Not me. Well, not because it has tubes. If it has a sound that I want, whatever the technology, then I'll join the queue.
Tubes are not a panacea. There are plenty of tube theremins that are not good.
To take a recent example, the Julius Goldberg RCA - not sounding at all well. Add two forms of digital magic - (1) Mr Pringle's fingers and (2) a digital effects pedal - and bingo, a great sounding theremin.
And there are good non-tube theremins. For example, the Ethervox.
makin' money building theremins?... believe me Ive thought about it, lots. Kinda a large investment of time and materials up front(for me at least) with no guarantee it will sell. When i built my keppinger i was thinking of doing a second to sell but after some fishing around here and levnet, and with no nibbles, I settled on building just one.
I would definitely do commissioned instruments, though. I actually have a second 106 loudspeaker driver that's waiting for a mate.
Also, I would seriously consider selling my Kep, if anyone is interested. I havent touched it since building the RCA and sq footage here is too valuable - I can only afford to have one furniture-sized theremin in my NYC-sized apartment! If youre in town come by and take it for a test drive.
Chobbs wrote: "RCA's can sound great, but they can also sound like crap. The magic is (mostly) all in the osc tubes and the mixer."
Since most of us are hearing recordings of the theremins whose tone we are judging, we need to take the way the sound has been engineered into consideration. With imagination, knowledge and equipment you can make a cheap theremin sound pretty damn good.
By the same token, you can take Jascha's Stradivarius and make it sound like a cheap fiddle if you don't know what you're doing - and the fact is most folks, although their hearts are in the right place, don't know their ass from their elbow in a recording environment.
Also, as i suspect is the issue with the goldberg RCA, it could be made to sound better - probably just needs a tweaking of a few component values(and possibly swapping around osc tubes), but since it is a "historical artifact" it is left undisturbed. To continue with the Stradivarius analogy- it needs to be restrung!
"makin' money building theremins?... believe me Ive thought about it, lots. Kinda a large investment of time and materials up front(for me at least) with no guarantee it will sell. When i built my keppinger i was thinking of doing a second to sell but after some fishing around here and levnet, and with no nibbles, I settled on building just one.
I would definitely do commissioned instruments, though. I actually have a second 106 loudspeaker driver that's waiting for a mate.
Also, I would seriously consider selling my Kep, if anyone is interested. I havent touched it since building the RCA and sq footage here is too valuable - I can only afford to have one furniture-sized theremin in my NYC-sized apartment! If youre in town come by and take it for a test drive."
You are in NYC? So am I! I would love to come by and hear your RCA creation. What would you charge to build me one? If this Pegna has problems or issues, I may call on you if you are willing to help me get it set up correctly.
Sarah
I am buying the Pegna Theremin today. Ima gonna go for it. Wish me luck everyone. I'll let you all know what I think. All 2 cents of it.
Here are the specs on the Pegna Teremin. Does this raise any red flags that you can see?
Professional tube theremin with pitch antenna, volume antenna and timbre control.
100% vacuum tubes ciurcuitry.
Genuine Hand Made in Italy, Italian Design guarantee of quality and elegance.
Black steel or natural anodized alluminium chassis, envelope of finely finished mahogany wood. Installed tubes: 2 PCC189 / 7ES8, an ECH81 / 6AJ8 and a 6SL7.
Front panel controls:
-Mains switch with lamp
-Fine Volume
-Master Volume
-Shape
-Fine Pitch
"Linear Logarithmic Pitch" circuit, exclusive property of Pegna Instruments for natural precise and total control of pitch.
Revolutionary "Galvanic Heating Volume" circuit for regolating volume and dinamics which mades the Pegna Satie the first one and only theremin using this tecnology.
6.3mm mono audio output jack, standard line level.
Dimension (inches): 16.5(w) x 8.5(l) x 10(h). Weight: 11 lbs
Dimensions (cm): 42(w) x 22(l) x 25(h) cm. Weight: 5 kg.
New, ready to use with new boxed tubes, abs case, user manual, power cable and accessories.
International Shipping with Paccocelere Internazionale by Poste Italiane.
Professional tube theremin with pitch antenna, volume antenna and timbre control. New model. 100% vacuum tubes circuitry. Advanced technical features
Top of the range of the Pegna Musical Instruments, especially designed for professional use and for the exigent musician, high level performances due to the original technology of the true Theremins of the first of '900 combined with modern materials and up to date solutions, result of many years of experience in the manufacturing of this fascinating instrument.
Performances
Equipped with two double triodes Hartley oscillators PCC189 / 7ES8, an ECH81 / 6AJ8 triode heptode frequency changer (mixer) and another double triode 6SL7 oscillator and audio buffer.
New boxed tubes supplied.
This instrument has the peculiar tonal richness unique of tubes, with sound nuances going from the human voice to the cello timbre.
Precision of execution is amazing due to the innovative electronic circuit called "Linear Logarithmic Pitch" an idea and solution belonging exclusively to Pegna Musical Instruments. (Read more....)
The range of the pitch antenna is over 1 meter for playing notes from a few Hertzs to extreme highs, more than 7 octaves of extension with high expressivity and precision throughout the entire register.
Volume antenna is very sensible too for a precise regulation of dynamics
This theremin is equipped with an innovative Shape control for regulating the timbre through a potentiometer that changes the wave shape of one of the two oscillators. The transition between the sinusoidal harmonic wave shape and square anharmonical shape is gradual during all excursion of the potentiometer allowing mid-range wave shapes such as triangular and saw tooth. Mixing between the variable wave shape and sinusoidal wave shape occurs through frequency conversion of the heptode Ech81 producing at his output a large variety of interesting timbres and voices. This is the principle of the subtractive synthesis typical of analog synths of the 60's and 70's.
In "Sin" mode the voice of the instrument is mellow and classic just like the original RCA tube theremin, while turning the Shape potentiometer clockwise in the other modes of oscillation the voice becomes gradually rich of harmonics and overtones for a more modern timbre
Design and overall feature
Classic and elegant design, pitch antenna with vertical insertion connector and removable volume antenna with two coaxial connectors. Black steel or natural anodized aluminium chassis, envelope of finely finished mahogany wood, larges filter capacitors, over sized power transformer, big knobs for accurate regulations and overall finishes of excellent quality.
Genuine Hand Made in Italy, Italian Design guarantee of quality and elegance.
250V anodic voltage for maximum thermal stability of oscillators. Front panel controls: Mains switch with light indicator, Fine Volume, Master Volume, Shape and Fine Pitch. Rear panel controls: ECC connector for power supply cable and standard 6.3mm mono audio output jack, standard line level.
New, ready to use with new boxed tubes, Abs case, user manual, power cable and accessories.
You are in NYC? So am I! I would love to come by and hear your RCA creation. What would you charge to build me one? If this Pegna has problems or issues, I may call on you if you are willing to help me get it set up correctly.
Sarah
Sarah, definitely- contact me via my email= charbot at gmail. Id love to check out the Pegna when you get it
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