Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ answers the questions we get asked the most. Our Terms & Conditions are the formal version. We take pride in our support and our customers give us lovely feedback about it. We consider this just as important as the techy stuff.

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What to expect from Thonk

We’ve been sending DIY kits around the world for 14 years. One thing that has been constant since the start is that we don’t consider our job is finished when the kit lands on your doormat. Build documentation and videos get the vast majority of builders to the right place straight away. Even so, sooner or later something you’ve soldered won’t work quite right first time, and we’re always here to give you that second pair of eyes on your work. We answer build questions, we help debug, and while it’s extremely rare, we always replace parts that we determine to be faulty.

A few honest things about that. We’re a small team in Brighton in the United Kingdom that works 9-5, Monday to Friday, not a 24hr Amazon call centre, so replies usually come within 3-24 hours on weekdays rather than instantly. We can’t promise before you start that your build will end up working 100% after your first build session, because it depends on the soldering, which is the one part we can’t do for you. However, if you read the build docs and don’t solder late at night when you’re tired, we find the vast majority of people are capable of doing a totally acceptable job at the very least!

Debugging with us is a conversation rather than a diagnosis; we’ll ask you to send photos, try stuff and maybe even measure things, and the more patient you are with that, the faster we get there. What we won’t do is make you feel stupid for asking. Even the seasoned pros forget to solder a whole header a few times a year. We’re always happy to hold your hand or advise over email.

Ordering and shipping

Do you ship worldwide? Yes. We’re based in Brighton in the United Kingdom, but since 2012 we’ve actually shipped more orders globally than to the UK. We ship to the USA, Europe, Canada, Switzerland, Japan and Australia daily, and many more places too.

When will X be back in stock? It’s the final boss of Thonk questions, and it depends what X is. Popular loose parts are usually replenished fairly quickly. Kits are more variable. These are boutique products made in batches, often in small numbers, and each batch has to be planned, sourced and packed rather than pulled off a shelf. Some of our suppliers are doing this as a solitary side hustle for the love, so restock timings aren’t always in our hands.

Do you have a waitlist? Log into your Thonk account and hit the Join Waitlist button on the product page, and we’ll email you when it’s back. It’s worth doing even if you’re not in a hurry. The size of a waitlist is one of the main things we look at when deciding what to reorder and how soon, so adding yourself really does push it up the queue.

Our mailing list and Instagram are where we announce restocks more generally. If after all this you’re still waiting on something specific, email us and we’ll tell you what we know.

When will my order ship? Orders are hand-picked by our friendly staff and leave in the order they came in, typically within 12-36 hours. If we’re particularly busy due to a sale or holiday, we’ll notify you of any delays in the cart and at checkout before you pay. You’ll get an email when it goes out. If you haven’t had a dispatch confirmation and you think you should have, check your spam folder first, then email us.

Can I change or cancel my order before it ships? Email us as soon as possible and we’ll do what we can. We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to make alterations, but the sooner you get in contact the better chance we have. Depending on what time of day your order comes in, it may ship within minutes!

When is shipping free? For UK customers it’s when you spend over £100 inc. VAT. For international customers, shipping is charged on all orders. Free shipping applies to the outbound journey only.

Do I pay UK VAT if I’m outside the UK? No, we don’t charge UK VAT on orders shipped outside the UK. As soon as you’ve told us your address is outside the UK, either in your account page or at the checkout, then UK VAT is removed from the total. If you’re in America, Africa or Asia there’s no sales tax for Thonk to collect. If you’re in Norway, Australia or the EU, we collect the local equivalent of VAT on your behalf and pass it on to your government. Other customs fees and duties may still be payable when the parcel arrives in your country. US customers have the option to pay duties in advance though, read more about that here.

Will I have to pay import taxes or customs charges? If you’re outside Great Britain, usually yes. We handle the export paperwork and you’re responsible for import duties, VAT at your local rate, and any clearance fee your courier charges. We can’t estimate these for you or reduce the declared value, and we’re legally required to declare the true value of everything we send.

As a US customer do I have to pay Trump tariffs? Yes, but we make it painless and simple. You can settle them in advance at checkout, so the parcel travels with everything already paid and there’s no surprise bill or hold-up at the border. Once a parcel has shipped, prepaid duties can’t be refunded. Full details are on our US customers page.

Why do you keep telling me to track my parcel? Because a missed delivery is much easier to fix while the parcel is still in your country. Postal services don’t reliably leave a card, and once something starts its journey back to the UK we can’t intercept it. If a parcel comes back to Thonk here in the UK because a delivery attempt was missed, the shipping for the whole journey is your responsibility, along with any duties or clearance charges already incurred. It’s an outcome none of us want, and you can avoid it by watching your tracking.

Why do I have to give you my phone number? All of us prefer to keep our phone number private, but the postal services and couriers all insist now that a customer number is given to them for each order, and it’s not something we can refuse.

It’s really important you give us a number that works, and that you answer the phone to postal services or couriers delivering your parcel if they call you. Couriers and customs agents sometimes use it to reach you about charges and suitable delivery times, and without it a parcel can stall and eventually return to the UK.

Can I ship to a PO Box, parcel locker or pickup point? You can, but at your own risk. Some won’t accept couriers, and some won’t sign for parcels. If yours rejects the delivery we have to wait for the parcel to come back to the UK, and the costs for the full journey are yours. If in doubt, use an address where a human will take the parcel.

Can I ship to my employer’s address? Yes, though with a note of caution if you’re in the European Union. It’s becoming common for couriers to charge the import VAT and duties to whatever company name appears on the shipping label, which means the invoice goes to your employer rather than to you. Once that’s happened it sits between them and the courier, and there’s nothing we can do to redirect it. If you’re in the European Union and would rather avoid that, use a home address.

Can I ship to a hotel or holiday address? Please talk to us first. If the parcel arrives after you’ve left, we can’t refund or replace it, and we can’t redirect it once you’re gone. Remember that you’ll also have to pay UK VAT if the hotel or holiday address is in the UK, and that could be more expensive than shipping to your home address.

What if my parcel arrives damaged? Send us photos of both the damaged outer packaging and the damage to the product itself, and we’ll resolve it as quickly as we possibly can. Please keep hold of the packaging until we’ve sorted it out, as the carrier sometimes wants to see a photo of it. This is a remarkably rare occurrence, and we get great feedback on our packaging and on how suitably sized and protective it is to the products inside.

What if a part is missing from my order? Sorry about that. Our orders and DIY kits go through very careful QA so this is rare, but they’re packed by hand and very occasionally something slips through. Email us with your order number and what’s missing and we’ll get it sent out to you. Just let us know within 30 days of delivery.

DIY kits

I’ve never built anything. Can I do this? Yes! Our experience since 2012 tells us that the vast majority of people can do this. Start with something from our beginner kits and read the build documentation all the way through before you pick up the iron. You’ll want a temperature-controlled soldering iron with tips that you can replace.

Where can I learn to solder in person? The Synth Shed typically have at least one event a month in London that is very beginner friendly. It’s a great chance to try soldering out with some expert advice if you want to get your confidence up. It’s a very inclusive event and everyone is welcome. Read more here.

You can also find us hosting DIY build workshops at shows like Superbooth in Berlin, Machina Bristronica in Bristol and the London Synth & Pedal Expo. Follow our Instagram or email us for news of upcoming workshops.

Where do I find the build documentation? It’s listed on every product page, and we also include it in the email we send you when your order ships.

What if my build doesn’t work? Email us at [email protected] with clear photos of both sides of all included PCBs and a description of what it does and doesn’t do. A digital multimeter is sometimes worth having, but the vast majority of debugging comes down to spotting soldering issues rather than measuring something. We’ll work through it with you. Most faults turn out to be a missed joint, a solder bridge, a component in backwards, or a part in the wrong place, and they can all be solved one way or another.

What’s the bag with the yellow warning sticker for? The parts inside are static-sensitive, which is why they’re bagged separately. We only use modern components, which are a lot more robust than they used to be, so genuine static damage is uncommon and you needn’t worry if you don’t have a wrist strap or an anti-static mat. Keeping them in the bag until you’re ready to fit them, and not building on a carpet in socks in a thunderstorm, is plenty.

Can you help if I used parts from somewhere else? Not with debugging, sorry. We can only support a build where the parts came from us, because otherwise we’re guessing about components we’ve never seen.

Do you repair things? We don’t, sorry. We can’t repair, rework or finish your build, and we aren’t able to accept part-built modules back. What we can do is help you debug it over email, and if a part we supplied turns out to be faulty we’ll send you a replacement. The soldering stays with you, but we’re always here to support you.

Can I get a replacement PCB or a spare part if something goes wrong? Email us and we’ll do the very best we can. 99% of the time that’s a yes.

Returns and refunds

The full rules are in the terms. The short version:

Always talk to us before sending anything back. We’ll give you a return number (we call it an RMA). Anything that turns up without one gets refused and goes back unopened, and the postage for that falls to whoever sent it, so please email us first.

You have 30 days, anywhere in the world, and for international orders the clock starts when the parcel arrives in your country rather than when it leaves us.

Unbuilt and unopened is straightforward. Once you’ve had tools on something, a refund becomes complicated and not a definite thing. You’d need to talk to us about whether a return is appropriate, since we can’t decide on a refund from photos alone.

Faulty is different. If something is genuinely faulty or we sent the wrong thing, there is no 30 day limit and no fee. Be sure to mention faults or wrong items when you contact us to return, because it changes how we handle it.

Beyond 30 days. Our worldwide offering of a 30 day return is generous. It’s over double the legal UK requirement. So if you ask for a refund after 30 days please accept that most of the time we will politely decline. If something unusual happened we’ll look at it case by case, though a restocking fee applies where we agree. Ask rather than assume.

Refunds are usually quick. Once we’ve agreed a refund with you, PayPal is often near instant, depending on your choice of funding source. Cards carry the standard warning of 3 to 7 working days, which does still happen occasionally, but these days it’s very unusual for it to take more than a day or two, not counting weekends.

Products we sell ready-built

Not everything we sell is a kit. Assembled products bought from 1 January 2026 onwards come with a three year warranty, which sits on top of your statutory rights rather than replacing them.

Where something we’ve supplied assembled develops a fault, your rights sit with us as the seller, and you can always come to us.

That said, for modules built by other brands, the manufacturer often has the firmware knowledge, the spare parts and the jigs, so going to them directly can be much faster. We’ll offer to introduce you and help chase it. If that route stalls, come back to us.

Gift vouchers

Codes arrive by email straight after payment and last 12 months. You can spend a voucher across several orders and the balance stays on the code. If yours has expired, get in touch and we’ll usually sort something out.

We can’t currently offer vouchers to customers in the European Union, or apply them to European Union orders, because of how the EU’s IOSS VAT rules interact with discount codes.

Other questions

Can I visit or pick my order up in person? No, sorry, we’re an online shop only. Our workspace isn’t suitable for customer visits.

Where else can I buy your products? You’ll also find our DIY kits at stores like Perfect Circuit, Exploding Shed, Signal Sounds, SchneidersKeller, SchneidersLaden, Escape From Noise and Synthshop.no. We also have a UK-only eBay store for older and more unusual items.

Where can I try your products in person? As well as the stores listed above, we regularly attend shows like Superbooth in Berlin, Machina Bristronica in Bristol and the London Synth & Pedal Expo. You can come and talk to us, demo the gear, meet the designers and like-minded fans, and join in with the DIY sessions. Every few years we attend Synth East and SynthFest too.

Do you make all the kits that are sold at Thonk? It’s a real mix. Thonk Synth is our own brand, and it’s designed, manufactured and kitted entirely in house. With Music Thing Modular for example they do all the design, but we handle all the manufacture, testing and kitting here in Brighton. Then there are brands like Befaco and Erica Synths who send us complete kits ready to sell, and our job is selecting, stocking and shipping them.

Are Thonk and Music Thing Modular the same company? No, we’re two separate businesses that have worked very closely together from the very start. Music Thing Modular is Tom Whitwell, and the designs are all his, drawn up in London. Thonk is the sole manufacturer of the kits and assembled modules here in Brighton, and we distribute all Music Thing products to all the worldwide stockists listed above. Tom’s own site is at musicthing.co.uk.

How often do you email your mailing list? Over a year we probably average one email a month. We don’t give your subscription email to anyone else. Join here.

Can I resell your products? Talk to us before ordering. Our online bulk and sale pricing is for private customers, manufacturers and kitters on the basis that loose parts aren’t being resold, and reselling them is against our terms and conditions. Reseller arrangements are a separate thing and we’re happy to discuss terms with you.

Will you sell to anyone or anywhere? We don’t sell to companies working in the defence and security industries. We are also not able to ship to a small list of countries, due to issues with payment providers, shipping insurance, unreliable delivery services, sanctions or unpredictable customs and duties processes. Our website checkout will tell you if we can’t ship to your address.

The site isn’t working properly for me. Try a different browser first. Thonk works best in Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and iPadOS. Safari also works well on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Most of the problems people report clear up straight away with a switch. If it still won’t behave, try turning off any VPN or ad blocker and try again. If that doesn’t work either, email us and let us know which browser and device you’re using.

Something’s gone wrong and I’m annoyed. Email [email protected] with your order number and tell us plainly what happened. We’d much rather hear it from you than read it on Instagram or a forum, and we can usually fix things when we know about them.

Where this page and our Terms & Conditions differ, the terms are what apply to your order. If you spot a difference in this FAQ, do tell us, because it probably means we need to edit this page.