Elektor Formant Modular

Is it still feasible to build a Formant from scratch, or are the 
components esoteric (expensive and impossible to buy or find)

It would be great to revive this beautiful beast...

It is possible, but a few of the parts are pretty rare now and you'd end up
paying big money to the few people that sell them. If you want to build
something newer check out www.Synthesizers.com or www.oakleysound.com 

ac

->-----Original Message-----
->From: 
->sentto-9333596-0-1046817168-lists=ftg.co.uk@...
->oo.com 
->[mailto:sentto-9333596-0-1046817168-lists=ftg.co.uk@...
->oups.yahoo.com] On Behalf Of rikdeclercq
->Sent: 04 March 2003 22:32
->To: ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com
->Subject: [ElektorFormant] DIY... decades later...
->
->
->Is it still feasible to build a Formant from scratch, or are the 
->components esoteric (expensive and impossible to buy or find)
->
->It would be great to revive this beautiful beast...
->
->
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rebuild formant
> It is possible, but a few of the parts are pretty rare now and 
you'd end up
> paying big money to the few people that sell them.

I thought so. Still, wouldn't it be possible to post the original 
schematics et.c. on this board, so that interested and 
knowlegable people can have a hard look at them... and look for 
alternative components/ ways to achieve the same result....

Like there are ssm or cem chips around on the net but they're 
ridiculously expensive, isn't it possible to actually recreate one of 
these components on to a little pcb with discrete components, or 
would that be much too complex/expensive?
I know how to use a soldering iron, read schematics, but i'm not 
smart enough to use pcb-layout progs, so i'm just throwing 
around the idea....

There are no CEMs or SSMs in the Formant.
The main problem is the uA726 used in the VCO's - a  "Temperature controlled
differential pair" of transistors in a can. The whole VCO is based up on it.
As are many other 70's analogs.

You *could* work out a replacement I guess (it has been done before I
believe), but then it would really be a formant VCO. It's a key part. You
can still buy them from dealers (and on Ebay occasionally) but at a fairly
high price.

The original Elektor articles are now in the "files" section of egroups.

ac



->-----Original Message-----
->From: 
->sentto-9333596-2-1046858476-lists=ftg.co.uk@...
->oo.com 
->[mailto:sentto-9333596-2-1046858476-lists=ftg.co.uk@...
->oups.yahoo.com] On Behalf Of rikdeclercq
->Sent: 05 March 2003 10:01
->To: ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com
->Subject: [ElektorFormant] Re: DIY... decades later...
->
->
->rebuild formant
->> It is possible, but a few of the parts are pretty rare now and
->you'd end up
->> paying big money to the few people that sell them.
->
->I thought so. Still, wouldn't it be possible to post the original 
->schematics et.c. on this board, so that interested and 
->knowlegable people can have a hard look at them... and look for 
->alternative components/ ways to achieve the same result....
->
->Like there are ssm or cem chips around on the net but they're 
->ridiculously expensive, isn't it possible to actually recreate one of 
->these components on to a little pcb with discrete components, or 
->would that be much too complex/expensive?
->I know how to use a soldering iron, read schematics, but i'm not 
->smart enough to use pcb-layout progs, so i'm just throwing 
->around the idea....
->
->
->
->
->
->------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor 
->---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online-No late fees! Try 
->Netflix for FREE! 
->->http://us.click.yahoo.com/bbvVKB/oEZFAA/46VHAA/Q->nLolB/TM
->
->
->
->--------------------------------------------------------------
->-------~->
->
->To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: 
->ElektorFormant-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
->
-> 
->
->Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to 
->http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
->
->
->

I'm planning to build one myself, in fact: planning for 20 years 
already. I still have 2 µa726's wich I bought in 1980, and kept in a 
little box all these years... I'm thinking of redrawing the PCB's and 
frontplates, to make everything a bit smaller. Also, i will not build 
the keyboard and interface, but I 'm going to build (or buy) a midi-
to-CV interface, so I can hook up a sequencer or master midi keyboard.

I also have a few Curtiss ic's (cem), so I may end up with a kind 
of "hybrid" with formant and other (modern) modules.

greetings 


--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "rikdeclercq" 
<rikdeclercq@y...> wrote:

> Is it still feasible to build a Formant from scratch, or are the 
> components esoteric (expensive and impossible to buy or find)
> 
> It would be great to revive this beautiful beast...

> I'm planning to build one myself, in fact: planning for 20 years 
> already. ... I'm thinking of redrawing the PCB's and 
> frontplates, to make everything a bit smaller. I may end up with 
a kind 
> of "hybrid" with formant and other (modern) modules.
> 

I have almost the same thing in mind, except the redrawing of 
the PCB's, my knowledge is not that great, and i'm not sure if i 
want to invest time in a PCB-CAD program...

Not sure when and if i'll actually start this project, but it could
be 
fun, and building block by block can be quite inspiring i guess...

Funny: judging from your emailadress, you're from Ghent, or just 
working/studying there? Small world, i live in ghent, maybe, if this 
takes off, we could someday meet and compare things...

(But now i have to study like mad...)

Greetings,

Hello!

I'm new to the group so I start with introducing myself.
I'm JohnnyBusca (real name: Jeroen) and I live in the Netherlands. I 
love modulars and own several including two formants.
A very beautiful (and heavy) yellow formant 'Asian' (look in the 
photo album), with original elektor modules. The other one has some 
original elektor modules plus some custems including a CEM3340 VCO, 
CEM33x0 voice board and a CEM3320 VCF. Furthermore some comperators 
and ARP stylish type of envelopes.
The CEM based modules do sound very good, but are not typical. They 
sound very much the same like the Doepfer VMS or Bohm Soundlab 
(http://www.tonyblack.org/bohm) which are also based on these chips. 
Therefore I'm using the original elektor VCOs much more.

Best regards,
JohnnyBusca
http://www.tonyblack.org
http://www.synthforum.nl

--- In ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com, "ac" <lists@f...> wrote:
> There are no CEMs or SSMs in the Formant.
> The main problem is the uA726 used in the VCO's - a  "Temperature 
controlled
> differential pair" of transistors in a can. The whole VCO is based 
up on it.
> As are many other 70's analogs.
> 
> You *could* work out a replacement I guess (it has been done before 
I
> believe), but then it would really be a formant VCO. It's a key 
part. You
> can still buy them from dealers (and on Ebay occasionally) but at a 
fairly
> high price.
> 
> The original Elektor articles are now in the "files" section of 
egroups.
> 
> ac
> 
> 
> 
> ->-----Original Message-----
> ->From: 
> ->sentto-9333596-2-1046858476-lists=ftg.co.uk@r...
> ->oo.com 
> ->[mailto:sentto-9333596-2-1046858476-lists=ftg.co.uk@r...
> ->oups.yahoo.com] On Behalf Of rikdeclercq
> ->Sent: 05 March 2003 10:01
> ->To: ElektorFormant@yahoogroups.com
> ->Subject: [ElektorFormant] Re: DIY... decades later...
> ->
> ->
> ->rebuild formant
> ->> It is possible, but a few of the parts are pretty rare now and
> ->you'd end up
> ->> paying big money to the few people that sell them.
> ->
> ->I thought so. Still, wouldn't it be possible to post the original 
> ->schematics et.c. on this board, so that interested and 
> ->knowlegable people can have a hard look at them... and look for 
> ->alternative components/ ways to achieve the same result....
> ->
> ->Like there are ssm or cem chips around on the net but they're 
> ->ridiculously expensive, isn't it possible to actually recreate 
one of 

> ->these components on to a little pcb with discrete components, or 
> ->would that be much too complex/expensive?
> ->I know how to use a soldering iron, read schematics, but i'm not 
> ->smart enough to use pcb-layout progs, so i'm just throwing 
> ->around the idea....
> ->
> ->
> ->
> ->
> ->
> ->------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor 
> ->---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online-No late fees! Try 
> ->Netflix for FREE! 
> ->->http://us.click.yahoo.com/bbvVKB/oEZFAA/46VHAA/Q->nLolB/TM
> ->
> ->
> ->
> ->--------------------------------------------------------------
> ->-------~->
> ->
> ->To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: 
> ->ElektorFormant-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> ->
> -> 
> ->
> ->Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to 
> ->http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> ->
> ->
> ->