Front Panel Proof Reading Thread

[emdot_ambient]

Dear moderators: There appears to be some support for stickying this thread, first proposed here: http://muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42555 So if you believe it's worthy, please do us the honors. Thanks!

CONCEPT:
This thread is intended to be a place where you can post your FPE files (or other formats I suppose) for others to "proof read" before you pull the trigger and shell out your hard earned moolah.

This is not intended to be a place where you ask for help or advice on designing your panel. It is assumed that you have already gone through the normal ordeal of researching, designing, tweaking, error checking, printing hardcopy versions, making mock ups to ensure all the components will physically fit behind the panel...and doing all the above a dozen times or so. Basically, now is when you'd normally send the file off and cross your fingers that you haven't overlooked something.

BUT DON'T DO IT! Have someone look at it one last time.

FOR BEST RESULTS:
When posting a front panel, it would be best if you give us as much information as you can so that anyone proofing a panel has something to go on, like...

• What the module is (eg: YuSynth Noise/S&H, or JH Living VCO, or whatever)
  Panel format (Euro, MU, MOTM, Frack, other—specify)
  Panel width (in HP, U or other)
  Panel mounting specifics (especially if it varies from the standard formats)
  Pot type
  Jack type
  LED size and whether you're using a bezel (and if so what kind)
  Text standards (font, sizes, engraving tool being used etc.)
  Any text or graphic in-fills you do (or don't) want
  If you're using scales around your pots, what size knob are you using
  Etc.

The more info you put the easier it'll be for people to know what you're after.

If you post panels to be proofed, please be kind and help proof other peoples' panels.

So...let's see if this is helpful to people. Peace out or whatever.

[Neutron7]

This is an excellent idea!

[Muff Wiggler]

awesome idea! stickied!

[kindredlost]

C'mon emdot... I know you are just fishing for those little gems of panel love out there.

Naw, good idea. I hope this does well but I'll miss getting the first run specials because someone mis-spelled oscilator. oops.

[Paradigm X]

Excellent idea, but...

post your FPE files (or other formats I suppose)

Surely a bog standard image would be better, a lot of people will casually read the forum (at work for example) and if you can see it instantly youll get more feedback than need FPE installed.

cheers

Ben

[emdot_ambient]

An image works fine if you only want people to check your spelling and visual elements. It won't help if you accidentally used a wrong hole size or hole spacing (unless you use an image exactly to scale and people print it out and measure it).

It's really up to you what you want people to check. Nothing's really set in stone.

[Luka]

probably best to post both an image and attach a fpe file

i find most of my mistakes when i post the images on the net. that is the reason why i started a blog about my synth creation. same thing happens with music - i dont have a subjective ear until it is on soundcloud or given to someone on a cd.

[rico loverde]

so Ive been working on a serge esque panel to go with my cgs/serge clones when i get them. i wanted a panel for all the cool buchla clones and a few other diy favorites. it still needs to be fine tuned, lines even up, spacing etc etc - also i cut the top off by accident so i need to fix that

would love some feedback and any errors anyone may notice. what an awesome thread btw!!!!

would like it to be as close to zthees panels as possible. epinasty is gonna work his awesome magic and etch it for me

still debating if i should put each of the pcbs makers names at the bottom of each module like zthees

[diophantine]

For a banana-fied Wogglebug you'll need some kind of switch, to choose between the internal LFO and the external clock signal. (The design uses a switching jack.)

[negativspace]

I love the panel, looks like you're pretty much right on target with the Serge aesthetic. I think if you're trying to match zthee's panels as closely as possible you should go with the makers' names at the bottom. It might also be a good idea to track down the typeface he used in the CGS panels, so that bit matches up as well. (Not sure what it is, one of the more Serge-y wigglers can probably help with that.) It might be prudent to ask him what line weight he used in the module boxes, too, to be completely anal.

Things I see:

- It looks like the knob swooshes and some of the jack labels are off-center in the 281 module. Maybe the INPUT LEVEL swoosh in the 194, too. (Hard to tell with just my eyeballs.)

- Some of the holes are inconsistently sized - I/O in the switch, out vs. in jacks in the VCA or FREQ vs CONTROL pot holes in the 292, for example. (Pot holes on top 281 are different than on the bottom 281, etc.)

- In the 194, you list 2 bands as 'HZ' but the KHZ bands are simply 'K.' It's not a mistake, of course, but it's an inconsistency so I mention it.

- In the 258, your FM input is labelled. The switch might not need the 'FM' in its label thanks to the obvious black line linking it to the input jack. This would make the EXP/LIN text fit more comfortably in those corners.

[rico loverde]

thanks diophantine and negativspace, great recommendations...def agree with them all.

a little confused on the wogglebug switch, i have it already built in a motm panel and never used a switching jack with it. is there somewhere i could get a bit of info on it for a banana style build...to be honest vie never used bananas jacks at all and am a bit lost on the whole "ground" thing

also do you think i should take the line out that divides the two 281's since it is more or less one module?

alsp debating leaving the "clones" label off in the bottom right hand corner, man my OCD is kicking in!!!!

[fluxmonkey]

Rico,

nice! coupla thoughts

-- hole sizes through-out... i assume this is a rough draft, since there's variation even between the 2 copies of the dual modules. 1/4" for the switches, like LPG/VCA and Deep, right?
-- not sure why the reverse swooshes on the dual function generator? not saying it's wrong, but would be interested in your reasoning
-- the outputs of the 208 random are HOT. consider adding attenuators: clock in, 1 unattenuated out, 3 outs w/ attenuators = 8, or 1 width module
-- there's a general serge layout tendency to have inputs at the bottom, outputs at the top, you're going the other way. not to say wrong, but again would be interested in your rationale... i'm no slave to tradition, but i've found it helpful to have consistency across panels.
-- you kept w/ the general rule of avoiding pots on the top row, keeps the swooshes from bumping the bordering box... i do that too.

b

[negativspace]

I'd leave the line in, personally. Zthee used a line in that situation as well, and in some spots (check the DUSG in the Bog panel) he even separated the halves into individual boxes. Aesthetically, I prefer the line you've used to the individual boxes. Not sure about which is more authentically Serge.

[fluxmonkey]

my slow typing = some duplicate comments. sorry.

on my woggle, the clock (from the onboard 555) is connected to the normal side of the "external clock in" jack... so it runs off the internal clock until something's plugged in to that jack, breaking the internal connection.

solution would be a push/pull switch on one of the pots (rate or rate cv): pushed in and it connects the internal clock, pulled out and it connects the clock jack. you might actually have 2 clock jacks: internal clock out (so you could sync something else to the woggle's clock), and external clock in.

[negativspace]

Actually, the more I study zthee's (fantastic) panels, I think the 281's knob swooshes may not be off-center like I'd thought. It looks like the knobs should be centered in the inner circles, not the outer. It looks like you might have both alignments - outer in the Wogglebug and inner elsewhere? A hard judgement to make by eye alone. I could be completely off-base.

One thing I always do with a panel is to enlarge the 'holes' to the size of the knobs I'm going to use and check my alignments. That way I get to see the graphics' relationship to the panel controls directly. Might be worth making a pass through the swooshes and doing this, just to make sure everything's how YOU want it.

[emdot_ambient]

On the 258, you've got holes for the Freq and Fine controls (with a line in between)...those are for pots I assume, but there's no swoosh for them. Wasnt' sure if that was on purpose or an oversight.

Oh, also (to be a bit pedantic), in the title of the 258, looks like you've put "JERK", when he goes by the handle "J3RK"...wouldn't want to deprive him of his 1337 status

[emdot_ambient]

...and glad to see the thread finally getting some use!

[rico loverde]

for the hole sizes, ill probe end up deleting the holes and leave the ticks since the holes are just a reminder of the correct size to drill. i used a layout for a blank serge panel and didn't really follow the sizes correctly as some of them wouldn't work for the designs i was using

the backwards swooshes seemed weird to me as well, the dusg design i was basing my 281 layout had them backward so i just blindly followed it, i think ill make em match the rest

i added a switch for the woggle, top left above the rate cv knob

id really like to add the attenuators for the 208 but would have to ditch the seq switch or 194 to do so and i really want those bad boys in there... maybe ill add em behind the panel and just set each one a little diff to my liking

im debating whether to change to outputs at top inputs at bottom

shot zither a pm to get the proper fonts and sizes

I def got a whole new level of respect for zthees work, im actually surprised mine is turning out as well as it is. my illustrator skills are crap at best

will post the update as i fix the errors

thanks for the help guys!!!

[rico loverde]

On the 258, you've got holes for the Freq and Fine controls (with a line in between)...those are for pots I assume, but there's no swoosh for them. Wasnt' sure if that was on purpose or an oversight.

Oh, also (to be a bit pedantic), in the title of the 258, looks like you've put "JERK", when he goes by the handle "J3RK"...wouldn't want to deprive him of his 1337 status

good call, thanks for stating this thread!

[rico loverde]

allright, heres where im at after the edits, still waiting for the fonts and sizes

[fluxmonkey]

uh... thanks, but no credit to me for either of those circuits. 208 was derived from buchla, via schematic by scott stites and pcb layout by VTL5C3. bandpass was buchla via schematic capture & correction by marjan urekar. i just made the boards. psyched to see 'em alive in the wild, though!

[rico loverde]

uh... thanks, but no credit to me for either of those circuits. 208 was derived from buchla, via schematic by scott stites and pcb layout by VTL5C3. bandpass was buchla via schematic capture & correction by marjan urekar. i just made the boards. psyched to see 'em alive in the wild, though!

cool, yea i was given credit to the people that rereleased them, doesn't make much sense so i changed them to the creator of each...

with that in mind should i take jerks name of the oscillator?

[negativspace]

That territory gets kinda murky, IMO. Crediting the original circuit's designer is valid. But then again it's probably been changed a bit since the original, so do you credit the last person to make any changes? How big a change qualifies? Does credit for J3RK's 285 board belong to J3RK? Mark Verbos? Buchla?

These are valid questions. I think any answer is correct, and I think that the most technically-correct way is to credit the maker of the PCB itself. I often credit the original designer on my own panels. I say do what suits you best. (While respecting fluxmonkey's specific request, of course.)

[emdot_ambient]

Does credit for J3RK's 285 board belong to J3RK? Mark Verbos? Buchla?

The answer to that is..."YES"

My current design for a dual 258 from the J3RK PCBs labels it a "DUAL J3RK 258 VCO", but I think of it more as not a statement of credit, but rather of provenance. The "258 VCO" points to the Buchla origin, and the "J3RK" points to the circuit's provenance. Unfortunately...kind of hard to fit both of those plus "Verbos" on the panels. Not sure it really matters, though. If I ever get rid of that module, whoever gets it will know where the PCB came from and then be able to see it's based on Verbos's.

[sduck]

My vote for the 258 label is



But it's your panel, do what you want.