[sdiy] PAIA for Appreciation of Heathkits?

[R. D. Davis]

Well, after several decades, I finally ordered a PAIA kit, a Theremax,
which I was looking forward to the arrival of.  After opening the box,
and a quick inspection of its contents, I'm all the more appreciative
of the Heatkits, and their quality, that I received from Santa Claus
as a youngster.  Alas, Heathit didn't produce kits for synthesizers,
AFAIK (aside from their (Thomas) organ kits).  When one built
Heathkits, one felt as though one had assembled something that was
quite durable and would last for decades... and everything one needed
was included, no wood that needed to be sanded and stained, that
I know of, for example, and if any was, surely all supplies were
included.  Also, the edges of metal panels weren't finger-slicing
sharp.

Heathkits weren't inexpensive, but neither are PAIA kits.

On the positive side, all parts are included in the prices (but I
didn't receive the wallwart type power-supply yet that was supposed to
be included with it) along with a check-off list so that one can
ascertain that all parts were included.  The front panel was included
and looks nice.  The pots are full size.

The manual is a hodge-podge of stapeled together xeroxed copies, some
of which can't be read unless the "manual" is unstapled so that pages
can be removed.

The "lectern" case was very much overpriced and turns out to be bare
wood; cheap and cheesy pine yet.  Some sanding will be required as
well as staining or painting... no wood stain, etc. was included.
Rather than including a couple of simple hinges and a latch, or at
least screws (although with fragile pine, I guess screwing and
unscrewing would be disastrous after a few case openings with that
soft wood) the cover of the case is attached with velcro.  Half the
price for the case and it may have been closer to being considered a
reasonable price.  The bottom of the cabinat is a piece of sheet metal
with unfinished edges that are sharp enough to cut fingers, etc...  no
whitesmithing, but that's typical these days.

Another big surpise was the instruction to cut off the plug from the
wallwart's cord and just run the wires through a hole in the wood
cabinet with no strain relief or anything to prevent the wood from
chewing a hole in the wires over time... well, to be fair, they did
mention to tie a knot in the cord for strain-relief of sorts.

All other comments will be reserved for after the kit is completed.
Hopefully with, or without, the modifications that I've read about,
the sound will be such that time and money won't have been wasted.

Hopefully I'll be proven wrong about my first impression of PAIA
kits... I was just expecting a kit that I could start assembling as
soon as the box arrived, without a trip to the hardware store and time
spent lacquering, staining and lacquering wood---or just painting it,
and un-sharpening a metal panel.  Ah well.

-- 
R. D. Davis 410-744-4900  Beware & halt the National Animal ID System (NAIS)! 
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