EW mod board 3 + General Blasphemy..

Posted: 8/6/2009 4:52:57 PM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

from here (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=4132&F=3&p=3)
Posted: 8/6/2009 5:00:19 PM
Carricre

Joined: 7/30/2009

I get an error that reads, "you did not post this!" when I try to follow that link.

I'll assume that you were continuing from the other discussion that I was also trying to continue from!

In that case, I'll post the same here.




Drat, I tried to get into the last thread before it hit the magic number but I missed it.

To get us back on topic a bit, not that I disliked the ideas being expressed at all...

FredM, with regard to your Etherwave Add-on, I've discussed this with my dear friend who is far more electronically inclined than I and he has agreed to take me under the wing and help point me to all the things I need to learn to do this.

So, if dumb help is better than no help, I'm in.

In the interim while I await a better theremin (better from my POV) this seems like a good idea.

However, while I'm at it I think it's a good idea to undertake another mod to the Etherwave which I'll start a new thread about.
Posted: 8/6/2009 6:03:50 PM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

link fixed.

this posting Moved.. See next posting.
Posted: 8/6/2009 6:48:48 PM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

ok -
Threads divert here..

Stay on this "track" for "Blasphemy" LOL..

Divert to This Track (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=4135&F=3) for the great EW Standard Tone Modification Failure!
Posted: 8/7/2009 3:41:19 PM
dae23

From: Asheville, NC

Joined: 1/25/2008

Speaking of the sound and tone and speakers of the Thirties (FredM's edit from the
"Possible EW Modification board - *continuation part 2*" page.

Speakers and amps are the way I've been chasing tone these days. Shooting for a good, single speaker solution (as opposed to tweeters - woofers - crossovers etc...)

I find if I run my Etherwave through my full range speakers with tweeters it sounds horrible. Way too much buzz in the high end. But run through a good single 8" or 12", mostly full range speaker, the sound is much better. So far I've only tried a few Eminence and a few Jensens. The Jensens are MUCH better.

One the amp front, I picked up a couple of S5 Electronics K-16LM's, 16 Watt mono tube amp kits. They cost $178 with shipping and are easy to build. One I built for someone else and one for my personal use (I haven't started on mine yet). It is actually a low end HI-FI tube amp but sounds great so far. The 16 watts is quite loud when using a good speaker (with high sensitivity).

They have a tube tone kit too (base-treble), I ordered these, but to tell you the truth, through the little testing I've done so far, having the controls set flat sounds the best (at least through the speakers I've been trying) so one might not need them.

Just thought I'd throw that out there if someone was looking for a small DIY tube amp / speaker setup. It could be done for around $300 if you didn't mind building it (and the cabinet too).

Posted: 8/10/2009 12:49:31 PM
djpb_designs

From: Escondido, CA

Joined: 2/6/2008

Speakers and amps ...

The Jensen MOD series seem to be excellent instrument speakers. As for the amps, 2 areas are key for timbre/tone -- the first stage or "preamp stage" -- where a vacuum tube provides the best "musical" (a.k.a. pleasant sounding 2nd harmonic distortion) tone. The other is the output stage. In all the tests I ran with a friend with "golden ears" (the distinct ability to identify real effects, defects, etc), tube output stages work best for electric guitar. And even then only when they are driven fairly hard.

For acoustic guitar, violin, keyboards, etc., a solid state output stage seems to work better. Good news considering how expensive it is to build a decent tube power amp!

Like most "American brands" of yesteryear, Jensen speakers are not made here. They are actually made by an Italian company now. Eminance is still made here. I haven't had the pleasure of testing their speakers though. I think James B. Lansing (JBL) and Cerwin Vega still make their own speakers here, but they are way too expensive.

Since Jensens work great for violin, I am guessing they will work quite well for theremin as well.

Don
Posted: 8/10/2009 12:52:10 PM
djpb_designs

From: Escondido, CA

Joined: 2/6/2008

Ah ... forgot to mention that tone control stages do not have to be tube based. You want to have them be "transparent" ... boosting or cutting as needed without adding any other artifacts. Again, a nice benefit since it is dirt cheap to make opamp-based tone control circuits.

Don
Posted: 8/10/2009 4:22:05 PM
djpb_designs

From: Escondido, CA

Joined: 2/6/2008

Regarding duplicating 1930's sound ...

If one were to happen upon a "dead" RCA output transformer, there is a company in Southern California (Peerless) that can do a very detailed disassemble/analysis of it and duplicate it as close as possible with today's magnet materials and wire. They do this a lot for old guitar amp output transformers and have a product line called "Tone Clone" that is precisely that ... new transformers made to duplicate the characteristics of the old original equipment transformers.

Don

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