Were the Good Old Days all that good?

[Paul Schreiber]

As one of the old warhorses (and dreaded 'manufacturer') on DIY, here's my 2
cents worth:

When I was a PCS (Poor College Student) I *sprinted* to the mailbox each
day, looking for Electronotes,
CFR, Blacet, PolyPaks ("No time to test these!") and other synth stuff (this
would be 1974-1979). Being a PCS,
I dreamed of Q81K tempcos, AD821 pairs and *actually owning a 'scope!*.
Instead, I'd try to build what I could.
About 80% of the time, failure.

I discovered electronics is like baking. The cake can flop (elaborate
circuit emulates a 13 ohm resistor) due
to several reasons. Since I didn't have the correct ciruits, substitutes
were made (I only had maye 10 different
resistor values). But *usually* it was due to incorrect building: left off a
ground, missed a connection, diode
backwards, etc.

Now, educators would say "This is how you learn! You track down that error,
and you are a better person." Well,
this is true, fun, and a mental challenge only the FIRST 30 TIMES. Then, you
get frustrated, angry. Nothing
worse than spending 5 hours carefully soldering 40 parts to miss 1
connection (out of say 200).

Solution: tested pcbs! Doesn't eliminate all errors, but what is known
(er...*assumed*) at the outset is:

a) if I build it right, it will work
b) the *dull* work is reduced 100%. That is, power and ground connections.
ESPECIALLY the grounds!

As I think back to the "Glory Days" of Electronotes, if there were pcbs
available at the time of publication
(and this is where PAiA/Radio-Electronics made huge strides) then I would
have *gladly* paid to get them!
But, pcb CAD was non-existant, and even "plain" double-sided pcbs expensive.

Which bring me to.....parts.

I have about 50 schematics/service manuals of old stuff. I can state that if
I handed these to you, you couldn't
completely build, as drawn, ANY of them. Why? Because the parts no longer
exist. So, you have to know enough
about the circuit *AND* electronics to make a stab at what will work.

What's nice about today's kits: you get ALL THE PARTS. And, you aren't
forced to buy a zillion different
bags of resistors to get that elusive 9.1K needed in a bias circuit.

I think it's fair to say that there are 2 broad classes of people on this
list: people who *mainly* want to *build*
synth circuits, and people who *mainly* want to *design* them.

I think NOW is the Golden Age of synth building! Just go to
www.modularsynths.com and check all the folks.
You have a wide variety of prices and functions.

Now, I'm sure that some of you still get old stereos out of the trash and
clip out the parts. I can't help you. You
have a 2-car garage with no cars in there. You have every National Semi data
book since 1972.  You have
parts with date codes 6830. You have 15 synth/effects/doodads, none which
you paid over $75 for. You think a $3 op
amp is "expensive".

But, if I was just starting out, not interested in *design*, but interested
in *building* a working synth, then
now is a great time. Compared to say, 1980-1996. Back then, ZIP! And, I
believe you LEARN MORE studying
a WORKING circuit, than beating your head against a wall tring to find a 50K
reverse log pot.

As far as "taking away" from the list:

a) I got no secrets. I give full schematics and theory of operation. Ask
Serge for those :)
b) There are member of this list that receive quarterly royalties for their
work for me. Even though
I'm NOT required to. I do it because it's the ethical thing. In fact:
c) I GLADY accept anyone's designs if they want to "turn it into" a MOTM
product. Heck, I never claimed to be
the next Bob Moog! I'm old and lazy: if *every* MOTM design was by list
members, I'd be tickled pink!

I've never NOT shared any info just because I thought it was a financial
advantage. TRUST ME (and Grant and
Tom and John S.) none of us are making as much on these "businesses" as you
think. I call it my
"user-sponsered hobby". Enough money comes IN so more MOTM can go OUT. (Just
today: spent $2435 on pots,
$1344 on pc boards, and $1103 on wire). I *could* just take that $$$ and go
to visit JH in Europe. BUT...I 'plow'
it (ALL OF IT) right back into MOTM because I REALLY LIKE designing and
providing these.

So, to all you builder's: stop trying to build off of 30 years old
schematics, and check into what's out there.
Let us crazed designers build the old stuff to obtain NEW stuff that we all
can use.

Paul Schreiber
Synthesis Technology
www.synthtech.com  <<<kits designed by humble DIY folks