[sdiy] Great DIY polysynths

Chris McDowell declareupdate at gmail.com
Fri Aug 7 20:25:12 CEST 2026 

Same here Roman, I took 'em all apart for no good reason. 

First and second polysynths though: 
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Cheers,
Chris 

> On Aug 7, 2026, at 11:50?AM, Roman Sowa via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
> ?Too bad I can't show you my first synth. Or 2nd either.
> I destroyed them, not thinking it's something an older me would love to have. :(
> 
> Roman
> 
> W dniu 2026-08-07 o 16:17, Benjamin Tremblay pisze:
>> Ummm I?m not going to describe my first synths. I was 16.
>> Benjamin Tremblay
>>>> On Aug 7, 2026, at 10:06?AM, Jacob Watters via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
>>> ?
>>> For my first synth, I literally just stuck an old EQ front panel into it and reused all the pots in my own circuits. It's not pretty, but it got the job done.
>>> https://www.jacobwatters.com/images/synth/synth1.jpg <https://www.jacobwatters.com/images/synth/synth1.jpg>
>>> *Jacob Watters*
>>> JacobWatters.com <http://jacobwatters.com/>
>>>> On Fri, Aug 7, 2026 at 7:37?AM Roman Sowa via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org <mailto:synth-diy at synth-diy.org>> wrote:
>>>    My first DIY modules had marking printed on paper, sprayed with
>>>    transparent acrylic paint and glued to (mostly) aluminium panels.
>>>    Still looks good today, reaching about 25 years.
>>>    http://sowa.synth.net/modular/index.html
>>>    <http://sowa.synth.net/modular/index.html>
>>>    And my polysynth made a decade earlier didn't have any markings at
>>>    all!
>>>    Just beautfull color spray painted all over the steel plate panel. It
>>>    didn't actually need any marking, because all controll was done by
>>>    up/down & left/right arrows with 1x40 LCD. Kind of like the synth
>>>    vibe
>>>    was in early 90's
>>>    Roman
>>>    W dniu 2026-08-06 o 22:33, Oren Leavitt via Synth-diy pisze:
>>>    >
>>>    >
>>>    > On 8/6/26 11:47 AM, Mike Bryant wrote:
>>>    >> Actually comparing a lot of modern DIY stuff with 1960s/70s
>>>    electronics,
>>>    >> I think I know which looks a lot more 'homemade' ?
>>>    >
>>>    > When I built my first modular synth, I made front panels from
>>>    sheets of
>>>    > Masonite. I spray painted them white, applied labeling, dial
>>>    ticks, and
>>>    > other art with a fine ink pen with the aid of rulers or stencils.
>>>    > Applied a top coat of Krylon to seal it all in. Came out pretty
>>>    nice.
>>>    >
>>>    > One of several pictures of it on my Flickr:
>>>    > https://flic.kr/p/2stGyzF <https://flic.kr/p/2stGyzF>
>>>    >>
>>>    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>    >> *From:* Synth-diy <synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org
>>>    <mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org>> on behalf of John
>>>    >> via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org
>>>    <mailto:synth-diy at synth-diy.org>>
>>>    >> *Sent:* 06 August 2026 17:07
>>>    >> *To:* SDIY List <synth-diy at synth-diy.org
>>>    <mailto:synth-diy at synth-diy.org>>
>>>    >> *Subject:* Re: [sdiy] Great DIY polysynths
>>>    >> On Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:20:09 +0000
>>>    >> "Chromatest J. Pantsmaker via Synth-diy"
>>>    <synth-diy at synth-diy.org <mailto:synth-diy at synth-diy.org>>
>>>    >> wrote:
>>>    >>
>>>    >>> Your complaint is that the labels are on printed material
>>>    instead of
>>>    >>> silk screen? Really?
>>>    >>
>>>    >> "This DIY synthesizer being discussed on the synth-DIY mailing list
>>>    >> looks distinctly DIY, what's up with that!?"
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