DIY Preamp - FiveFish SC-1 kit build blog

[Dave Boulden]

Really not keen on the black plastic knobs... indeed it's the black plastic knobs trhat came with the kit that I'm looking to replace

Some great knobs on that saite... thanks for the link, I really appreciate that!

Rather liking the look of this one:

t_17464_01.gif

[sureno]

yes in fact that is very nice, better diameter for you as well right?

[Dave Boulden]

Yep... much better diameter... this is my top choice at the moment.

[saxman]

Originally Posted by Dave Boulden

I'm after something like these:
.......hificollective....................

Ah yes, the hificollective people I once bought some hifi connectors from them and of course got added to their newsletter list. I asked them MULTIPLE times to remove me from their mailing list but they ignored each and every request. This went on for a year until I repeatedly reported their spam to their web hosting company ( which I had openly told them I would do if they would not stop sending their spam ).

[Dave Boulden]

Having finished the PCB builds and then had a little break I have now made a start on the metalwork. Today I have drilled the front panel. First of all I sellotaped a full scale print out of the front panel design with cross hairs on each hole position and used a centre punch through the paper template to mark the drill hole positions. Luckily I have a pair of solid steel speaker stands (which my brother-in-law kindly built for me) which serves as a perfect ad-hoc bench-block.

Having punched all the positions, I drilled out all the holes using my cheapo (Wickes) pillar dill set to its slowest speed - 600 RPM. I picked up a stepped cone drill bit off eBay to cut the XLR holes and was very surprised how easily and cleanly it cut these large 24mm holes.

All holes were de-burred and I ended up having the file the phantom power switch holes a little as they weren't in precisely the right place (they were offset to the left by about 1mm).

I have also done a quick test fit of the preamp and DI boards as well as a set of 5 LED lens clips (for the VU meter) to check everything fits. So far, except for a slightly wavy line of LEDs on the right hand channel, the fits looks very good.

Below are the all important pictures.

[Dave Boulden]

Yep, resurrecting an old thread as I finally found some time to finish the internal wiring of my preamp. Next job will be tests and VU meter calibration. I only need the meters to give a useful indication rather than accurate metering... more important is that they are both closely matched to each other.

Here's a couple more pics.

[sphelan]

I envy you DIY skills there, Dave! Looking good.
Could you throw a Mac Pro equivalent together there for me? And an 003? And a Command 8?