[sdiy] What to do with REALLY obsolete parts?

[dj hohum]

Sure, that make sense. They go nutty over 4558s as well. Slightly off
topic but related, and only marginally interesting, story.

I once had a TS-808. I paid $15 for it because it was the cheapest
distortion pedal in the pawn shop. I eventually got rid of all of my
pedals and went to a rack unit for effects, but, I kept the 808
because I found the "gentle" distortion to be useful and not well
duplicated by typical rack gear.

I eventually learn about the TS-808 craze and watched as the prices
climb. I had a chance to pick up a TS-10 for cheap and did the mod to
it so that it was the same as a "TS-808," Sure sounded the same to me.
At some point  I picked up a tube preamp and stopped using the 808. I
sold it for about $350 and picked up another $150 for the modded
TS-10. I see that original 808s  are now fetching upwards of five
bills on ebay.

That's just nutty! They have a nice sound, but the circuit is less
complicated than your typical LFO and you can find all of the parts
you need in just about any late seventies early eighties tape deck.

But, I'm not talking about the JRC-4558, a chip with a nutty
following, I'm talking about old 741s and 747s with 1980's date codes.
The CA3030s don't have date codes that I recognize, they say RCA627 on
the front and have codes like K 6 HY 22 stamped on the underside of
the chip.

At any rate, maybe I'll build a guitar preamp with them and do a 14
pin vintage op-amp shootout!


On 6/19/07, np <np at planetarc.de> wrote:
> dj hohum schrieb:
> > The UA726 has become valuable because there is no
> > reasonable substitute, the same cannot be said for old op-amps.
> The diy guitar effect guys have a completely different view about this.
> Old and obsolete RCA opamps go for a good price on ebay these days
> because they sound good when overdriven (I don't hear much of an
> improvement though. They just sound different but not better to my ears).
>
> First generation 4741 quad-opamps get a good price as well. That said I
> wouldn't toss them.  Keep them unless you really need the space.
>
>   Nils
>