MOTM - assembled? or DIY

[fluxmonkey]

Among active MOTM folks: is there still a contingent of DIYers who would prefer building from kits? Or would you rather buy an assembled module and get right to patching? I built my whole system, both for economics and because I enjoy soldering (Paul's kits and instructions made it easy). But i wonder if the easier availability of modular in general these days has tilted us away from DIY?

[Eric the Red]

I prefer DIY, both for the cost and customization.

[jheronymo]

Another vote for DIY. I’m building a 3-4 rack system now. Same general reasons: mods and cost.

In addition to these being easy builds, the documentation makes me confident I can do some basic servicing and/or bring it to a tech in the future without much head scratching. In fact many of the docs are a great crash course on synth circuit design.

Although I’d say the time/cost trade-off is considerable. Once I have my basic system, I’d probably prefer to buy the occasional pre-built module, unless a really compelling kit showed up.

[MrNezumi]

I used to buy kits, but now I get assembled modules.

[eskimo99]

I like building a kit when the instructions are similar to motm synthtech builds. It can be frustrating when the instructions are like Barton musical instruments.

[sicknick]

I am not MOTM format, but I do have various MOTM circuits in my MU/DotCom System... I send all building tasks to Jason at Free State FX.

[eljay]

Definitely DIY for me. Half the pleasure of owning and using my modular comes from the process of building my modules. The majority of my modules are from Oakley, I have also built MOTM variants of YuSynth, MFOS Thomas Henry and Mutable modules. Nothing has been built from kits but the modules have all been well documented and PCBs have been readily available. I have enjoyed the whole DIY process including the sourcing of components but have yet to make my own PCBs, I have a couple of modules made using stripboard. I don't use kits because I tend to source components for a number of modules at a time and this enables the purchasing of components more cheaply.

[kindredlost]

I have done a fair amount of DIY kit builds as well as customized modules but I mostly look for finished modules now as my time is limited and I have too many other hobby interests. Regardless, I would love to have a 110.

I would take issue with DIY as a cost effective saving plan. From my experience, unless you already are running an electronics hobby/repair outfit, then the time, equipment and stock issues generally offset the cost savings of a module prebuilt.
The only recommendation I would give for a beginner to go into building for their own module is for the fun, education and pride in ownership of a faulty, buggy module that you can further learn how to repair. It is a great hobby regardless.
The importance of good documentation and build instruction is paramount and not lost on the great DIY proponents such as Paul S, Ken Stone, Tony Allgood, Serge Tcherepnin, Yves Usson, John Simonton, Ray Wilson and others.

So yeah, I'd rather buy one built but would DIY if I had to.

[cornutt]

Paul's kits made it as easy as it is possible to make it. So without those, it's a little harder now. And with designers turning more to surface mount, it's becoming impractical to build some things. (I no longer have the eyesight or the hand steadiness. ) But I do still build easier stuff. It's enjoyable; I like having things in my case that I built myself, and it's a good opportunity to incorporate mods.

[sduck]

All of mine are DIY builds - the oldest ones are kits from Paul, and I've moved on pretty far beyond those. I ran out of room several years ago, even with 6 cabinets, so mostly stopped building in MOTM format, and have been leaning towards euro in the last few years. Despite that, I've still built a few MOTM modules every year, and have 2 of them up to be built next in line. (BTW the oldest ones I've built are 20 years old now and still are working perfectly)

[davebr]

I do enjoy building. I chose MOTM originally because I liked the larger format, the panels were robust and easy to duplicate for DIY, his designs were solid, and I got full documentation. To me, having schematics is important for two reasons. First, I want to be able to repair modules and intend to keep them functional for a very long time. Second, I often make modifications, some large, some small. Putting these all together, I much prefer to assemble modules for my use.

I have made 5U adaptations of some of the "e" versions. I wish I had schematics and hex files for the programmable parts for the same reasons.

I believe anyone who sells DIY PCBs should provide schematics and hex files. I've done a lot of repairs for DIY builds. Some are very expensive and large. I've come across bad etched PCBs. Imagine spending all that money and time to build up a module that is unusable and basically unrepairable without technical documentation. Some have been so bad (including my own 248 Marf) where I couldn't find the short and ended up wiring that specific trace above PCB. It takes a lot of reverse engineering to figure this out and even then you might not be successful. For the same reason, I **HATE** this opaque black or white solder mask that people use. There are times one needs to be able to follow the traces to find issues. My own 248 was an example of not being able to follow traces easily.

Dave