MOTM

> The knobs I can understand keeping, but do you have to stick to
> Spectrol and Switchcraft? There surely are cheaper alternatives that
> will work just as well and last just as long.
>
> You could offer the masses the cheaper alternatives, whereas people
> who insist on Switchcraft jacks and sealed pots could pay the extra
> bucks.

a) I can't change the pots without changing the pc boards and the mounting
hardware. AND...then I'd have to change the documentation.

b) I feel that in the long run (20yrs from now), the Switchcraft jacks will
prove to be more reliable than alternatives.

Paul S.

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@s...> wrote:
> a) I can't change the pots without changing the pc boards and the 
mounting
> hardware. AND...then I'd have to change the documentation.
... yet I remind that Tony Allgood after years of use of Omeg pots 
with his Oakley projects, had to switch to spectrol because the 
bigger dip distance in omeg pots would interfere with rails in many 
motm systems, so I think this is one more reason to forget about 
sourcing cheaper pots if we want to maintain the MOTM "format" as it 
is now.
Enrico

> b) I feel that in the long run (20yrs from now), the Switchcraft jacks will
> prove to be more reliable than alternatives.

As someone who has seen tens of thousands of bad jacks I fully support Paul in his decision to go with only Switchcraft jacks.  Don't even question this decision if you value longevity in your equipment!

Ivan

Ivan wrote:

>As someone who has seen tens of thousands of bad jacks I fully 
support Paul in his decision to go with only Switchcraft jacks. Don't 
even question this decision if you value longevity in your equipment!<

Well, I must respectfully disagree. I have 50 year old equipment that 
uses standard "open" 1/4 jacks and they work just fine.  Ditto for my 
PAIA gear from the 70s--and those jacks were anything but expensive. 
And I confess that I dislike the "buttery" feel of switchcraft jacks.

However, I have been reminded that some MOTM pots mount to the board, 
so I can see why Paul wouldn't want to make the change. If I had my 
way, there would be NO pots or jacks, as I will be reformatting my 
MOTM modules into dotcom format. (*Gasp*)

Speaking of which, my MOTM 440 is already on its way!  What is this, 
Encore?  :-)

johnm

> Well, I must respectfully disagree. I have 50 year old equipment that
> uses standard "open" 1/4 jacks and they work just fine.  Ditto for my
> PAIA gear from the 70s--and those jacks were anything but expensive.

I don't know about the jacks that PAIA chose, but I'd be willing to bet that
50-year-old equipment that's still working was built with jacks of higher
quality than that of most jacks on the market today. The saying "they don't
make it like they used to" definitely applies to hardware manufacturing.

--Adam

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: konkuro <konkuro@...>
> And I confess that I dislike the "buttery" feel of switchcraft jacks.

Send all your switchcraft jacks to:
Larry Hendry
c/o Wise Guy Synth

I will replace them free of charge with the crap you are used to. :)
Larry

>   From: "Adam Schabtach" <adam@...>

>
>> Well, I must respectfully disagree. I have 50 year old equipment that
>> uses standard "open" 1/4 jacks and they work just fine.  Ditto for my
>> PAIA gear from the 70s--and those jacks were anything but expensive.

Conversely, the switchcraft mini-jacks on my 31 year old Serge were nearly
all stuffed. All required cleaning and retentioning, though replacement
would have been a far better option. Maybe I'll replace them with bananas
one day.

And yes, I've had toggle switches die. I've had "cheap" ones arrive already
dead in their so called "new" condition.

Ken
_______________________________________________________________________
Ken Stone   sasami@... or sasami@...
Modular Synth PCBs for sale <http://www.blaze.net.au/~sasami/synth/>
Australian Miniature Horses & Ponies <http://www.blaze.net.au/~sasami/>