Comments from the rants (long)
2009-02-12 by Paul Schreiber
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, and that future re-stocking cots could not me 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.