DIY kits

There are so many tempting kits out there that I figured it was about time for a thread to collect them in.

I just found this > http://www.oakleysound.com/tm3030.htm

It's a PCB and pic chip to build a 303 clone. It costs £36... :|

Last year I built a Preen FM that has been a lot of fun. I think this summer I might try something else. A Shruthi or maybe this 303... Also midibox.org has lots of tempting stuff, but that's a deep rabbit hole to disappear into haha.

What other nice kits have you fellas (and gal) build or considered building?

Some pretty sweet vintage tube compressor clones here. I've been considering the Fairlight 670 kit for a winter build.

If you are ever looking for clones of the actual tubes, this is a great resource. I think a single legit replacement tube for those Fairlights is around a grand, the clone ones are less than one hundred iirc.

I also just ordered a 9090 kit, pretty excited for that one!

this also looks like sex http://www.oakleysound.com/filtrex.htm

HOly shit waschbar. That's a monster :|

Shit me, these projects look ace - and a great price too. Screw the Raspberry Pi, I think one of these will be my DIY project of choice !

EDIT: Actually, looking at some of the construction guides it may be a little beyond my skill level.

  On 6/18/2012 at 11:19 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

There are so many tempting kits out there that I figured it was about time for a thread to collect them in.

 

I just found this > http://www.oakleysound.com/tm3030.htm

 

It's a PCB and pic chip to build a 303 clone. It costs £36... :|

 

Last year I built a Preen FM that has been a lot of fun. I think this summer I might try something else. A Shruthi or maybe this 303... Also midibox.org has lots of tempting stuff, but that's a deep rabbit hole to disappear into haha.

 

What other nice kits have you fellas (and gal) build or considered building?

the nice thing about midibox stuff is that it all runs on the same core, so all the things you make with it have a similar base. got my sammichSID now, probably will get a sammichFM as well since those are both based on soundchips I grew up with. I love the OPL3. after that I think I'm going to build a Midibox Seq v4, those things seem really nice.

  On 6/18/2012 at 11:34 PM, DerWaschbar said:

I also just ordered a 9090 kit, pretty excited for that one!

that looks like a nice project! how much was it including all the parts?

I've also assembled the Preen FM (the build was quick and easy - thanks, beans), and the Shruthi-1 with the standard filter board (also easy to assemble, although in retrospect I think I would've tried to go for the polivoks board for full on madness).

A few kits I've been considering:

Drone Lab v2

MFOS kits

PAiA Fatman (supposedly its been around for ages now, I've heard both good and bad about it)

Skulptor mic preamps (good price/quality ratio if you're into recording live bands and want top notch pres)

Build Your Own Clone guitar pedals (they've got about everything, but I've got my eye on an Ampeg Scrambler, a Distortion + or a Turbo RAT)

  On 6/18/2012 at 11:19 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

Also midibox.org has lots of tempting stuff, but that's a deep rabbit hole to disappear into haha.

No doubt. I've looked into the MIDIbox FM (damn it sounds nice) and the SID V2 - wow.

Where are you planning to get the enclosure and meters for the fairchild, waschbar? That's a cool site

  On 6/19/2012 at 12:03 AM, missingsense said:

  On 6/18/2012 at 11:19 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

There are so many tempting kits out there that I figured it was about time for a thread to collect them in.

 

I just found this > http://www.oakleysound.com/tm3030.htm

 

It's a PCB and pic chip to build a 303 clone. It costs £36... :|

 

Last year I built a Preen FM that has been a lot of fun. I think this summer I might try something else. A Shruthi or maybe this 303... Also midibox.org has lots of tempting stuff, but that's a deep rabbit hole to disappear into haha.

 

What other nice kits have you fellas (and gal) build or considered building?

 

the nice thing about midibox stuff is that it all runs on the same core, so all the things you make with it have a similar base. got my sammichSID now, probably will get a sammichFM as well since those are both based on soundchips I grew up with. I love the OPL3. after that I think I'm going to build a Midibox Seq v4, those things seem really nice.

 

  On 6/18/2012 at 11:34 PM, DerWaschbar said:

I also just ordered a 9090 kit, pretty excited for that one!

 

that looks like a nice project! how much was it including all the parts?

So far I've only ordered the kit, which is PCB's + Eproms for the hats/cymbals. Tallied in at 55GBP. I'll give an update on total cost, but it won't be for a few weeks as I'm back on bush work.

Couple more resources:

Pretty hot looking buss compressor.

And

Juergen Haible was a bit of a guru I guess on the DIY audio gear front (He reverse engineered an EMS Synthi and built a modified clone). Some super interesting stuff on his site to get you jazzed up. Sadly he passed on last year.

I'd love to have a fatty hardware compressor to run all my stuff through. In software it's easy, but I'd love to do it live with all my outboard stuff.

A friend still has an unassembled x0xb0x that I am thinking of buying off of him. Anyone put one together here? I think the idea of putting together my own 303-clone is boner-inducing.

That Preen FM synth looks fun. Sounds a crap load like a mega drive! How hard is it to build?

Depends on how hard you find soldering I guess

it was not a hard build at all, but I did have some issues due to my shitty soldering skills hahaha. Overall not bad though.

  On 6/21/2012 at 12:39 AM, Audioblysk said:

A friend still has an unassembled x0xb0x that I am thinking of buying off of him. Anyone put one together here? I think the idea of putting together my own 303-clone is boner-inducing.

Do eet. How much does he want the kit for? Also: what a wanker to buy a kit that's super hard to get and not even be fucked to build it. :p

wow what a goddamn racket that 303 business is. I just looked and people are selling fucking tact switches for like $2 a pop just for having the 303 in the title. What a joke. Those things are like 20¢ a piece at radio shack, and are exactly the same.

  On 6/22/2012 at 10:40 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

a kit that's super hard to get

Maybe I misunderstand? I'm pretty sure you can get kits easily here.

And the next level modded kits here.

ah ok my bad. A couple of years ago there was only one company making them and there was like a 5 year waiting list haha.

still think it's super over priced though. $300 for a kit LOL.

I'm sure it's due to the dumbass obsolete parts.

they sell it for 303E in a local web synthshop, been tempted but I have two boxes that can do that sort of stuff now: evolver and sammichSID

  On 6/23/2012 at 10:32 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

ah ok my bad. A couple of years ago there was only one company making them and there was like a 5 year waiting list haha.

  On 6/23/2012 at 10:36 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

still think it's super over priced though. $300 for a kit LOL.

 

I'm sure it's due to the dumbass obsolete parts.

Ah yeah, I guess the guy gave permission for others to sell kits. $300 isn't too crazy imo for a full synth kit, you could easily spend more on a single 5u module kit.

Those xoxio kits are even more, but your getting something like a cross between a 303 and a system 100!

If you must have the true analogue acid sound for cheap(ish) there is no other way.

Well there are cheaper kits, but I think the main issue is that there are some parts in those kits which are simple parts, but are no longer made. Like a transistor for $17 LOL. They are normally about 15¢. It's just because there is a stock room somewhere with a fixed amount of those things.

I'd still love to build one haha.

I've had lots of fun with my CDM meeblip SE http://meeblip.com/

it's a pretty simple and straight mono digital synth. you can still tweak the shit out of this little box. Been using it quite a lot in my recent productions actually ! suggested for quite a cheap price !

mutable instruments just put this up: http://mutable-instruments.net/ambika

basically a polyphonic shruthi-1

holy fuck. That's a monster!

I've got an MS2000, and that thing's only got 4 voices! Each voice with a separate output! Jesus.

It's not in their store yet. I bet it will be pricy though. Maybe as much as those 303 clones HA.

http://www.cgs.synth.net/modules/cgs18_drum.html

This seems like a nice (and not too complicated) starting point. Not really a DIY kit, only a parts list and a schematic. Only 50 parts, for 2 kick/tom/bloop drums. And I think it would make a nice snare/cymbal if you'd replace the osc with a noise generator...

I want to pick up a kit and try to learn about electronics, are there any effects boxes you guys would recommend for a beginner? Something that explains what the hell is going on while I solder it together would be ideal.

I found this "Confidence Booster" kit http://www.buildyour...confidence.html which I think I may start with but the rest of their kits are pretty pricey. In the future I may try one of the synth kits you guys are talking about, but for now I just want something that distorts whatever signal I put into it.