I have to agree with Dieter about people building kits, as many
aspiring DIY'ers don't have the skill or patience to finish a single
module, let alone enough modules to create a small synth. Having
said that, it looks like a few of us here do not fall into that camp.

I understand (and agree) that Dieter must protect the Doepfer name
and reputation, and try to keep disassociated from crappy DIY jobs.
With that in mind, what about selling pre-drilled and printed front
panels, (and since I'm assuming that the printing for these panels
will also stipulated when ordered) but instead of the Doepfer logo
either have no name, or an alternate name to denote that it is a DIY
project of some description.

Another idea would be to sell front panels with only pre-drilled
holes and scales printed on the front panel (i.e. no module
name/number, and no company name). That way, one could purchase
a "generic" front panel that's still useable.

Regards,
Kevin


--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com , Bakis Sirros
<synth_freak_2000@y...> wrote:

>
> --- Dieter Doepfer <hardware@d...> wrote:
> > From: "Dieter Doepfer" <hardware@d...>
> > To: "Bakis Sirros" <synth_freak_2000@y...>
> > Subject: AW: 1 yes to Blank paneRe: The
> > most advancedAttenuator yet
> > Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 13:11:19 +0200
> >
> > ----> Please forward to the group
> >
> > > I don't see why Doepfer shouldn't be able to sell
> > pre drilled plates and
> > > kits if they wanted to. They have all the
> > components and all they have to do
> > > is NOT mount them ;) That would be very useful.
> >
> > There are some remarks to this messages (and similar
> > ones):
> >
> > It is not that easy as suggested in this message to
> > offer plates and parts.
> > Normally we do only the development in our company.
> > The production of the
> > modules is made by a external production company.
> > This includes manufacturing pc
> > boards, front panels, cable assembly and all
> > standard electronic parts (like
> > resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, standard
> > integrated circuits, pin
> > headers and so on). We only deliver special parts to
> > the production company
> > (e.g. the jack sockets, potentiometers, knobs and
> > special integrated circuits
> > like CEM or SSM).
> >
> > And I have to emphasize that we made some very bad
> > experiences with kits (we
> > offered kits until about ~ 1998) and selling single
> > special parts like front
> > panels or cases:
> > 1. Many customers overestimated themselves and
> > converted "kits to garbage". E.g.
> > wrong soldering iron were used so that the pcb
> > tracks removed, wrong assembly of
> > parts, and many many mistakes we never would have
> > imagined (one customer
> > soldered all parts without shortening the legs of
> > resistors, capacitors, diodes
> > and so on - it looked like an "electronic" garden,
> > but of course it did not
> > work).
> >
> > But the main problem was another one: We received
> > many second-hand devices for
> > repair. After checking out the device we found that
> > it was a kit built very
> > unprofessional. The second-hand customers were
> > surprised very unpleasantly as
> > they assumed to have purchased a regular Doepfer
> > product. When they were told
> > that they purchased an unprofessional assembled kit
> > many were very angry even
> > against and insisted on a repair free of charge.
> > They were of the opinion that
> > we were guilty for this affair as they were not able
> > to distinguish between a
> > regular product and an unprofessional assembled kit.
> >
> > So we will definitely not offer kits or single front
> > panels or cases to avoid
> > such problems.
> >
> > But in one of the messages there was another idea
> > that I would approve, i.e. to
> > develop an universal front panel and pc board for
> > DIY applications. The problem
> > is the layout of the front panel (e.g. 8HP, 5 rotary
> > knobs with 5 jack sockets
> > as many of the modules) and the features of the pcb
> > I see a lot of new
> > discussion ....
> > We could offer such a neutral front panel (e.g. only
> > scales for rotary knobs, no
> > DOEPFER logo) and pc board only for DIY applictions.
> > No confusions could occur
> > as we will not offer a ready built module based on
> > this front panel/pcb.
> >
> > If there is an agreement in the group concerning the
> > front panel and pcb design
> > we could offer these parts. The main problem is that
> > to get a acceptable price
> > we have to order at least 100 (better 250 or 500) of
> > these parts. So pre-orders
> > of a minimum of about 50 pcs would be necessary for
> > us. I think the price for
> > the front panel (stamped and printed) and pcb would
> > be approximately in the 25
> > Euro range. We also could publish the pcb layout
> > file (Eagle format) and the
> > front panel file (Corel Draw format) so that
> > customers could do modifications if
> > desired. A basic version of Eagle is available as
> > freeware in the internet
> > (www.cadsoft.de).
> >
> > Best wishes
> > Dieter Doepfer
> >
>
>
> =====
> synthfreak(parallel worlds)
> athens-greece
> 1 group owner-moderator
>
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