Dear Steampunkers, dear Followers and DIY Fans out there

Today I would like to share a new Steampunk project with you. May I can give you some inspiration to build your own unique music machine.
The "Wildbad 7" is based on an old tube radio from SABA made in 1957 which was completely destroyed by a water accident. I got it for free and I loved the great design with the vacuum tubes.

So the idea to build a Steampunk "Wildbad 7" was born!

The following steps may give you some ideas how you could build your own device. May you don't have the same parts, but be creative. There is always a way to create something unique!

Step 1: Preparing the Base - the SABA Wildbad 7 From 1957

First I had to clean the old chassis from the radio and the tubes. I made that only with a wet towel, because I wanted to keep the old patina on the metal parts. I checked the tubes and replaced the running ones by broken ones, because they will be only decoration.

Step 2: The Upcycling

After I finished the cleaning of the chassis I startet with the upcycling. That's what I love on Steampunk!
I choosed a lot of old metal and brass parts, some more old vacuum tubes, vintage light bulbs and so on...
You have to be creative. Try to imagine how such a machine would look during the victorian time and they used brass, copper and glass to build stunning machines.

Step 3: The New Heart - a Small MP3 Board With an USB-Plug

After I finishes the upcycling I prepared a cheap small MP3 module for a few bucks to use it as the new heart of this Steampunk Machine.
It's powered with 5V and has only 4 small buttons.
For the buttons I had a special idea: I changed the original buttons of the "Wildbad" to use them to control the MP3 device.
A few words about how I did that: I used the metal frame of the chassis for the "minus". Then I used self adhesive copper foil to create the contacts under the metal arms of each button. To the copper foil I soldered the cables for the buttons (see the pictures).
The used MP3 module saves the volume and the position of the tracks when the power is switched off. So I could reuse the original power switch as power button.
The small module is placed in the corner under the chassis.

Step 4: Questions? Feel Free to Ask!

I hope I could give you some ideas how to build a very unique MP3 device with the vintage spirit of the past.
May you will find such an old tube radio somewhere in the junk yard. The MP3 modules you can get cheap from an internet seller.
Please feel free to ask if you have some questions.

Sincerely yours

The Chocolatist