ASM-1 Faceplates for sale (?)

[Christopher List]

>> - It's up to you to drill all holes (the place I was gonna take this to will 
>> drill holes, but then they may be the wrong size for some people)
>
> Hmmm, for me, drilling the holes is what I am forseeing will be one of the 
> biggest pains.  It seems we could agree on a size so the panels could be
> drilled out for us.

I'd really rather not. If you guys want to pay me a little extra, I could drill 
holes for you (to spec) on my drill press, but otherwise it just doesn't make 
sense because some people may want to use 1/4" jacks, some may use different 
sized pots, etc. For example - the banana jacks I use fit in a different size 
hole from "normal" jacks beacuse the shaft is metal and it uses a spacer in the 
hole to keep it from touching the face plate.

A few people have asked whether it's worth the cost or not. I just spoke with 
some places that do this stuff. It's $100 for set up + about $10 each for the 
prints. That's $13 each, if I get 30 made - $20 each if I get 10 made - for THE 
PRINTING ONLY.  I don't know what you guys are planning on using for your 
panels, but fancy aluminum ain't cheap. That seems to be the most expensive 
part. 

See this is where we run into issues of taste - which is why I wasn't even 
going to bother offering this in the first place...
I would like black-anodized aluminum with white letters and symbols. The 
problem is that 4 rack space panels that are pre-cut and made for music racks 
are about $25 each. The other alternative is to have the metal finishing place 
get a big sheet, cut it, send it out for anodizing and then print on it - 
which, they say, might be cheaper, but not much.

What WOULD be cheaper is if they get a big sheet of black anodized aluminum, 
cut it, and print on it. This means that the edges would look like plain raw 
aluminum. This doesn't bother me, but others might feel it's too sloppy. OTOH, 
some of you may say - "forget anodized, plain brushed aluminum with black 
lettering is fine for me and it's cheaper" - well, there you go, that's why 
there's chocolate and vanilla :). For me the only reason for getting it printed 
professionally is that I want it to be fancy. I've made neato dial markings, 
lots of symbols, little outlines around each section, etc. - but these are all 
things that I wanted on it. 

Take the layout Dan's done. 6 rack spaces is too much for me - I like the stuff 
compact - just a matter of taste. I like "depth" knobs right next to the jacks 
that they set the depth for, with a little line connecting them, and tuning 
knobs close to the 1v/oct inputs - just a matter of taste. I see logic and 
reason for doing it either way...   

This means that because of  
1) lower setup / unit cost ratio
2) Higher dependency on esthetics
...it may not be as beneficial for someone to do this with faceplates in the 
same way that Gene's done it for the boards. Regardless, I think I've generated 
enough interest. I'll get a final price from these guys for doing it with 
aluminum sheets - cut raw (silver edges), and let you guys know how much. Then 
when I've committed to a real price and a real date I'll take real orders. 

If I don't sell 'em all - who cares, I'll get more boards from Gene, put 'em 
together and sell 4-voice ASM1's down at Rogue Music or something - I mean, 
come on, this is NYC - we pay through the nose for analog stuff here :)
(Of course Gene will get his fair share of any profits  -  :))

- CList