Jeremy Bell has launched a Kickstarter campaign for The ScrubBoard Kit, describing it as a DIY kit with everything you need to build a unique, cassette tape-based audio sandbox. According to Jeremy, the idea for the ScrubBoard came from a performance artist named Laurie Anderson, who used something called the “Violin tape bow” in her act. This involved a violin bow with a strip of audio tape attached to it, which she then played by dragging it against the playhead mounted to the body of a specially designed violin. However, it wasn’t until ten years ago that Bell began taking classes in audio engineering and began seriously toying with the idea of building one of his own. From there, the idea kept growing and evolving until it stopped being about recreating Laurie Anderson’s instrument and turned into creating something unique of his own. 

Pledges for the ScrubBoard Kit begin at $450, which will net backers the entire kit for hardcore tinkerers. It comes with clear instructions and everything needed to build a ScrubBoard, but it will require some soldering to put together. The result will be a ScrubBoard and one scrubber, so users will need a cassette and some headphones or powered speakers before starting tape scratching. 

The next tier features The ScrubBoard Kit for $525, and unlike the previous tier, everything is wired, which means the most challenging part is already done. There’s still some other minor wiring that has to be done, along with fitting pieces together and screwing in bolts. As with the previous tier, a cassette and some headphones or powered speakers are needed to use the ScrubBoard. 

The final tier will set backers back $625 but comes with the ScrubBoard Kit pre-assembled. This is for people who want to get straight to the fun of manipulating recorded sounds and might not be too keen on the DIY part. It comes with one fully assembled ScrubBoard and one fully assembled scrubber, but it still requires a cassette and some headphones. However, all tiers have optional add-ons that can be ordered, such as a second scrubber for two-handed scratching and a special scratch tape pre-loaded on the ScrubBoard. 

The ScrubBoard is a one-person operation, so Jeremy Bell has limited the total number of available units to 50. The project has an all-or-nothing Kickstarter goal of $16,000, and if successful, it will ship in January 2025. For more information, check out the Kickstarter page or the official website to view the full manual.