[sdiy] Ideal project for a cloning newbie?

[Scott]

I doubt most would agree w/ me but.....
I went with the "frac rack" format w/ the smaller 1/8th" (or 3.5mm)
jacks.  I'm very happy with it.  I used good quality jacks and plugs,
and small shielded cables.  It's maybe not quite as professional or
'serious' looking as a motm sized modular, but I haven't seen any other
disadvantage.  The space saving is great!  My beast is already about 3
feet tall by 4 feet long. Any larger and it wouldn't fit in my car.  I
made a series of cables w/ 1/8 inch plugs on one end and 1/4" on the
other for whenever I do need to interface w/ standard pro audio gear.
You could also just make a panel w/ small jacks connected to large
jacks.

I had all my front panel blanks cut at a local metal supply house and it
was very inexpensive. I had them make a bunch of 3 different sized
pieces.  Then I design the panels in AutoCAD (but any drawing program
would work), glue a template to the aluminum blank and drill the holes
on my drill press. (and my drill press is one of those really cheap ones
that a normal drill gets bolted into.)
I sand the panels w/ very fine grit paper to smooth them out and give
them a nice finish.  I've done a few things to "print" the panels.
Toner transfer works, then spray the top w/ some sort of clear finish.
Lately I've just been printing onto clear sticky back paper and sticking
it onto the panels.  The paper (really it's plastic) is very thin, and
to be honest, I can barely tell the difference between the toner
transfer and the stickers.  I spray a clear acrylic finish over the
sticky paper, too. (I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me 5 or 10
years down the road, like the sticky stuff giving out.  I used UV
filtering acrylic spray over the top, so I think it should be ok.. if
not..  it will give me a project for the future :P)

My goal when I started was basically to get the most synth I could for
as little money as possible, while still having it look somewhat
professional.  I spent the most money on potentiometers and jacks,
because I wanted those to be of good quality as they can affect the feel
and sound of the synth. (I'd hate to add it up, but I've probably spent
over a thousand dollars on pots and jacks)



-----Original Message-----
From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl
[mailto:synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of John C
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 6:37 PM
To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Ideal project for a cloning newbie?

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi Amos,

Thanks for the suggestion!  Sounds like a good starting point.  Are any
of the designs in the book based on famous vintage ones or are they from
scratch?
I do intend to build all of my projects in a modular type of format, it
does provide the most flexibility, and I'm not terribly concerned with
cosmetics.
What modular format do most DIY-er's use?  I see there are blank MOTM
front panels and prototying boards, is that a good way to go?  I'm
already started with several MOTM-style modules but wouldn't rule out
something more compact.

Thanks,
- -John

Amos wrote:
> On Dec 6, 2007 5:36 PM, John C <johnc909 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> -...the ultimate goal is learning some about
>> electronics and making some nice and possibly unique instruments for
>> myself to play, so yes I'm open to mixing and matching designs as
well.
> 
> 
> in that case, may I suggest Thomas Henry's "Analog Synthesizer for the
> 21st Century"?
> Available from our very own Tim Servo at Magic Smoke Electronics:
> http://www.magsmoke.com/thomas_henry_books.asp
> 
> (Tim, you can remit my fee via PayPal) ;-)
> 
> Seriously, it's a great collection of circuits which can be built as
> an integrated monosynth or mixed and matched / modularized to your
> heart's content.  Check it out!
> 
> -Amos
> 

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (Darwin)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFHWecyTCoK8TIK58YRAtB2AKCX1RNIyG15heNGCah2ds5cogijuQCeMCqm
xzu6TXbNCGCUWNME9XguQQk=
=tJXB
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
_______________________________________________
Synth-diy mailing list
Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy