Members NewYorkDave Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Just wondering... It's just odd to me that there's no talk of DIY electronics here, seeing as it's Anderton's forum. Electronic Projects for Musicians was quite influential in my impressionable youth. Building gadgets large and small used to be part of the skill-set of most recording techie types... Perhaps the digital age has turned everyone into "appliance operators", to borrow a ham radio term. (Some would say it's all been downhill since "Griefkit" went out of business ). What precipitated this post was looking at the replies in the "My First Preamp" thread. Nobody mentioned the DIY option, which seemed strange to me. Then again, I'm new on this forum and previously, I've generally kept the company of fellow wire-heads in the cyber-world. Perversely, I enjoy the electronics almost as much as the music. For me, designing and building preamps, compressors, equalizers, mixers and guitar amps is just an extension of the whole creative process--along with playing, singing and writing--and of the total package of "making sound." Honestly, I'm not sure where I'm going with this post... Just thinking out loud, I s'pose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Building gadgets large and small used to be part of the skill-set of most recording techie types... Perhaps the digital age has turned everyone into "appliance operators", to borrow a ham radio term. It's just not worth it anymore. You can buy most music electronic gear for much less than what the basic component parts alone would cost you for your DIY project. Add to that the hassle of actually building and testing the thing, then it doesn't seem to be so rewarding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NewYorkDave Posted January 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 That's true, in those instances when cheap mass-produced stuff is good enough for the job. For instance, it would be silly for me to build a headphone splitter box or distro amp when I can buy a perfectly capable box for a hundred bucks. Then again, I'm building an all-tube compressor-limiter (my own design) for about $200 in parts. (Admittedly, it would be more like $300 if I'd paid full retail for the parts instead of scrounging them on the cheap). So what can I get off-the-shelf for 200 bucks? A Behringer? Forgive me if I think mine sounds a bit better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GY Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 I'm in the process of building a mic preamp (a la Ampex 350) around a 12SJ7 tube with a 6CA7 follower, United trannys and a beefy power supply. Next will be a hybrid stereo compressor with a very fast attack time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pumpcat Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Pardon me for stating the obvious, but you have visited Mr. Anderton's DIY forum right? About four lines down from this one on the main menu. Anyway, back to your original post. I'm right with you when it comes to enjoying the electronics almost as much as the music. But as prices have come down, and quality has come up, especially on the low-end of audio devices, the DIY route makes less sense for a lot of stuff. Where it does still make sense, I believe, is in repair, modification, and specialty niche devices. I've rescued several items from the trash (usually from musicians with more money than sense who would rather buy something "newer and better" than repair an older unit) and repaired them for a few bucks in parts and a couple hours of work. I have two great old tube amps that I got this way. I've also modded countless stompboxes, usually simple stuff like input/output caps for better bass response, or different clipping diodes in a distortion pedal. And my latest specialty niche unit is a foot-switchable pickup selector for my Jazz Bass. I wired a stereo jack in the bass, and I use two stomp switches to turn each PU on or off, before sending the signal through a MOSFET buffer to a DI box/splitter, all in one box. I've never seen a commercially produced unit that did what I needed, so I Did It Myself. My guitarist was so impressed that he asked me to make one for his Strat, but I'm still trying to figure out how to do three pickups in one connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NewYorkDave Posted January 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 Pardon me for stating the obvious, but you have visited Mr. Anderton's DIY forum right? About four lines down from this one on the main menu. D'oh! I missed that, because I've been accessing this forum directly since I came on board, not via the main menu. Anyway, I'm having a good laugh at my own expense right now, and I don't blame the rest of you if you're laughing, too Move along... Nothing to see here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members russrags Posted January 14, 2007 Members Share Posted January 14, 2007 I'm looking for a transmiter/reciever box to work with a wireless mic .... but the trans/reciever has to be 12 volts and no DC adapters, it needs to plug directly into the wall. How hard would that be??? RussNashville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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