"I sold some of my second-hand blue oakleysound modules in the MOTM
format on ebay and lost a ton of money, many people were put off by
the 'non-standard' format and told me so.
Also the Harvestman has now changed his much cooler black/orange
design to the silver deopfer style, I presume for this same reason."
This is exactly what Scott from Harvestman told me at NAMM this year.
Shawn at Analogue Haven also says as much.
Thanks to all for your opinions. So many people have expressed a
preference for yellow, I'm seriously leaning in that direction. If
some nerd demands Doepfer-looking panels, I could offer silver FPD
panels for extra cost. (Or just email them the damn FPD file and let
them make their own.)
In fact, I don't actually see a lot of preference for one modular
panel size or another, from actual end-users. The most requested
format in my experience is: "guitar pedal, with real bypass, and CHEAP
CHEAP CHEAP." And it has to run on a 9-volt battery. That's not gonna
happen. It's made of TUBES, people. This is one reason, among many,
why I curse at guitarists all the time.
You've seen Ken Stone's tube VCA?
http://www.cgs.synth.net/modules/cgs65_vca.htmlYou can make a primitive VCA out of those battery-radio tubes. But not
much else. They tend to have too little gain for resonant filters or
preamps. And I have no idea where he found a stash of those 1J24
subminiature tubes. They are no longer made, and are already getting
scarce as hell, even in Russia. I will NOT use subminiature tubes, of
any type--because they are disappearing rapidly. The "common junk" TV
tubes I usually use will probably never run out, because so damn many
of them were made.
Most tube module designs I am looking at.....will almost certainly
need +5v power. Amps of it. To run all the damn tube heaters. That
will piss a few Doepfer fans off. But no choice--all Eurorack synth
cabinets have limited power supply capacity, even the really big ones.
I can do a simple preamp/VCA module that runs off existing +-12v,
using 26A6 pentodes. But most of the designs I'm looking at will need
+5 to run heaters on 6.3v tubes. (I run them a little cold
deliberately, to maximize lifetime.) NO choice.
If someone complains that the module doesn't look like other brands, I
can always get rid of them by pointing out how much power Metasonix
tube modules pull. They'll REALLY complain about that. Do I really
want such fools as customers anyway?