Hi all,
Of course, people should also be able to "bitch" as it
were, but in doing the "bitching" it is important to
do so without putting Paul (and the other brave
modular companies) down for decisions he rightfully
makes in running his own business. He has the right to
do whatever he wants. End of story. We as
consumers/fans/spectators/etc have the right to buy or
not to buy. End of story. Supply versus demand.
From what I understand, and even from witnessing the
volume on the message boards, demand for MOTM Kits was
dropping prior to the sale Paul had (when everything
sold out in 2 seconds). Bottom line: we were all
spoiled and waiting for the ∗next∗ great thing instead
of focusing on the ∗current∗ great modules in the
line. I am very guilty of having the thoughts about
the next module making my synth "finally " well errr.
"a bit" ... errr, well one module more complete. We
are lucky Paul even decided to make modules at all.
This modular is a history maker. Think about it, no
classic moog owner had anything to do with building
the modules but certainly the legacy behind them only
grows with time (as does repair costs wink wink). The
MOTM will still sound freekin' awesome whether it
comes from kits or an assembly line. Once it's built
it comes down to performance and Paul has ∗always∗
made that his top priority. There has been no change
to this in making a second line of Frac modules, in
discontinuing kits, or in considering any and all
options to ∗stay∗ in business. IMHO Quality is the
foundation of MOTM, not the kits.
I am in the group of folks who has a ∗largish∗ modular
and my MOTM purchases have evolved to include
purchases from other manufacturers. This is natural as
you expand a modular. Every manufacturer has a
selection of modules, sometimes wide and sometimes
limited. They also all have an area to complain about
when it comes down to it. For example Doepfer has
almost everything available but size and parts issues
are often mentioned. Buchla is nice but very
expensive. Synth.com is great but doe not have kits or
uses cheaper pots. On and on...
My only point here is that these guys are all
∗small/independant∗ businesses and have to make
decisions about products based on their own biz model.
Paul has stated that the price of surface mount
components is much less than through hole and, as
such, we might see assembled (by machine) modules
costing the same as kits (meant to be assembled by the
end user). If the assembled price ends up being close
to the current kit price, the value only goes up for
me since I can spend my time playing with my modular
instead of assembling it. There are too many who focus
on the building of the shrine, opposed to the
celebration of it with music. Don't misunderstand this
statement, kits are a great hobby, but there are still
options for me to build them with MOTM moving to
assembled. Look at Oakley, MFOS, Blacet, etc. There
are wonderful options people.
I for one have less time these days than I used to. I
still will build kits, sure, when time allows. These
may be of my own design or based on one of the ∗many∗
pcb-only boards you can get off of the Internet these
days lately. BUT, I have grown to appreciate the fact
that modules arrive assembled sometimes and I can get
right up and work with them. Fun stuff.
Look at the following track record to see into why
Paul is doing this (IMHO):
Cyndustries - no kits/sometimes pricey - SUCCESS
Doepfer - no kits - SUCCESS, largest of everyone in
history actually
Synth.com - no kits - SUCCESS
Serge - no kits - SUCCESS
WIARD - no kits - SUCCESS (mostly, sorry Grant)
MODCAN - no kits - SUCCESS
MOTM - yes, kits (but LONG lead times on shipping,
great for a lot of people but some people who are
∗used∗ to buying assembled are discouraged by lead
times on assembled modules. I know Simon keeps posting
the "kits are 95%" of synthech, but that number will
obviously change once kits go away. When given the
option to buy assembled only from all manufacturers
mostly, it will be interesting to see who's boat still
floats. My vote is clearly for Paul, be it Frac or
large format. The fact is that Paul will still mainly
focus on large format only without kit versions. It is
good to have a Frac "option" with so many existing
Frac users out there. Good business decision.
By far though the best business decision made lately
is the one by Paul to stay in business creating
assembled only versus going out of business riding the
kit train to la la land. I am grateful for all that
MOTM has brought to my life. Do I wish aspects had
gone differently? Sure, I am still waiting for modules
announced in 98 when I started building. But, if it
all ended tomorrow I know I have awesome designs from
Paul and Co that will last a long long time.
Thank you Paul primarily, but one cannot forget the
Daves, the Brewster, Mr. Marsh, Elhard, the other
Paul, Larry (RIP) and all of the other people who have
helped to make this journey more than interesting. The
list continues to make great discussion and great
company happen.
Thomas White
Thomas White
Natural Rhythm
www.naturalrhythmmusic.com
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