MOTM

On 5/22/07, Paul Schreiber put forth:
>I hope you are sitting down when you read this (I just got off the floor
>myself):
>
>Vishay has raised the price of the 148/149 pots (the older black ones, newer
>ones are white) from $3.85ea to $12.25 ea.

Wow.  Talk about getting the shaft.  Was there any explanation for
this outrageous increase in price??

>What does this mean long term?
>
>a) I am going to seek a compatible alternative (pcb-wise). However, this is
>*very unlikely*.
>b) There is then a decision to make. I can still offer the Spectrol
>pots, but I
>will have to increase the price of the assembled modules by as much as $75!
>c) Or, I can redesign all of the pc boards to accept blue Bourns pots (like on
>the MOTM-800). All that is needed is to replace the 1/4" standoffs with 1/8".

I'm a bit confused here.  Do the Bourns pots fit the holes in the
PCB's originally designed for Spectrol??  If so, unless you have a
massive inventory of 1/4" spacers, using 1/8" spacers to mount the
boards seems fairly trivial.

>Now, I know the Bourns "feel" is not preferred. but, (and I need to
>check, like TODAY!!), these pots were <$4 the last time I bought
>them.

Imho, the Bourns pots feel just fine.  I never had any complaints
about my 800's, which I probably adjust more than anything, or any of
the pots on the left side of 2U modules.

Does Bourns make cermet pots suitable for VCO's??  Also, what is the
difference between Spectrol 148/149 and Spectrol 248/249 pots??  The
dimensions look the same, but as far as I can tell the 248/249 are
less expensive.