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New Zvex interview


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Originally posted by ollenorin



i recognise that talk about huge extracosts causing higher prices....


i recognise it as BULL{censored}.....and whats even more bull{censored} is the " i really hate to raise my prices".




:o

 

Just to confirm what I said, I called 5 customers who purchase PC boards. I asked them if they are raising their prices 20% for RoHS compliance, and three started laughing. They thought is was pretty funny......

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yeah, just like coaching a football team is done from an armchair by guys who sell football shoes for a living. i love how the "experts" come out of the woodwork whenever they feel like they can rally a crowd to "boo."

 

for a small stompbox manufacturing company that sells a large portion of their product overseas, RoHS is a nightmare. there are many components i use (not pc boards... that's easy) that i have to purchase in bulk and are not yet even AVAILABLE as RoHS-compliant... and may never be. my costs this year are going to skyrocket as i run parallel processes to use up hundreds of thousands of non-RoHS components that i already have in stock.

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This is a really cool interview Tony! Cool stuff.

 

To be fair I dunno that anybody claimed 20% increase in final product due to RoHS. No doubt silver solder costs about 4 times as much as lead, it is harder to work with and harder on tools. As far as components, the compliant parts have been, in my experience, more or less the same price with exception to pots. Of course there are many things that may not be available EVER. I try to be as optimistic as I can. Just as an example, Germanium transistors that are optimum gain & aren't also leaky or bucket brigades are harder and harder to come by. I am positive some altruistic captain of industry will find the warmth in his or her heart to have them made for themselves and to offset their costs, sell to wholesalers. RoHS is a difficult corner to turn for everybody involved, I'd rather my employees and customers touch silver than touch lead. If anything component level has been going UP in price significantly it is wire, lotsa oil in them there wires.

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Originally posted by Coach

Vex: I'm not sure. I like delays, but so far my ideas for making one have been too insane. I hate to even describe what I'm thinking about because it will reveal the technology to anyone smart enough to understand... but it involves technology from the 20's mixed with some from the 50's.



There is hope
:D

 

i had a nice conversation with Paul Kolderie (engineered "Creep" for Radiohead, mixed "The Bends" and many, many other highly-respected projects) over a beer this weekend and described that particular device to him in detail. he's done a lot of electronic modifications to his equipment over the years and is pretty familiar with most old-school electronic techniques, and he laughed hysterically when i finished describing how i want my imaginary delay/echo to work.

 

i'll probably never make it because it's too complex and would be darned hard to squeeze into the little box. 8^)

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the small enclosures always made me wonder why you limited yourself to such a small physical space. I mean, I like 'em a lot, but could it have been easier to put a pedal like the lo-fi or nano into your own custom enclosure? For someone so much a mad scientist, i never understood the need for using the same enclosures.

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Originally posted by jasonfuzz

the small enclosures always made me wonder why you limited yourself to such a small physical space. I mean, I like 'em a lot, but could it have been easier to put a pedal like the lo-fi or nano into your own custom enclosure? For someone so much a mad scientist, i never understood the need for using the same enclosures.

 

Yeah, and why did Shakespeare write in iambic pentameter? :p

 

I'll never be able to fit anything in those small boxes. What he crams in there is art. When I get started, my stuff will look like EHX or Moog gear. Standardizing is always nice for the cost though.

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Originally posted by zachary vex

yeah, just like coaching a football team is done from an armchair by guys who sell football shoes for a living. i love how the "experts" come out of the woodwork whenever they feel like they can rally a crowd to "boo."


for a small stompbox manufacturing company that sells a large portion of their product overseas, RoHS is a nightmare. there are many components i use (not pc boards... that's easy) that i have to purchase in bulk and are not yet even AVAILABLE as RoHS-compliant... and may never be. my costs this year are going to skyrocket as i run parallel processes to use up hundreds of thousands of non-RoHS components that i already have in stock.

:cry::rolleyes:

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Originally posted by zachary vex



i had a nice conversation with Paul Kolderie (engineered "Creep" for Radiohead, mixed "The Bends" and many, many other highly-respected projects) over a beer this weekend and described that particular device to him in detail. he's done a lot of electronic modifications to his equipment over the years and is pretty familiar with most old-school electronic techniques, and he laughed hysterically when i finished describing how i want my imaginary delay/echo to work.


i'll probably never make it because it's too complex and would be darned hard to squeeze into the little box. 8^)

 

 

Doesn't necessarily have to be a little box. I had a few people going with this little April Fools Joke last year(would have been better if my Photoshop skills weren't so sloppy. :D )

 

delayprobe.jpg

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AFAIK the chips for the Lo-fi loop junky and the transistors for the Fuzz factory arent made anymore. Therefore arent ROHS compliant.

 

That means an expensive production run if these pedals are still to be made.

 

I am just glad vactrols are exempt from ROHS.

 

AFAIK BBD's are exempt too as there is no suitable rohs replacement.

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Originally posted by DIYethic

20% added to msrp or dealer's price?
:(





RoHS sucks, and it sucks more that it affects the US (even though it is only applied in Europe)




stock up on zvex!

 

Why do folks insist on repeating things that were not said? Robert mentioned a 20-30% increase on some parts costs to comply... If you're buying resistors for $0.005 each then the cost is raised to $0.006 each it is really different thing from MSRP. Certainly building electronics is gonna be a bit more pricey but not a single builder has commited to a specific retail percentage increase. Anyway this is not my thread, the more I read it the more frustrating it becomes to see how stuff is being repeated. Others have made it pretty clear nobody is talking about a few components causing a 20% bump in msrp.

 

Just sayin RoHS doesn't suck that bad and it USED to be the US lead the pack in such regulation. Now the US is trying out laissez faire capitalism so lack of leadership is the rule not the exception, at least for now. Just wait until an economy like China decides to up the regulation ante.

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I actually like the idea of RoHS... we knew it was coming for a long time, but unfortunately most of the suppliers i use were slow to react to it.

 

Even mouser which was sort of on the ball still wont bring in some components until they sell through the old stuff, which means i have to buy 5000 transistors that i use one of in one pedal that will probably last me 10 years.

 

I understand what vex is talking about in building in parallel. I have had to order in a bunch of extra stuff for items shipping to europe... While on your ballance sheet they show up as an asset and dont cut in to your retained earnings, they do eat up cashflow. I have decided not to raise my prices, but it would be a lie if i told you that it hasnt cost me money to comply.

 

Are vactrols really exempt... i have been emailing perkenheimer, and have never gotten a response from them.

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I'm going to try to say this in a way that is the least ass- kissy i can be.

 

Mr. Vex is such a cool dude, and i just want to thank him for thinking outside of the box and making these awesome effects available. Granted, i only have a vexter fuzz factory, i would probably own most of them if i wasn't in college. Normal effects generally just bore me, or sound unnatural. So again, thanks Mr. Vex.

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Originally posted by Brian Marshall


Are vactrols really exempt... i have been emailing perkenheimer, and have never gotten a response from them.

 

 

I like the idea of ROHS too, but the way it is being implemented wont do much to protect the environment.

 

Alot of the main polluters such as CRT monitors etc are exempt.

 

Vactrols are exempt according to Steve at Smallbear.

 

AFAIK there really is no ROHS compliant substitute for vactrols.

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