We've said it before, but there has never been a better time to build your own equipment. The web has provided small independent kit makers with a forum to develop, market and sell their wares, and a fantastic community of enthusiastic kit builders has emerged, ready to discuss and help others.
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| AML ezP-1A Pultec clone kits |
Today there are kits available for devices such as ..
Teletronix LA2A
Pultec EQP-1A equaliser
Neve 1073 mic pre and eq
Universal Audio 1176 compressor
API mic pre's and equalizers
etc
The more astute of us will have noticed that these are all popular and classic designs, but there are innovative ones too.
The three primary reasons for building our own gear are ..
1. Affordability. We can build a device for around 1/3 of its retail price.
2. We can build devices no longer manufactured.
3. We get too learn about electronics and feel the satisfaction that comes with a successful build.
As music makers and studio owners, many of us do not have the electronic knowledge to embark on our own electronic projects. However, kit makers have realised that we comprise a primary market for them and are therefore striving to sell kits that make projects as easy as possible.
If you browse forums such as ..
Group DIY .. https://www.groupdiy.com
.. project support sites such as ..
http://mnats.net
http://diyaudioprojects.com
http://wiki.diyrecordingequipment.com
.. and the product specific build support pages at kit maker sites such as ..
http://www.soundskulptor.com
http://www.audiomaintenance.com/acatalog/kits.html
.. you will soon get the feel of how the community works.
In the past, DIY electronic projects were the domain of individual electronic enthusiasts and experts who were not necessarily creative types like musicians and sound engineers. These experts would often exchange ideas and information about circuit design and build processes for their own DIY audio projects, and sometimes collaborate. Their discussions were often impenetrable to creatives.
Although most electronic components are standardised (such as resistors, transistors and capacitors), projects almost always require some bespoke components such as printed circuit boards, cases and knobs, and specialist transformers, all of which involve some expense in producing especially if volumes are low. Economies of scale apply for all small manufacturing sectors, non more so than audio electronics.
Realising that the web offered the opportunity to monitize their hobby by selling to us creatives, experts became suppliers and started supplying circuit boards, build instructions and BOMs (bills of materials). A BOM is a specification of all the required components. Although a step in the right direction it was often too challenging for us creatives to source our own cases and negotiate the challenge of buying the components needed.
The next development was therefore to provide a link to a pre-populated shopping cart of components at sites such as mouser.com or rscomponents.com, and another link to a case manufacturer such as collectivecases.com. This too presented problems as all too often some specialist components were difficult to source and alternatives needed to be found.
But within the last few years many suppliers have built successful business by providing complete kits comprising BOM's, schematics, components (including specialist items), circuit boards, cases and build instructions. They also offer troubleshooting support, typically via a forum at sites such as GroupDIY. This is why DIY builds have become possible for creatives.
Here is some advice for those new to audio DIY followed by some links to kits.
1. Suppliers are often individuals who do not have a large staff of professionals. Therefore their websites are sometimes awkward, as can be their communications and after sales support. Their customer relation skills can also be limited. There are often details in their marketing and operation which may cause you to raise an eyebrow! Best advice is to get on the forums and see what other customers think of them. What kind of reputation do they have? How satisfied are their customers? How well and quickly do they respond to posts? If they are good, plenty of customers will be singing their praises.
2. Send an enquiry email to the supplier. How quickly do they reply and how good is the reply?
3. Aside from the odd email, suppliers are understandably reticent about providing full email or phone support for every customer, so check all the support materials before purchasing. Read the build instructions several times and browse the forums and YouTube to see what help they and their customers can offer.
4. Remember that you may have to pay a substantial amount of import tax if buying from abroad so favour local suppliers or check to see if international suppliers have a local distributor.
5. Take your time choosing what kit to buy. Like the 1 and 5 star reviews at Amazon, treat highly vocal aggressive opinions on forums with scepticism. Do not get bogged down in discussions about how authentic a kit is. Remember that due to component aging no two vintage 1176 rev A's sound alike.
6. Buy a temperature controlled soldering iron. Budget for at least £50. Search YouTube for videos on how to solder.
7. Buy an affordable (£20-50) digital auto-ranging multimeter that can measure resistance, AC and DC voltage and current (most can) and ideally one that allows you to check transistors too. More advice is here .. http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/The-Complete-Multimeter-Buying-Guide-/10000000177329491/g.html
8. Use a multimeter to check (control) resistor values before stuffing (soldering to the circuit board). You cannot measure resistance value in-circuit.
9. Buy a resistor lead forming tool, they cost little and are indispensable.
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| http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/68 |
10.Troubleshooting a non-working build is especially challenging for us creatives, so take your time, check every component and its location before soldering, and be patient. If the build time is advertised as 5 hours, take at least 20. If you something isn't clear, search the forum, post a question, or email support.
And finally here are four kits that we have had experience with, each of which was professionally packaged, well documented and supported, and sound great ..
AML ezP-1A: http://www.audiomaintenance.com/acatalog/aml-17-022_extended_info.html
Sound Skulptor MP573: http://www.soundskulptor.com/uk/mp573.html
Hairball Audio 1176LN Rev D: http://www.hairballaudio.com/catalog/fet-rack/fetrack-revision-dcomplete-diy-kit-pre-order
DIYre colour palette: https://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/collections/colour
Thanks for watching and reading
FairFax
