Those ubiquitous Talking Douglas Fir Trees, sold for less than $30 present, is a haunter's bargain for building automated faces. Of course, there is a bit of work to extract the "light organ" circuit board along with the motor driven eye and mouth assemblies. However, once it is done, you've got the low priced makings for a sound synchronized, talking scare.

The following is to assist or even tempt those who may be interested in obtaining these useful parts. However, before starting, be sure you have a talking tree, with an "AUX" jack on the control panel. A way to tell the correct model, before purchase, is to note that on the outside of the tree's packing box is clearly marked, "tape included or enclosed".

The extraction itself will require the following tools: Moto Tool with fiberglass cutting wheel, Phillips screwdriver, flat blade screwdriver, hobby knife, scissors, needle nose pliers, wire cutting pliers (dikes), clean up tools (vacuum, dustpan/brush, etc.).

STEP 1: Remove each wire branch by bending outward and clipping it off with the dikes. Even branches that are bent to form part of the moving mouth are cut off. This process is messy as the plastic needles fall everywhere. It helps to vacuum them up frequently. Don't rush and be careful with each snip that NO wires, hidden in the imitation foliage, are cut. A pair of scissors may be helpful to remove foliage, too.

STEP 2: After the branches are removed, (see photo below) the center stem, NOT the black plastic support seen in the photo, is hand twisted until it shears off at the trunk and discarded. With the stem gone, the appearance should be as in the photo below.

STEP 3: Remove the three screws that hold the base cover to the trunk. Then remove the screws and pull the main circuit board out of the trunk (wires remain inside). Next, cut around the edges of the control panel, from outside trunk, using the Moto Tool. Be careful not to cut any wires as you slice through the plastic trunk wall.

STEP 4: Once the control panel is free, it can be "pushed in" and drawn out through the bottom of the trunk. The speaker's three mounting screws should be removed, and the speaker must then have the green "hot glue" removed at its edge. Use a hobby knife to cut enough of this glue away (see photo), so that a flat blade screwdriver may be used to pry up the speaker. With the speaker gone, only the wires remain to be removed. They pass through a small hole in the top of the trunk

STEP 5: Using the cutting wheel, slice the trunk, starting at its bottom edge, moving upwards toward the hole that contains the wires. Be extremely careful as the wheel approaches this hole to avoid cutting any wires. Photo below illustrates the slot cut.

STEP 6: Remove the two screws holding the black supports to the trunk. Then remove all screws that hold the mouth and eye assemblies to this support. There will be a small circuit board connected to the wires of the eyes in the wires along this support. Unscrew the eye and mouth assemblies from the support. Next, use a needle nose pliers to remove the hot glued trim foliage on the eye and mouth assembly in the following way: find and grasp with the needle nose, an end of the wire trim on either eye or mouth assembly. Then rotate the pliers, holding the trim end firmly. This rolling action should pull up the wire trim from the hot glue on each part. Any remaining hot glue may be removed EXCEPT for the two (2) small locations shown in the photo. These are spring anchor locations on the eye and mouth assemblies.

The circuit's onboard music is triggered by light and noise sensors, that are NOT active when external sounds are injected (at the AUX jack). Therefore, the aluminum disk (piezio element) with two brown wires and the black tube (light sensor) with two green wires may be completely removed by cutting their wires close to the circuit board.

Congratulations! You now have an economic sound controlled automation system ready for use as in an automated face. The possibilities for this application are endless, and I will leave the creative adaptation up to you and your imagination.

Jim Kadel is the owner of Haunt Master Products, Inc. which specializes in developing unique haunt devices for both private/commercial haunted attractions. Jim can be reached via email at: hauntmaster@bigfoot.com his web site is at http://members.aol.com/hmpi