Googly Sound (Looking Back!)

by bricabracwizard

9.6K7930

Intro: Googly Sound (Looking Back!)

I saw these beautiful horns (Indian taxi horns, minus rubber bulb) at the market going for $20, I saw the chance for a new kind of sound from my iPhone!  The horns on this device look a bit like snails eyes on stalks!  If you like this I have created other artefacts which I don't have instructables for but they might give you more ideas.  Click here.


STEP 1: The Box!

First find yourself a nice box you want to put the electronics in, the box I chose is quite small as you can tell by the phone on it.  Of course there will be plenty of sanding involved and lots of varnishing - I love to use Danish Oil, it takes many more coats to give it a great finish, but it's worth it!  This box soaked up the varnish like a sponge, I ended up using 11 coats!

The covering inside used up most of the space inside so I removed this and will keep for a later project!

STEP 2: The Horns!

Find yourself some good brass horns to fit on your box.  These I found at the markets in a pretty rough condition, nothing that a bit of TLC can't solve!  As you can see they are hand made and come all the way from India, the horn on the left has the makers mark.  They are both slightly different from each other so will not look symmetrical.

Cut and polish your horns to suit your enclosure.

STEP 3: Adding the Electronics

I couldn't find an amp small enough in my junk box to fit this box so I went out and bought one, it's only mono....but.....it'll do!  Take it apart and rehouse it in your box.

The 8ohm speakers were bought at the same time.

STEP 4: Squeeze Everything Into Your Box

It was a tight fit but as you can see I got everything in!

STEP 5: Making It Look Good (Feminine Style)

All I did was 'pretty up' the box using brass rods, beads and finally putting in the iPhone holder, which I painted gold.

Googly sound has a 1/4" jack socket in the back so you can play your music and sing through Googly sound as well.  I am going to plug my guitar into this, I'm sure the sound is going to be amazing.  This is a LOUD box!

I hope you enjoy creating your own, it is a conversation starter!  If you like this have a look at my iPhonograph.

I've put in a guide to other steampunk creations which are absolutely fantastic!  How to Steampunk!

30 Comments

conmac863 12 years ago

Very cool. I have about half of one like this completed and then started another 3 project. Thank you for reminding me to go back to it.

One suggestion if I may. They have charging cradles that have a line out so you would not have your cable hanging out the top. You can see the line out port on the picture somewhat. Something like this:

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

I bought one online, it only cost AUD $4.00! Thanks again, I may use this in Googly Sound if it's easy enough to swap over.

faralley 12 years ago

Hi, first of all, it looks very nice! Great job!

Second, please follow conmac63's advice and swap the cradle.
It will sound way better when you'll use the line out instead of the headphone out.
Because you'll bypass the headphone preamp (which works great when headphones are used, but are not that ripping going to a hifi device)
Compare the two options (headphone out vs connector-line out) and be amazed!
(check out this article: http://beavishifi.com/articles/headphonejack)
Maybe a "LOD" cable can be fitted in the existing cadle so there's little work to be done.
Good luck
cheers !

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

Thanks faralley. That was a good link and now I have work to do! Your fault of course! :) ...and thanks for the compliments.

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

Thanks I've been wanting to use something like that I'll look into it. Another part of me wants a funky cable sticking out of the top, I'm on the lookout for a brass braid like what is used for desoldering to 'dress up' the cable.

conmac863 12 years ago

The braided cable would look really cool. Great idea.
Something like this? Stainless steel ice-maker tubing.

SkizMaroo 12 years ago

This is a very cool, creative, well thought out and executed, project. The restoration of the box alone is impressive. Danish oil, huh? I'll have to try that on something.

Did you ever try it as a guitar amp? I was thinking there may be some impedance matching problems unless you ran the guitar thru a stomp box, preamp, mixer, or anything that would bring the guitar signal up to preamp/headphone levels. I would be very interested to know how that worked out.

Very nice job!

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

Hi SkizMaroo,

Sorry it's taken soooo long to reply, I was hoping to put up a vid demonstrating me playing guitar through the Googly Sound (Just been too flat out busy!) . The volume was good although from mid to the highest volume it was distorted (good for grunge guitar). Through a DI box it sounded great, though you wouldn't use it at a gig.

Thanks for the compliments, I hope you make something like this. I would love to see it.

Cheers,
Bricabracwizard

Horatius.Steam 12 years ago

Great! I love it.

Greetings from The North,


Horatius Steam

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

Vielen dank. Ich wohnte in Düssledorf für ungefähr 6 Jahre

vpurcell 12 years ago

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THIS!!! You are so clever!!!!!!

tannerpotts17 12 years ago

An excellent work. Very well thought out. I congratulate

La_Sweeta_Deeva 12 years ago

Super dooper! you create a custom Steampunk cover for the iPhone next?

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

That will be my next project to disguise the iPhone etc......lol!

Winged Fist 12 years ago

Great Job! Looks absolutely fantastic! As far as covering the cable, you might want to consider using the technique I used for my Steampunk USB cable, maybe using paracord instead of bootlace.

bricabracwizard 12 years ago

You've done an excellent job and instructable with your USB cable, I will try this I need to make up a few cables.

Aeon Junophor 12 years ago

Hi bricabracwizard

I am deeply impressed! Take a bow!
Cheers Aeon Junophor
More Comments