The Good Solder

Published: 15 October, 2024

Concerning:
  • Buddha Machine 2 by FM3

Music card of a Buddha Machine

My father showed me how to solder when I was young. The first thing I remember him soldering was an X-Wing Fighter from Star Wars. The wires that connected its sound effects chip to the AA batteries got disconnected. He re-soldered them and restored the X-Wing and, later, other broken toys. 

When I solder, I think of him. I love the association and have a soldering iron and some basic electrical tools that I think he'd enjoy. Most of my soldering has concerned electronics, like a customised doorbell or speakers connected to a Raspberry Pi, or kits my son and I have put together. 

Early this year I bought a broken Buddha Machine was made by the band FM3 on eBay. In the listing, the seller explained that it no longer worked and could hear some things rattling around inside. 

Buddha Machines are tiny devices that play music. They have 8-10 tracks on them, and each of the tracks is designed to loop, so you could begin playing one and it would loop endlessly. The music is played through charmingly basic speakers or you could connect one to better speakers. They've released several variants Buddha Machine, including collaborations with Throbbing Gristle and Phillip Glass. 

A challenge with collecting them is most of the Buddha Machines have sold out and are out of production, so when I saw this broken Buddha Machine 2 on eBay, I decided to take a chance, figuring that maybe I could re-solder it and have a nice little machine.

 

Wire strippers, soldering iron, solder, wires and an orange Buddha Machine
The inside of the broken Buddha Machine
The inside of the broken Buddha Machine
The inside of the broken Buddha Machine

 

Spotify embed (or YouTube video or playlist, or Vimeo)

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