Muff's Modules & More

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:45 pm Post subject:

Some thoughts:

As I said, for the first panel I would like to do a run and make sure everyone is happy before we go into production of multiple panels. However, I would like to issue 4 different panels around the same time. That way everyone should have enough panels for at least a complete boat. The first 4 would likely be 258, 281, 292 and either a 4xvoltage processor or 291 or 194x2?

If there is enough interest I will do a buchla panel for pretty much any DIY project. I have some ideas but we can get to that later. I think there are enough buchla-related projects available to easily fill 3-4 boats without repetition.

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:49 pm Post subject:

valis · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:50 pm Post subject:

That sounds terrific to me. I really don't mind keeping things close to the original Buchla design without altering the panel design with lots of mods (in regards to the 258 and 292). That being said, whatever the group wants to do is fine with me.

Should we start asking about interest in the 258? Like I said, I could use two of those panels. Do we prefer black or blue? I'd like blue but again will go with the group.

I'm interested in a few different types of panels but we can get that sorted once the ball gets rolling with the first panel.

John Noble · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:26 am Post subject:

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:05 am Post subject:

I don't know, I haven't tried to figure out an equation. I chose the quantities that they quoted so where price breaks occur may not follow 5ea increments. The way you look at it is interesting though. I suspect they don't do the math in a way that they consider additional panels are only $4.50 each. I suspect however they do their math, that it is spread out between all the panels. All I know, is the more panels I buy the cheaper it is per panel hmmm.....

Tell us more about your screen-printing. I am open to other ideas, in fact another member has been PMing me about potential screen printing. Although, when you get to $26 and $22 I begin to wonder if silk screening would be cheaper. I mean you still have to procure suitable panel stock that is anodized or otherwise protected, it has to be drilled punched, you need a good quality epoxy paint, etc. I would think if this were cheaper than it would be the chosen production method of module manufacturers as opposed to using these guys.

John Noble · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:50 am Post subject:

Pfurmel · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:17 am Post subject:

I like the look of the blue sample you posted.

synthnut · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:36 am Post subject:

Hi,

Most places that do this sort of thing will charge for "art" which is a fixed cost per design for making the phototooling or screen etc. This can be why the price seems very non-linear!
I certainly can't compete on quantity as I make all my stuff by hand and the material is the main cost. Screen printing onto standard anodised ally would be much cheaper than a sub-surface process as the base material is that much cheaper.
Printing onto brushed ally brings it's own little set of challenges too.
My advantage is in the lower number more customised runs. By contrast I would usually only charge for the tooling at about $15 and maybe $55 for one in sub-surface (satin) anodising with black, light blue, dark blue, red, green dyed graphics.
I don't have the same laser or cnc punching facilities (yet) obvioulsy though!
Slots and rectangles are the most challenging as the punches are quite expensive and there are lots of sizes. I'm getting there, but it's really a hobby gone mad....
help

TTFN

Ben

www.resynthesis.co.uk
www.bigbluewave.co.uk

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:11 am Post subject:

Art is part of the charge. I would guess a number of things could be factored in that we aren’t considering. Material waste due to size, number of panels that can be done in a batch. There might be a time or batch factor figured in there, maybe 15 of these panels is 1.3 batches but you have to pay as if you are running a full batch. A lot of industries with automated machinery work this way.

John Noble · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:21 am Post subject:

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:22 am Post subject:

So does everyone want blue? I will make sure I get samples before we order but we may as well get one question out of the way.

Something to consider – Lets say we have 10 people willing to buy 1 panel. If all of those people bought 2 panels the cost would only be $4 more. ($42 for 1 at 10ea vs $46 for 2 at 20ea)

Pfurmel · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:26 am Post subject:

diophantine · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:27 am Post subject:

I'd be in! Blue sounds good. And on at least some of these I'd likely want two.

valis · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:13 pm Post subject:

Like I said, I'd prefer blue. If it comes to the point where it'll be cheaper to buy an extra panel here or there for overall cheapness that would be just fine with me.

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:28 pm Post subject:

The other big question is hole sizes. Does everyone want minijacks and bananas as per buchla standard? I plan on using all bananas on mine but I can easily oversize the minijack holes with a drill so I'm not too concerned.

valis · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:03 pm Post subject:

Well I'm a banana guy but I don't mind using mini-jacks. It seems like going straight banana might alter the original panel designs more than many want since there's multiple inputs for a few modules and bananas can be stacked. I might be wrong in my reasoning though. Thoughts? I'll be okay with the group consensus.

Pfurmel · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:03 am Post subject:

Kind of prefer to go all banana for practical purposes but I do like the look of the original panels, too. I will be okay with either outcome, though

valis · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:36 pm Post subject:

If we did go bananas we could use the other connections for mods and the such. For example, we could use the unused connections on the 292 to have a voltage controlled resistor circuit control something like the resonance of the RLPG. Again, it may be getting far from the original design and functionality. I'd like to hear more thoughts on the subject.

iopop · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:53 pm Post subject:

I lay my vote on "mini"s on audio path and banana for cv, thats something Im not going to compromise about. A year ago when I first received the 258J boards I wanted to go all banana, then I thought long and realized I needed to make it with minis. There have to be a reason why Don chose that combination. I did go for 3.5mm though, so I could use normal euro rack cables / stackables. Its DIY after all, having a format where cables are impossible to get hold of just for the sake of having it 100% cloned is pretty stupid..

That said, if the vote is in all favor for banana only - go for it. Just because Im stubborn shouldn't stand in the way for others. smile

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:45 pm Post subject:

If the votes are anything to go by it looks like we should have enough people to get decent pricing.

Let’s go with minijacks and bananas. Anyone that wants all nanners just needs a drill to oversize the minijack holes. Really not a big deal. Let’s go with blue since no one has come out saying they really want black or that the couple/few $ difference matters.

I have a couple other options if for some reason we device against metalphoto. I think at this point though I would like to move forward with metalphoto pending that the samples are kosher.

I Have made a thread specifically for discussing the first panel, the 258 here. Let’s keep general discussions here and panel specific discussions in the individual panel threads if possible.
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51380