[sdiy] Thoughts on sliders...

[Tom Bugs]

Hi there, just seeking some opinions on sliders.

We'll side step the interface / aesthetic details for now (how people 
play them differently to knobs) - what I'm really asking about is 
reliability.

I brought up the possibility of sliders in conversation - thinking on 
some interesting module & design ideas. While people were very 
interested in the design possibilities, it was flagged up that several 
people had had bad experiences with sliders, with examples of 
dirty/unreliable on the SH101 and JD800. (Though it was interesting to 
hear what people thought on what functions should stick to knob usage -- 
seqs and mixing, good for sliders, osc tuning maybe not (I think it'd be 
ok?!))

The ones I've been looking at are quite standard Alpha types - the 
datasheets quote a life of 15000 cylces, which is the same as their 
rotary pots (which I've always been happy with) and, interestingly, the 
same as various other slide pot manufacturers such as Alps & Bourns 
(again from datasheets).

What people were saying was that they we more prone to dust problems - 
this seems obvious as the travel is much more 'open' to the environment 
than on regular pots, but I'd appreciate other opinions. Sliders in 
general seem to be used less widely - perhaps due to the mechanical 
difficulty of slot cutting or perhaps as they're not quite as readily 
available as rotary types. One thing that struck me was the possibility 
that machines like the SH101 used somewhat inferior sliders to cut costs 
-- who knows?! Alpha products have always seemed to me to offer a great 
balance between cost and quality - solid, but not too pricey.

Opinions - please!
Cheers & best,
Tom / BugBrand