MOTM

Sorry if this is a repeat, but I was having email issues late last night.
I did not see that it was ever sent out.

> a) Fixed Filter Bank: I am waiting for the new pcb pots to arrive. This 
> will be the end of March. I'm then going to look at the schematic/BOM and 
> see what the cost would be with current prices. I will then have to decide 
> to either:
>
> - offer it as just pc board set with the pots (all the resistors/caps are 
> straight out of Mouser/Digikey)
> - offer it as an assembled SMT module
>
> I am planning a Frac version of it (SMT) using current Frac pots/knobs. 
> Possibly a Euro version as well.
>
> b) Code/firmware in the '730: Written by Scott 'Old Crow' Rider, a 
> long-time user/designer (he also worked on the '480 and the '485). He has 
> source code, I have source code. The code has been tested by Robert Rich 
> for over 2 years without any "bug reports" and by Mike Marsh (who did the 
> demos on the site) for about 10 months or so. Again, not 1 single error. 
> The CPU is in a socket, if there ever is a need for a 'bug fix' everyone 
> will get a *free* CPU to swap out.
>
> The code set in the '730 is probably 100 times less complicated than in 
> the '650.
>
> c) Lower cost assembled MOTM modules: I have mixed feelings about "how low 
> to go". Some of this is influenced by the fact that a LOT of Cynthia ZOs 
> were sold in MOTM format, at a cost 2X anything I have. Maybe it's "well a 
> ZO **IS** worth 2X to me over a MOTM-XYZ". Maybe at the time (2007/early 
> 2008) there was more $$$ to spend. But the success of the ZO, for better 
> or worse, was a factor in my new direction.
>
> Now, finding these new pots certainly will help matters *some*. I still 
> have several 100 of the Spectrols to get rid of first. I still prefer the 
> 149 cermet version for the VCO pitch controls. The other major costs are 
> (in order)
>
> - front panels. Not a damn thing I can do there. Unless Bridechamber wants 
> to sell 'em to me for $6 :)
> - jacks. I like Switchcraft, I have looked at others but they are all 
> crap. What's the point of having 1000s of invested dollars in your system 
> when a crap jack acts up? I suppose you can shrug it off and pop in a new 
> one at $3ea or whatever high price they end up 10 years from now. But I 
> guess I'm just not willing to change. The Singatron jacks in the '650 are 
> the best alternative, but now the vertical Switchcraft jacks are available 
> (RoHS delayed their introduction 2 years).
> - pc boards. I *have* switched vendors, but at the current rate will take 
> *years* until all the existing blank boards are used up. All new projects 
> going forward will use the new vendor. MOTM-190s and MOTM-300s will be the 
> first analog modules using the newer boards (the green solder mask is a 
> slightly different shade).
> - knobs. F'ing Tyco. Nuff said. I could use the injection molded Frac 
> knobs but that is not part of the "MOTM look" so I'm 'stuck' unless I swap 
> over to a knock-off. All of those I have seen look crappy.
> - wiring/coax. The current scheme of individual wires and the coax was 
> essential to the kits. Newer modules like the '650 and '730 do not use 
> this approach. Rather, I use pc board mounted jacks and very short ribbon 
> cables, with many ground wires (usually 1 ground per 1 signal). This is 
> about even in cost but 10X faster in labor, especially high I/O (like both 
> '650 and '730 are). The Frac modules have always used this, no one has 
> complained about degradation of audio or CV performance because of it.
> - parts. Sorry, not scrimping 1 dime there.
>
> That leaves profit margin. Now, there IS a sure-fire way to get a very 
> good idea about a module's early success, and minimize risk on *my* end. 
> That is having a deposit/pre-pay. But, if there is one, and ONLY one 
> lesson I have learned in 11 years, it is this: nothing pisses off people 
> *more* than accepting a deposit and missing delivery dates. N O T H I N 
> G.And since I cannot judge my involvement in MOTM more than a few weeks at 
> a time, this would make no sense at all.
>
> So, instead, I figure around 25-30 modules to break even, when I buy parts 
> for ~75. This is sort of a "running average": I won't buy 100 front 
> panels, I'll get 40 or 50. I will buy all the pc boards, and all the ICs. 
> Even so, in most modules (not just the '730) it can take many months to 
> start seeing a decent return.
>
> The other 'wild card' in the previous 10 1/2 years has been the CEM IC 
> "slush fund" which has gone away. In many cases, 4-5 months of CEM IC 
> sales could be 'diverted' to fully fund at the least all the R&D/prototype 
> costs of a new module. I could then charge less because I didn't *have* to 
> recoup the up-front costs by what I call ........
>
> d) strict module self-funding. Since Day 1, I have had a "rule" that every 
> module has to stand 'on it's own' in terms of being profitable. In other 
> words, the MOTM-800 sales had to fund all the costs of the '800. If I ran 
> out of '800 pots (these are custom ordered from Bourns) then the cost of a 
> new batch (around $1700) had to be from *anticipated* (and this is a VERY 
> key point) future sales of '800s. This is why I discontinued (for a while) 
> MOTM modules that had run out of their supplies, because future 
> re-stocking costs could not be covered based on predicted sales.
>
> Currently, I am at such a dilemma with several modules (again). So now, I 
> have to think of the modules together as a whole in terms of sustaining 
> the line (ie MOTM-300s help pay for the pots I bought for the '800s). This 
> is sort of "my problem" but it does alter 11 years of how I have been 
> running the business. Which brings me to........
>
> e) Using Frac/Euro to fund MOTM. What I hope is that the E340 and other 
> modules in Frac & Euro will generate enough revenue that I can 'divert' 
> (very Enron-sounding...) profits back into the MOTM side, so that at the 
> end of the day (there is just one bank account) I don't have to worry 
> about MOTM modules *individually*. Rather, that the company as a whole is 
> OK and I can keep going forward.
>
> f) Increasing the business via PCB *only* sales. Stealing a page from JH 
> and CatGirl, introduce designs that only exist as a pcb, BOM and maybe an 
> extra parts kit. Maybe panels, maybe assume Scott at BrideChamber will 
> have them :) Now, I'm not going to sell $12 pc boards. I might sell $40 pc 
> boards. Or, take it 1 step farther......
>
> g) maybe offer an option for the '520 as a 'semi-kit': a stuffed pc board, 
> the stuffed/soldered jack board, the ribbon cables and a panel/bracket. 
> Save $100 maybe?
>
> The bottom line is that I'm starting to worry about the economy just like 
> everyone else is. And I appreciate everyone's comments/suggestions.
>
> Paul S.
>