaced the screen with a whole bunch of LEDs. It doesn’t work the same as the LCD, but at least it looks cool.
There are two boards inside the VLtone. The first one you will see when you open it is the sound board. The one under it is the control board. The control board holds all of the switches, keyboard keys and the the screen. Avoid removing this board if you can. If you DO have to remove it, be careful not to move the LCD screen around. Maybe it could be taped down while it’s open. Once the LCD ribbon breaks, it CANNOT be fixed.
SCHEMATIC
Almost all of the bends in the VL-tone are achieved be creating amplifier feedback loops. There are no data glitches to be found. This means there are no random melody bends but lots of squealing distortion bends.
The schematic below is just a guide and not a complete list of EVERY bend. Experiment with the points shown. Add touch points and components like capacitors in different values to find different kinds of effects.
* Casper Electronics » Archive » VL-tone schematic page added said:
March 7th, 2010 at 11:54am #
[…] been getting lots of requests for a VL-tone page with schematics. Here it […]
Mike said:
March 7th, 2010 at 3:36pm #
Check out what this guy did for his veroboards to make them a bit moreswanky. Might’ve been nice for your LED board.
http://www.5volt.eu/archives/85
How-To: Circuit-bending the VL-Tone | Products & Tech News said:
March 8th, 2010 at 2:14pm #
[…] Seems the little VL sports a rather delicate LCD connection that requires a fair amount of TLC. Relevant tips + wiring diagram can be found over at Casper Electronics. […]
How-To: Circuit-bending the VL-Tone « The tech telecom and all said:
March 8th, 2010 at 8:01pm #
[…] Seems the little VL sports a rather delicate LCD connection that requires a fair amount of TLC. Relevant tips + wiring diagram can be found over at Casper Electronics. […]
Aud1073cH said:
April 17th, 2010 at 3:34am #
I’ve finally found a VL at a swap meet, but unfortunately, no sound comes out. Where do I start poking around to try to get sound back? I’ve already checked the speaker connections. I get nothing from the ouput jack either.
I look forward to getting it humming
casper said:
May 1st, 2010 at 3:31pm #
@Aud1073cH:
Does it turn on? I would bet that it’s something simple. Power wires broken, output jack solder connection broken.
1.6.4-bend me i'm famous said:
May 8th, 2010 at 9:16am #
I make a video for the rythmic gate in in the casio VL-tone, controled by the trigger of a DR110.
you can see in my page
http://bendmeimfamous.wordpress.com/
it’s the first mode of my VL-tone, for the moment, it’s not finish.
1.6.4-bend me i'm famous said:
May 8th, 2010 at 9:18am #
YOu can see a video of a rythmic gate in, in my page. it’s my first mode for my casio VL-tone
1.6.4-bend me i'm famous said:
May 8th, 2010 at 11:52am #
My first mode on my casio vl-tone, rythmic trigger in. you can see on my page
http://bendmeimfamous.wordpress.com/
1.6.4-bend me i'm famous said:
May 20th, 2010 at 5:06pm #
a put a rythmic trigger in, in my VLtone
http://bendmeimfamous.wordpress.com
Tronabetes said:
June 5th, 2010 at 5:37am #
Hi,
Thanks for posting this! In the photos of the finished project I see you have 3 pots and 6 switches, but in your diagram I only count 8 connections… am I missing something?
Thanks again.
stusvend said:
July 14th, 2010 at 12:43pm #
For whoever is interested, the Casio EP-10 shares the same same amazing chip (NEC D1867G), as Casio’s calculator/keyboard flagship VL Tone & many offshoots in the PT family as the VL series. The EP-10 is the “Muppet Babies” model. I bought one off of Ebay today for $9 bones. Thought that might be useful to those who dont want to spend $75-$150 for the VL-1.
Here is a demo of the muppet babies circuit bent. Good sounds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA7FJqXKOE8
laters