Instrument-mods are nothing new around here. We got your Steampunk, your equipment that measures how hard you rock, even a guitar that plays Atari games. All pretty cool.

But the Arduinocaster has a unique look that separates it from the pack. It’s an Arduino-based MIDI instrument that uses switches and LEDs to control the “strings,” and an opto reflective switch for strumming. Check it out in the video below.

Clearly inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and created using the first generation iPod nano, this victorian eye-Pod by Doctor Grymm will have you doing a double take. All of the functionality of the iPod remains intact, and the eye-Pod can even be worn on the wrist using a leather cuff, or placed on its custom Victrola dock, made of a brass lamp and bicycle parts.

Forget the scroll wheel, all seeing eyeballs are more user friendly. The base features a Victrola horn that acts as a speaker. To charge the eye-Pod, a USB cable concealed under the base is retracted, or you can use an AC plug.

Doktor A, the creator this and other steampunk toys must be a mad genius living in the wrong time period. You can see his work currently on display at Gallery1988.

Just arrange cards in a semi circle in front of the device, place the planchard in the center of the cards, then set dial A to the spirit you wish to contact. Set dial B to the time since death if known. After that, you fully wind the patented clockwork mechanism. Next, you sit in a circle around the device and join hands. Once the spirit is contacted start asking questions using Morse code via the tap key mounted on top of the case.

German watchmakers Retrowerk have introduced a new range of Steampunk watches. While they don’t shout Steampunk at the top of their lungs, they sort of raise their voice as it were.

They sport the usual Steampunk design cues, like pistons, cogs, gears, revolving jump hour discs and so on. They’re a tad more affordable than most high-end watches, priced between $429 to $1098. Handlebar mustache and bowler hat not required, but they help.

This Steampunk lamp would be right at home lighting up the desk of a 19th century mad scientist. It’s basic,simple and unlike some Steampunk creations, isn’t overdone and overly thought out. Creator Michael Pusateri made it from an old wooden cigar box, two 60 watt bulbs, a handful of copper wire.

He admits that he got “a little fancy” and painted the ceramic mounts with textured copper paint. And he acknowledges that he could have thrown much more steampunk at the thing, but likes the simplicity. Check out a video below.

There are case mods, then there are case mods. This 8 foot tall monstrosity looks like it was actually part of Frankenstein’s lab. Looks like the only thing missing is the lightning. It was created by D. Mattocks, who must have shouted “It’s alive” during completion. This thing is just bursting with Steampunk goodness.

It has all kinds of copper piping, vintage gauges and glass indicator lights from an old navy ship. Seriously HG Wells should have been buried in this thing. Everything is backlight with green cold-cathode tubes, which makes it look even more Frankenstein-like. The whole thing probably runs off of an abbey-normal brain.

Jud Turner has some skeletons in his closet. Lately he’s been letting them out and creeping out the world at large. A few days back we told you about his Bio-cycle. You know, the thing that looks like a Terminator on a bike.

If the Bio-cycle clues us in on the future of Terminator transport, this “Trilo Temporalis” trilobite fossil clock shows us that fossils were creepy, like to tell time, and are itching to get into the whole Steampunk thing. The working antique clock embedded in the head illustrates the passage of time and the connection between prehistoric and modern eras.

The Steampunk phenomenon just keeps chugging along. Here’s a little something for you Guitar Hero players who wish they featured a Victorian rocker with period guitar. This is what such a guitar might look like. It was built for the 2008 Jersey City Artists Studio Tour by Mark Dalzell, and it’s called Organum Insolitus.

It features a television with Fresnel lens magnifier, onboard phaser, an amplifier and uses clockwork gears, hand hammered brass, cloth wire and wood. The guitar can be attached to an external amp with a standard ¼-inch cable, so you can really use this.

Daniel Pon loves Steampunk. So when it came time to make a steampunk mouse to go with his Steampunk keyboard and monitor, he went a little crazy with the design. The end result? Pretty damn cool. And maybe a bit morbid.

The Paradox Mouse is a great steampunk mod with typical brass, bolts, gears, wood, etc. A great neo-Victorian peripheral. But it has a few extra features that Daniel calls “ironic”. These features are a real mouse skull, shoulder blades and spine, all lovingly worked into the project. The skull sits on the front of the mouse, the shoulder blades as miniature cattle catchers, and the spine as the palmrest.

Love steampunk, but lack a steampunk sewing machine to go with your Victorian decor? Becky Stern’s Steampunk Sewing Machine actually functions as a sewing machine. The propeller even spins when the drive-wheel moves! As Becky puts it, “I got an old sewing machine at goodwill and steamed it up with brassy bits!”

That about sums it up. With this thing you can authentically sew steampunky stuff. Fans of such contraptions can take a gander at the machine and other steampunk objects at First Studio in downtown Phoenix on December 5, where these will be displayed as part of a steampunk show.

Check out this sweet Steampunk ray gun. It sports a pretty nice, not so over-the-top Steampunk look but still manages to have lots of nice detail. The “Power supply” consists of a vacuum tube and “brass bits” installed inside the gun. The smoky look of the vacuum tube makes it look as if it has just been fired.

There’s even detail inside of the barrel. The creator added some clockwork parts inside so that it looks like the delicate clockwork mechanism is focusing the particle beam. Nice! The end result is a nice looking Ray Gun suitable for any Sci-Fi adventure.

If Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and the like had had the opportunity to explore space, their gear might have looked something like this. Herr Döktor’s Vacuum Survival System, or ‘Space Helmet’ was apparently recently recovered from the archive at “Castle d’Arrogance”. There aren’t a ton of details, but from what I gather, it’s fully functional should you wish to leave Victorian England and explore space.

Some specs include a blown glass pressure bell, cast-iron body with brass and copper fittings, and externally mounted lamp. The chest mounted control box shows the temperature as well as illuminated internal and external pressure gauges. It’s a true work of art so awesome that it will grab you by the handlebar mustache and take you for a ride.

Not since the Steampunk R2-D2 have we been so shocked to see the droid in a whole new way. But this time it’s droid blasphemy really. Now the robot holds a 1 3/4-gallon aquarium tank in his central compartment. We always knew there was something fishy about R2, but damned if this doesn’t make us sad. Astromech droids were not made to be used as aquariums people. I don’t care how bad the prequels are.

The domed head rotates with vocal commands and he beeps just like in the movies. But if Luke had this model with him in the Death Star, he would have had to stop and feed fish every so often. The radar eye houses the eyepiece to a built-in periscope that provides an intimate view of the tank.

Datamancer has done it again and this one looks like it would be pretty comfortable to use. It’s got the usual brass, wood and classic typewriter keys, along with some other really super details. Like some violet LEDs, an acanthus-leaf pattern etched into the brass, and a soft burgundy wrist pad that is removable for cleaning. It began life as a very rare but plain IBM Model M-15 split ergonomic keyboard, but as you can see, it looks much better now.

There are Steampunk googles, and then there are Steampunk goggles that are quality made and look pretty damn spiffy too. The metal components that you see in this pair are solid milled titanium, coated in gold colored titanium nitride. That’s pretty cool by itself, but these goggles also feature irises that can be opened and closed through independent sliders.

If that isn’t enough to get your Steampunk blood boiling with steam power, the photochromatic lenses automatically tint in sunlight. The leather is actually bolted to the eyepieces, using 48 tiny bolts plus another four for the nosepiece. The creator obviously believes in quality.