A repair of an old synthesizer turned into a long strange trip for Eliot Curtis, the Broadcast Operations Manager for San Francisco's KPIX Television.  

 

Curtis decided to repair a vintage Buchla Model 100 modular synthesizer that had been sitting in storage at Cal State University East Bay since the 1960s.  

 

When he got the unit home and opened up - he noticed  “a crust or a crystaline residue on it.”  He attempted to remove the residue with his fingers and soon started feeling a tingling sensation ... and for the next 9 hours - was high on LSD.  This was confirmed by testing on the residue (LSD can stay potent for decades if stored in the right conditions)

 

So why would there be LSD on this keyboard?

 

Rumors are that musicians in the 60s - when this model was used - would dip their instruments in LSD then - wet their finger, touch the device, and then lick their finger to get a little bit of mind-expanding inspiration.

 

Also - the instruments inventor - Don Buchla, has a connection to LSD - he was part of the 60's psychedelic scene and his equipment was purchased by LSD advocate Ken Kesey.  Additionally, he was a friend of Grateful Dead sound engineer Owsley Stanley, who was an infamous manufacturer of an extremely pure strain of LSD.