[sdiy] Thoughts on sliders...

[Tom Bugs]

Thanks all for the replies so far!
It is already very interesting to see that there are opposing views.
(I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of people who replied personally 
to me before forwarding their messages to the group if they're happy 
with that)
Do keep 'em coming (if we've not covered most of the pertinent bases yet)
Wondering also on DIY dust protection methods as Derek mentioned.
- I think 'brushes' may be difficult, but maybe rubber or some felt-like 
material would work. Cutting this correctly may be problematic though. Hmm.
As far as slot cutting goes - I will be continuing to use PCBcart for my 
frontpanels and they can do slot cutting. I only did slot cutting once 
before (for my Klee seq) - I used an end mill on my CNC for this and it 
was a load of work, though the end results were pretty good.
Cheers, Tom

Steve Carter wrote:
> There are sliders and sliders. The professional long throw 100mm ALPS 
> type at £50 a time are superb, silky smooth and are used in the best 
> mixing consoles.  Having said that, even the smaller and much cheaper 
> types are worth using in a lot of applications.  The biggest problem 
> with sliders is keeping the dust and dirt out especially when they are 
> in a horizontal position.  I have stripped and inspected 100s of 
> sliders and there are four problems that occur time after time:
> 1. Dust and dirt accumulation - sometimes abrasive causing track wear.
> 2. Mechanical problems - usually the housing partially parting company 
> from the track due to undue pressure on the slider knob.
> 3. Wipers losing tension - this is usually due to the slight rocking 
> of the shaft inherent in most designs.
> 4. Track deterioration - especially after inappropriate switch cleaner.
>
> Sliders are great for envelope generators and give a more intuitive 
> user interface. For synth use, especially in the upright position 
> where you can't pour your tea or coffee in them,  I don't think they 
> are any more or less reliable than a conventional pot.  The modern 
> Alps or Panasonic budget sliders are reliable and have better dust 
> protection than older designs - I suppose the only real headache is 
> cutting out the slot in the front panel
>
> I'm cringing at all those ARP Axxe synths with bad sliders but it was 
> a good front panel for getting people started with synthesis.
>
> Steve
>
>
> On 27 Mar 2009, at 11:06, Tom Bugs wrote:
>
>> 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
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