Death By Audio - Harmonic Transformer [ugly guts]

[culturejam]

I'll repeat that I'm glad they stopped making poorly constructed pedals. But I still think it's horrible that they sold the old ones at high prices, knowing that the insides were below rank amateur quality.

[ech0es]

where is this?
the post 2005 are on PCB and well build

You should read the previous posts:

You can go on guitariste.com to see the evolution in the "Pedales death by audio" thread, page 4.

The reproduction of the image is forbidden by the author so i can't post them directly here

At the end of the page 4 of the thread on guitariste.com you will see an old version of the harmonic transformer, and a new one.

But I still think it's horrible that they sold the old ones at high prices, knowing that the insides were below rank amateur quality.

Where did you see that ?

[Dirk_Hendrik]

You can go on guitariste.com to see the evolution in the "Pedales death by audio" thread, page 4.

linky linky? I don't see it?

[culturejam]

Where did you see that ?

Their pedals have always been expensive, regardless of the build quality. At least I think so. Were they ever cheap?

Anything more than $40 for that Harmonic Transformer is unethical, in my opinion.

Are you friends with these guys or something?

[DougH]

You can go on guitariste.com to see the evolution in the "Pedales death by audio" thread, page 4.

linky linky? I don't see it?

Here you go:

http://www.guitariste.com/forums/pedales-effets-homestudio,pedales-death-by-audio,152124,30.html

I still see problems with the "post-2005" work BTW...

[DougH]

But then I wouldn't even consider using perfboad for anything other than building for a friend (or a test version). If only because of boredom I would never consider production builds on anything other than a PCB.

Nothing wrong with perfboard AFAIC. All the stuff I build for myself is on perf. But I wouldn't use it for production work because it would drive me insane perfing multiple copies of something. PCB is much faster and more efficient for that sort of thing.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Where did you see that ?

Anything more than $40 for that Harmonic Transformer is unethical, in my opinion.

WOW, really?


I dont really get the argument for neatness or having PCBs or whatever, and I dont understand how it should make a pedal worth less. If it doesnt affect it sonically, who cares? Except total pedal geeks, like all of us posting on this forum, who wouldnt be buying one of these anyway.

Im not defending the company, because honestly I think their pedals sound like shit, but shit....good for them for doing it.

[ech0es]

Are you friends with these guys or something?

Not at all, i hate the sound of all their pedals, and i agree with you about the too high price and the fact that it's not ethical to sell pedal built like this (before '05), but for the post-2005, i think they're build like the majority of the production (EHX for example), but with a higher price, because of the lowest production volume.

Anything more than $40 for that Harmonic Transformer is unethical, in my opinion.

Nobody can sell handmande effect pedals for this price when he has a real business, not a DIY selling thing (friends to friends sell)

I still see problems with the "post-2005" work BTW...

Which kind of problems ?

[DougH]

I dont really get the argument for neatness or having PCBs or whatever, and I dont understand how it should make a pedal worth less. If it doesnt affect it sonically, who cares? Except total pedal geeks, like all of us posting on this forum, who wouldnt be buying one of these anyway.

Adherence to good layout practice and decent construction implies that the builder has pride in their work. Rats nest wiring, poor PCB artwork, sloppy soldering, etc implies that it was built by someone who didn't know what they were doing or didn't care. These are implications, not generalities, but builders should care about making a good impression. (I'm not talking about those silly-assed "beauty contest" builds with right-angle wire bends and shiny tag boards you can eat off of- just general good layout and construction.) Furthermore, poor electronic design (which is common throughout this industry) is another indicator, accurately or inaccurately, of the skill level of the builder. It's one thing if they found an oddball way of making a funny sound. It's quite another when they can't build a simple gain stage with proper temperature compensation in the bias network- something which is explained in any basic electronics textbook and can be designed with simple Algebra.

Reliability is just as important as "sound" with these products. Poor construction at least implies that it will not be very reliable. Consistent performance is important as well. Something that sounds completely different on a sunny day than a cloudy day due to inadequate electronic design is not very useful.

I won't try to put a price on these products. But I will say if I'm paying $300 for a fuzz box it better damn well include all of the above.

[DougH]

I still see problems with the "post-2005" work BTW...

Which kind of problems ?

Bundling wires together with cable ties doesn't "fix" a poorly thought out wiring layout with wires that are too long. In fact, it can make matters worse by running wires in parallel in close proximity to each other, making them more vulnerable to crosstalk, for example.

Their PCB traces are too thin and from seeing other examples of their PCB work- the thickness chosen for each trace appears to be randomly pulled out of a hat, as there appears to be no rhyme or reason to any of it.

[noise31]

and the layaout¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

[culturejam]

WOW, really?

Let me put it this way: I personally would not feel right about selling something built as poorly and haphazardly as their old stuff. That goes at any price, but especially not for a couple hundy. So for me, it would be unethical.

I dont really get the argument for neatness or having PCBs or whatever, and I dont understand how it should make a pedal worth less. If it doesnt affect it sonically, who cares? Except total pedal geeks, like all of us posting on this forum, who wouldnt be buying one of these anyway.

I don't think that a PCB is required to be a neat, sturdy pedal. But you do have to put some time into planning and executing a decent build design. I also agree with Doug that for a serious business venture, PCBs are a good idea for a number of reasons related to quality control and keeping labor costs lower.

Go back and take a look at the pics I posted in the original post. The PCB is floating (not fixed to the enclosure in any way), which is terrible design for a pedal that is to be used on the road at gigs. The hookup wiring is way too long. It would take them maybe an extra 5 minutes to measure and cut the wire to the proper length. The battery is held in place with clear plastic tape. Tape!!!! For an extra 50 cents, they could've gotten a battery clip. There's plenty of room in there for any number of ways to secure both the board and the battery. If this were a prototype unit they used for development, then that's one thing. But they were selling these pedals, in this condition, to customers. Again, personally, I find that unethical.

I don't believe it is ethical to pass off shit onto people just because they can't tell the difference. But that's just me.

I realize that for a lot of people, the idea of a good price point is "the maximum you can convince people to pay". I guess I'm just not a good capitalist.

Nobody can sell handmande effect pedals for this price when he has a real business, not a DIY selling thing (friends to friends sell)

That's my whole point. The quality is not high enough for a "real business", in my opinion. Selling them at $40 would be close to fair, because the weren't making "real business" products. They were making boxes of shit.

[Sweetalk]

WOW, really?

Let me put it this way: I personally would not feel right about selling something built as poorly and haphazardly as their old stuff. That goes at any price, but especially not for a couple hundy. So for me, it would be unethical.

I dont really get the argument for neatness or having PCBs or whatever, and I dont understand how it should make a pedal worth less. If it doesnt affect it sonically, who cares? Except total pedal geeks, like all of us posting on this forum, who wouldnt be buying one of these anyway.

I don't think that a PCB is required to be a neat, sturdy pedal. But you do have to put some time into planning and executing a decent build design. I also agree with Doug that for a serious business venture, PCBs are a good idea for a number of reasons related to quality control and keeping labor costs lower.

Go back and take a look at the pics I posted in the original post. The PCB is floating (not fixed to the enclosure in any way), which is terrible design for a pedal that is to be used on the road at gigs. The hookup wiring is way too long. It would take them maybe an extra 5 minutes to measure and cut the wire to the proper length. The battery is held in place with clear plastic tape. Tape!!!! For an extra 50 cents, they could've gotten a battery clip. There's plenty of room in there for any number of ways to secure both the board and the battery. If this were a prototype unit they used for development, then that's one thing. But they were selling these pedals, in this condition, to customers. Again, personally, I find that unethical.

I don't believe it is ethical to pass off shit onto people just because they can't tell the difference. But that's just me.

I realize that for a lot of people, the idea of a good price point is "the maximum you can convince people to pay". I guess I'm just not a good capitalist.

Nobody can sell handmande effect pedals for this price when he has a real business, not a DIY selling thing (friends to friends sell)

That's my whole point. The quality is not high enough for a "real business", in my opinion. Selling them at $40 would be close to fair, because the weren't making "real business" products. They were making boxes of shit.

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