Yes the book is in and here are my first impressions……
One of the things that Ghazala points out right off the bat is that the only thing you need to know in order to bend is how to solder. Knowing the electronic theory is not essential to start in the bending world.
My thoughts: Emm yes that is true to some extent. Of course it doesn’t take very much to solder a switch between two points, but take my Super Speak and Spell case. If not for some basic electronic troubleshooting skills I would’ve never been able to figure out the burnt component. The basic knowledge of some essential formulas and ideas is always good. Knowing about the behavior of resistors and capacitors in parallel and series circuits is a must! It is very handy for just about any value substitution when only dealing with things that you got, which are not the right values that you need.
Chapter 4 on bending for business is only 2 pages with only a few pointers. Not mentioning eBay? Is Ghazala anti-eBay?
In the tools sections I was amazed when I did not see the Multimeter listed! What? I use that thing all the time testing for problems like shorts, broken connections, battery voltages, etc. Especially handy for resistor values when I am to lazy to lookup the color codes. Which is another thing that did not get a mention or a reference in the book.
The last and perhaps very important thing that got skipped is the right way to wire up an output connector. Judging from the diagrams in the book, Ghazala just demonstrates a simple inline jack connection which uses a trimmer for volume control. Its not a switching jack so the speaker is still active and when plugged in to the amp can act as a microphone causing all kinds of feedback. Granted that by leaving the speaker connected you don’t have to use an 8 ohm resistor to match the impudence, still that’s a small price to pay for a nice clean, switching connection.
All in all I was pretty stoked about looking through this book! Its a great resource and will turn a lot of people onto circuit bending for sure and act as a spring board to provide the basics in a concise form. It is definitely a Beginner-Novice book, with no mention of timer ICs, instrument interfacing, or Audio feedback techniques. But it is pretty advanced when it comes to case design, including some clever things which I have never thought of. Like using jewelry boxes to store parts and using wire eyelets for body contacts. The book is definitely kind of thin in my opinion with a lot of white space still. I also wish that it would’ve came with a CD that had instrument examples on it. But of well, maybe next time. The content of the book is nice to have, but aside from a few detailed diagrams with bending points All of the Information is available on the web from various sites. Still $20 is not that much to help support the “Father of Circuit bending” so order away.