ASM-1 PCB availability?

[Jim Patchell]

Aaron Harding wrote:

> (Sending this a second time as it appears to have not gone through the
> first. My apologies if it did)
>
> Hello! New to the list and to synth-DIY in general. I had some interest in
> building an ASM-1 and was wondering if anyone had heard lately if PCB's
> were still available from Gene Stopp. I e-mailed him sometime back (about
> a month) but have recieved no response. Also, has anyone had any success
> in building an ASM-1 (or any of it's modules) using perfboard? I bought
> the parts for the 2 VCO's with the intention of building on perfboard,
> but after realizing what a nightmare I was getting myself into, I thought
> I should probably do a little more investigation into the availability of
> PCB's. Any suggestions/comments? I have also been looking into the PAiA
> 9700 series modules as a possible starting point...

    The Paia 9700, is of course, a good course to take.  So is the ASM-1.
While I have never purchased an ASM-1, I have heard you need to be patient.  I
understand that Gene, like a lot of us, have many things on their plates.

    As far as building synths on perf boards...yep, it works.  It is really
not quite so bad as it may seem.  I used to build most of my stuff on perf
boards.  It does help if you have good eyesight.  That is my biggest problem
with building stuff on perf boards these days, in fact, the biggest problem
with building anything, come to think of it.  You do have to plan the circuits
out pretty carefully, and I have found that the same rules that apply to PCB
layout also apply to building a circuit on perfboard.  Rule #1, keep the
circuits that are on the inputs of op-amps REAL short.  Rule #2, bypass high
bandwidth op-amps (I consider the TL071/081/LF356 types to fall into this
catagory).  Rule #3, avoid quad op-amps.  Duals are OK, singles are better.
There are some complicated rules I use for choosing an op-amp package, and it
appears that other people here have similar rules, but to keep it simple, I
would stick with duals or singles.....Rule #4, be patient.  Don't take short
cuts.  Generally, if you do a good job, it will work good (yeah I know, this
is simplistic).

>
>
> <<aaRoN>>

    -Jim