From Brian Willoughby Sent Fri, Jan 26th 2018, 00:06
From Brian Willoughby Sent Fri, Jan 26th 2018, 00:06
The =E2=80=9Cremote=E2=80=9D box was my first thought, too, but how to = get a cable through the original case would be the challenge in my = opinion. The panel board must connect to the main board with a ribbon = cable or some other standard connector, so a cable could be made to = adapt the original connection to a custom one. Some kind of circular, = multi-pin connector would be ideal, but I never like drilling extra = holes, not even on the back panel. Maybe the cassette interface jacks are not needed? I assume the SC40 has = SysEx support that totally replaces cassette storage. An alternative would be to manufacture a new MIDI board, but leave out = the MIDI thru jack and replace it with a different circular, multi-pin = connector. That would be totally reversible. On the topic of re-engineering costs, all it really takes is for one = person to love their Pearl SC40 enough to pay several hundred dollars = for the up-front design work. Then the PCB Gerbers could be shared with = the community so that additional ones could be made without new = engineering work. Once all the measurements are made and confirmed, = making duplicates is a lot less expensive. It could even be a kit, = although kits have annoying overhead for the central person. The problem with estimating demand is that a lot of potential exists, = but when it comes down to actually forking over the money the market = suddenly shrinks. That unpredictable market shrink raises the effective = per-unit price, and then more people drop out when they learn that the = actual price is higher than predicted. It=E2=80=99s far easier when = someone with deep pockets just takes that big first step. Subsequent = steps are cheaper and more predictable. Ideally, if a little profit is = made on the duplicates, then the original buyer can be slowly reimbursed = for their huge leap, dropping their cost. The thing is, there are so many old synths where modern updates = =E2=80=9Cshould=E2=80=9D enjoy some amount of demand. In one sense, = custom upgrades or retrofits are =E2=80=9Ceasy,=E2=80=9D it=E2=80=99s = just predicting which ones will actually succeed, and at what price = point they wouldn=E2=80=99t represent a loss for the maker. I still have = a Prophet 5 Rev 2 upgrade board design on the back-burner. In that case, = I=E2=80=99m the sucker willing to pay for the first one, hoping that = more people will want a copy. But it seems that I=E2=80=99ll never = finish that project... Oh, the first-world problems! Brian Willoughby Sound Consulting On Jan 25, 2018, at 9:37 AM, Andrew Scheidler <xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx> = wrote: > I looked at some pics... there's only about 14 buttons; maybe a = little "remote" button box could be made that could connect via a cable = and a connector on the backside? >=20 > Then there would be no defacing of a rare and nice looking unit...? >=20 > Drew >=20 > On Thursday, January 25, 2018, Peter Forrest <xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xx.xx> = wrote: >> Cheers Drew. >>=20 >> I wonder how many of these SC-40s and SC-20s were made. >>=20 >> The likelihood is that all of the buttons on them are deteriorating = by now, so there must be a demand for a whole new panel... but probably = too small a demand to make it economic to re-engineer the board. >>=20 >> But they do sound great, and they are nowhere near as expensive as = the Syncussion. >>=20 >> Peter >>=20 >> =20 >>=20 >> From: Andrew Scheidler [mailto:xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx]=20 >> Sent: 25 January 2018 10:55 >>=20 >> Depending on how many buttons there are, you can just ("just") wire = panel mount buttons the the PCB and mount those to the existing panel. = Of course it depends on what else is on that panel, how much spare room = is in the enclosure, etc. >>=20 >> I took a MMT-8 sequencer, wired in 45 new momentary buttons and put = the whole mess in a metal box. It was ugly, but worked perfectly :-) >>=20 >> Drew >>=20 >> On Thursday, January 25, 2018, Peter Forrest <xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xx.xx> = wrote: >>=20 >> Cheers Tony >> I'll mention it to the tech and see what he thinks. >> Peter >>=20 >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Oakley Sound [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx] >> Sent: 25 January 2018 08:47 >>=20 >> > Anyone have any ideas? >>=20 >> The crazy thing to do would be to reverse engineer and remake the = whole front panel board to suit proper tact switches. At least two days = work which probably wouldn't be worth it unless you could sell the PCBs = to other folk. >>=20 >> However, it may be possible to pull the existing front panel board = back a bit, and make and fit a daughter board that could take modern = tact switches. I've not seen the insides of one for a couple of years = though so there maybe not enough room to do this. >>=20 >> They're well worth saving. >>=20 >> Tony >=20