[sdiy] making 2 or 3 dollars an hour on synth building?

[Travis Thatcher]

In my incredibly limited experience, selling synths and other diy
electronics is like being a musician:  You might get lucky and break
even, or you might get really lucky and make some cash, but generally
you are doing it for yourself.  Granted, my Voice of Saturn kits are
nowhere near as complex and technically interesting as the things you
guys here are usually doing, but they've allowed me to basically not
loose money on building new designs, and building things for myself.
With something like Dan's audio ark, perhaps after a prototype or two,
there could be ways to make its production faster/cheaper?  Maybe?

I know that I, for one, would be incredibly interested in a kit,or
module or stomp box that tracks pitch as well as the ark and spits out
CV. I think there's definitely a good little market for that.

-travis



On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 10:23 AM, Derek Holzer <derek at umatic.nl> wrote:
> In this era of mass produced stuff made in faraway places (and in the case
> of some companies, by children's hands), I think it's quite reasonable for
> something custom and handmade to have a price tag like that. It's impossible
> to make custom electronics on a level which can compete in price with
> factory made stuff, or even the small-run "boutique" stuff that's common in
> this scene.
>
> Yes, Dan should have charged $20K for his synth (how much do those new
> Buchlas cost?), and perhaps yes, he should then have paid some "consultation
> fees" to the folks whose designs helped him along. If people want stuff that
> available software or hardware solutions can't do, they should in fact pay
> what it's worth to develop those solutions. This way of working even thrives
> in the free + open source software scene, where the basic code is free but
> the knowledge to implement and customize it comes at a premium.
>
> Those with a sustainable business model in this field (like many others) are
> usually the ones who have a production line, even if it is very small run
> stuff (look at Tom Bugs for example, who to the best of my knowledge does
> manage to squeak out a living doing them!)
>
> best!
> d.
>
>
> Ian Fritz wrote:
>>
>>> BUT i was just HOPING there was a way to supplement my income with
>>> electronics. it is NO big deal though if not ;)
>>
>> I have a friend who makes cellos violins, etc.  She makes and sells
>> several a year.  But you can't even *look* at one for under $20k.  That
>> would be the only way you could make decent money.  Unfortunately, there
>> isn't much demand for analog synths, since people have cheap software
>> alternatives.  Simple supply/demand economics.
>
>
> --
> derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl ::: http://blog.myspace.com/macumbista
> ---Oblique Strategy # 53:
> "Do something boring"
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