Wiardgroup

Grant wrote:

>Printed circuit board houses routinely do precision drilling,
plating and silkscreening from a single vendor. The least
expensive way to make faceplates would be to make them from
printed circuit board material (fiberglass). You could put a
continuous ground plane on one layer for sheilding, and use
black solder mask on the dress face with white silkscreening.
The cost would likely be a tenth of the same metal faceplate. But
I do not know if the market place would accept them.<

I can vouch for the fact that this not only works, but looks good, 
as it is the way I used to make the panels for my "thereminettes," 
of which only a few were made.  You would need to use thick panels 
and re-inforcing eyelets for the mounting screws, though. 

Please be encouraged to look in this direction.  PCBs come in all 
kinds of colors, some of which are quite lovely, and you could take 
advantage of using the copper side for shielding and conductivity. 
Just think: fabrication, drilling and very nice screening all from a 
single source.  Go for it!


>The Frac-Rac format suits this purpose. There are racks and
power supplies available off the shelf. The Blacet PS-500
supports both 110 and 220 VAC input voltages for global use. All
of the basic modules are available in this format. The systems
are light in weight, portable and fit perfectly in the SKB "X" 
cases.<

Your reasoning is typically sound.  But the frac rac format is 
cramped, and cramped is not a good thing for a modular system. After 
all, why should a modular be portable? They are by nature studio 
instruments. A portable modular makes about as much sense as a 
portable multi-track recorder.  

I have thin fingers-- but big hands :-) --and can't get them between 
the knobs on a Blacet faceplate.  Plus, there's perception to 
consider. There is something amateurish about the frac rac format, 
which detracts from the perception of overall professionalism. Most 
Blacet owners (myself included) agree that the circuits are 
topnotch. But they just don't look professional, aside from the 
general lack of ergonomics. Can you picture Moog behind a frac rac?

Just as you don't put fine wine in a crappy bottle, you shouldn't 
sequester a fine circuit behind a PAIAish face. If you had opted for 
a frac rac format to begin with, instead of the Riverdance(TM) 
faceplates, would Wiard enjoy the same reputation it does now?

Just musing.  Hope you can read this, because I'm typing from an 
alien computer in another town and can barely see the screen!

johnm