[sdiy] CEM pricing...then

[John Mahoney]

At 07:42 AM 1/12/2007, Ray Wilson wrote:
>... I would buy my CEM chips from John Simonton (unfortunately not 
>among us anymore) at PAIA and he had them for sale in the $10.00 to 
>$15.00 dollar range....
>If anyone has an old Polyphony magazine or PAIA catalog you could 
>see this with your very own eyes.

Those prices sound right. I have a bunch of old Polyphony mags and I 
leafed through just about all of them, only to find that nobody was 
advertising bare CEMs. But let's take a little trip... Step into the 
Wayback Machine, Sherman, and set the dial for 1981! Please stay on 
the path and watch out for butterflies... (Artistic license applied for.)

PGS Electronics in Terre Haute advertised in practically every issue 
from 1981 on, so take a look at a 1981 advert.

SSM chips were priced as follows:
         SSM2000    $7.50
         SSM2010    $7.50
         SSM2020    $7.50
         SSM2030    $7.50
         SSM2033  $10.00
         SSM2040    $7.50
         SSM2044    $5.75
         SSM2050    $7.50
         SSM2055    $6.50
         SSM2056    $5.75

BBD chips were quite expensive, with the SAD-1024A at $21 and the 
SAD-4096 going for $36. ("Too much!" shouts the man in the tie dyed shirt.)

UA741CPs were a mere 29 cents each, whereas those swanky FETs were a 
few times pricier:
         TL071CP   $0.80
         TL072CP   $1.35
         TL074CN   $2.25

CA3080Es cost a buck each; a CA3280G was $1.98.

NE555P timers cost 39 cents apiece. (Today they are STILL 39 cents 
each from BGMicro, but the TL072 is just 60 cents.)

Finally, the TI SN76477 sold for $2.48 a pop. I think these go for 
about $15 in today's market.

As for those CEMs, let's go back a little further to find the 
May/June 1980 issue. PAIA sold the chips separately (in the catalog) 
but only advertised the EKx Exponential Module Cards which were based 
on them. Including the Curtis chip and everything else, these 
modules-on-cards were priced as such:
         EKx-10 ADSR   $24.95 (+ $1 shipping)
         EKx-20 VCF     $26.95 (+ $1) -- LP, BP, HP or AP
         EKx-30 VCA     $24.95 (+ $1) -- Expo and linear CV inputs
         EKx-40 VCO     $29.95 (+ $1) -- Ramp/tri/pulse/PWM, 
expo/linear, hard/soft sync

Okay, that was fun! Everyone make it back alright? Hmm, what's that 
odd odor...?
--
john