This Raspberry Pi Mod Revived A Dead Guitar Amp With Sweet Effects Upgrades To Boot

Thanks to the Python library PYO, the YouTuber was able to put together a fun little single file python script that provides them with these awesome new amplifier effects. Using the potentiometers and code to detect the levels on said potentiometers, he was able to generate new effects and sounds through code manipulation as well.

Ultimately, if you wanted to spend the time to build this yourself, you would need an overall knowledge of audio equipment, an amp of some sort and speaker setup, some programming knowledge, and wiring knowledge to make it work. If you want visualization, though, you might need a little extra wiring and knowhow so you can get LED displays to output properly along with, as this creator has, a breakout board. The exact details of hardware for this mod other than the Raspberry pi, the software, and what is seen is the video are not expressly shared. There are a bunch of different options for Raspberry Pi, but for the best results we would recommend using a Pi 3 Model B, or even newer, like a Pi 4 Model B. The reason we'd recommend a newer or faster CPU based Raspberry Pi is because when operating audio processing on slower CPUs or slower systems there is often a delay between input and output, and many many musicians get thrown off by this.

Custom Amplifier Back Panel

In addition to providing new effects through new knobs and potentiometers, there are also a bunch of new ports on the backplate for the device. It's a beautifully done piece of work with some very lovely sounds produced actually, so we highly recommend you checkout the video above.

Another interesting facet of this mod, is that it makes something like a Raspberry Pi control board for multiple pedals a potential reality. This possibly greatly reduce the cost of certain types of equipment for musicians, which we think is awesome.