125B wacky tuner re-housing Korg GA-30

SpringReverbFan1234

SpringReverbFan1234

Member
The Korg GA-30 tuner is cheap and plentiful, albeit old and slightly obsolete. It would be better in a pedal, with a mute switch.
The dimensions work out roughly for a 125B. The speaker could be removed or relocated. The batteries could be replaced with a holder if necessary. The buttons would most likely have to be pressed with a pointy object.

Would this be crazy to attempt? Completely unnecessary? tuner.jpg

tuned.jpg

tuneguts.jpg

Tayda Electronics Drill

Tayda Electronics Drill Designer for custom enclosures.
drill.taydakits.com drill.taydakits.com
 
Took a while, but I finally gave it a shot. The original goal was to just drop the top half of the tuner in, but that wasn't going to work with my template being slightly off. So I had to shave down the tuner's corners a little bit. I bought another Korg GA-30 because I realized mine had sentimental value and I didn't want to dremel it.

T002.jpg T004.jpg T003.jpg

The rectangle cutout for the screen and the three LED holes are perfect but just a little too close to the top edge of the enclosure. The button holes were slightly off but can still be pressed with a pencil. I wired the power button in parallel with a push button to make it easier to turn on. I cut out the speaker completely. If I want to use the microphone the red wire will need connected to the input jack switched lugs.

The BOM is basically:
Tuner ~ $10
Pearl Gray custom drilled enclosure - $11.50
compact dpdt latching stomp switch - $3
two 1/4 jacks - $0.90
push button - $0.25
plus wire and shipping, but I have wire and I waited until I had to make a tayda order for other stuff anyway

Overall I don't recommend anyone else try this, too much work for assembly. But it is possible.
 
Aleph Null said:
Hell yeah—looks great! Has to be more roadworthy now.
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LOL. I did check that the tape holds the batteries in place even if I smack the pedal on the floor. I forgot to mention the tuner has an auto off feature and makes the batteries last years and years which is why I like it.

The best way to accomplish the same thing is probably just to make a passive fx loop pedal and tape/velcro the tuner onto it. Like this:
T006.jpg
Then the pedal can be used separately. But mine didn't have top jacks so that's why I gave this rehousing a shot.
 
Betty Wont said:
This is super rad! You should sell them as like a Pete Cornish edition Tuner for a couple hundred bucks. This is infinitely cooler than any DIY tuner I’ve seen. I just use the Boss Tuner app so this has inspired me to rehouse my iPhone into a 125b!!
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Can your iPhone mute the signal from going into your amp? What if you built a bluetooth controlled active switcher pedal controlled with an app? jk jk :)
 
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