freestompboxes.org

Hello,

Anyone know where to get reasonably priced 4558s in the UK? Only farnell seem to have em, and i can't order from there due to no credit card....any ideas?

jonfoote wrote:http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/analog.html

HOW MUCH??? Buy them in the Far East, and they're under 2p each. http://www.futurlec.com/ICLinearOpAmps1.shtml have them for $0.25 (about 17p), and they're expensive. I think it might be time for a bulk buy.

The last big(ish) order I did was for 2500 4558P and 5000 2N5088, 10000 1N4148 and a couple of hundred CoolAudio delay line chips. I had trouble breaking the $500 minimum order price! I got a load of PCBs etched by a company in France (they were OK, and cheap but couldn't do silk screen on top) and my friend down in Equador provided the pots, pre-drilled cases and all the other passive components. We shipped 1900 modified Tubescreamer kits to all over South America. We didn't try to make huge profits, but we made enough so that I could have a holiday in Equador, and Paul could have a holiday in London!

CA3130 - $1,10 Fuck

sinner wrote: CA3130 - $1,10 F**k

Why do you want those? They're noisy junk! What are you trying to do with them?

You quibble over a few pence - unbelievable!

uncleboko wrote:You quibble over a few pence - unbelievable!

I do when I'm buying in THOUSANDS! The profiteering in component procurement and supply is nothing short of criminal in many cases. I've designed equipment for well-known Japanese manufacturers, and know the actual "factory gate" prices of components. I cannot believe that (for example) Maplin want to charge over 10p per resistor for components that the have bought for less than 0.01p each. That's a bigger mark-up than most drugs!

I've got to the point that I'll order the occasional resistor and capacitor kit of standard values so that I've got a stock for development, but when it comes to manufacture, I design (as far as possible) to minimise the range of values of components used (it's often much cheaper to put two resistors in series or parallel to get a value you want if that value is used elsewhere in the circuit - I wanted 10k and 20k resistors in a recent circuit, and space wasn't important, so the 20k was actually two in series 10k. Also, I needed 15n in one circuit, and it's cheaper to use three 10n to get the value!)

mictester wrote:

uncleboko wrote:You quibble over a few pence - unbelievable!

I do when I'm buying in THOUSANDS! The profiteering in component procurement and supply is nothing short of criminal in many cases. I've designed equipment for well-known Japanese manufacturers, and know the actual "factory gate" prices of components. I cannot believe that (for example) Maplin want to charge over 10p per resistor for components that the have bought for less than 0.01p each. That's a bigger mark-up than most drugs!

I've got to the point that I'll order the occasional resistor and capacitor kit of standard values so that I've got a stock for development, but when it comes to manufacture, I design (as far as possible) to minimise the range of values of components used (it's often much cheaper to put two resistors in series or parallel to get a value you want if that value is used elsewhere in the circuit - I wanted 10k and 20k resistors in a recent circuit, and space wasn't important, so the 20k was actually two in series 10k. Also, I needed 15n in one circuit, and it's cheaper to use three 10n to get the value!)

In 1000s - then I understand, bottom line and all that!

Most people on here are after a few, not a thousand, I'd guess. Some components places absolutely slam you on postage which bitsbox don't do.

Hides-His-Eyes wrote:Most people on here are after a few, not a thousand, I'd guess. Some components places absolutely slam you on postage which bitsbox don't do.

I also like the resistor and capacitor kits they do - useful for stocking up for development.

However - if you want sensible prices for components, you have to buy reasonable quantities (and have a credit card).