Ableton Forum

What kind of money are we talkin for components?

The only problem I can see is sourcing decent knobs, sliders, buttons...

stealth1 wrote:What kind of money are we talkin for components?

The only problem I can see is sourcing decent knobs, sliders, buttons...

Maplin or RS components can sell you all that. You'll need a box and the casing too and then the Doepfer bits. My mates project will cost, when all done, around £650 I reckon. It'll be just what he wants but will be bulky.

robin wrote:

stealth1 wrote:What kind of money are we talkin for components?

The only problem I can see is sourcing decent knobs, sliders, buttons...

Maplin or RS components can sell you all that. You'll need a box and the casing too and then the Doepfer bits. My mates project will cost, when all done, around £650 I reckon. It'll be just what he wants but will be bulky.

But with doepfer you have the problem of not so decent knobs, sliders, buttons..

wilxon wrote:
But with doepfer you have the problem of not so decent knobs, sliders, buttons..

What I mean is you buy the Doepfer electronics (they sell the guts of those midi controllers separately). They work out at somat like 65 quid each and my mate needed 3 of em (for knobs and buttons).

robin wrote:

wilxon wrote:
But with doepfer you have the problem of not so decent knobs, sliders, buttons..

What I mean is you buy the Doepfer electronics (they sell the guts of those midi controllers separately). They work out at somat like 65 quid each and my mate needed 3 of em (for knobs and buttons).

i know that, but they are very plasticy and break very easy.

Thought is needed to he design of he box, maybe an outer shell or a lid for transport, protect the faders.

then do it like this:

Thanks guys.

The main reason for me doing this project is to build a really soild controller, with decent metal knobs + buttons, otherwise it would not be worth dropping over £800 on it, I may as well buy 2 faderfox's...

The quality of the components does concern me somewhat, as some of the examples of midi controllers ive seen built have been a bit crappy looking + feeling.

I only really want about 4-6 channels with line faders on each, 6 buttons per channel, and a few other assignable knobs/buttons for other functions that I may "grow" into.

I may even just start small and if i'm pleased with the outcome I could work on another model. It really does just depend on the quality of the components and overall finish.

robin wrote:

stealth1 wrote:What kind of money are we talkin for components?

The only problem I can see is sourcing decent knobs, sliders, buttons...

Maplin or RS components can sell you all that. You'll need a box and the casing too and then the Doepfer bits. My mates project will cost, when all done, around £650 I reckon. It'll be just what he wants but will be bulky.

Any chance of some pictures mate?

stealth1 wrote:Any chance of some pictures mate?

I wish. The project is half finished as funding ran out. The face plate and all the faders knobs and buttons are done. The box and Doepfer bits need buying.

The format was 4 channels with 4 knobs per channel. Crossfader and separate knobs and buttons to one side (the right).

He erred on the side of good quality compnents throughout. The units he was going to use were 2x Pocket Electronic (http://www.doepfer.de/pe.htm) and 1x ctm64 (http://www.doepfer.de/ctm.htm).

We were originally going to build one for me. Having seen this being built I changed my mind (cost, bulk etc) and bought a faderfox lv1. I'm very happy I went this route.

wilxon wrote: i know that, but they are very plasticy and break very easy.

yeah, i didn't know what the quality of these bits is like.

Just a thought, but could I just buy a UC33e and put the parts into a new box with decent knobs + sliders plus a bit more customization?

That way I could get most of the components id need for like £140 plus it would interface and be powere from USB.

What do you think?

stealth1 wrote:Just a thought, but could I just buy a UC33e and put the parts into a new box with decent knobs + sliders plus a bit more customization?

That way I could get most of the components id need for like £140 plus it would interface and be powere from USB.

What do you think?

I thnk the UC33 will be on a printed circuit board, so it wont be so easy to change the faders and knobs - unless you leave them exactly where they are and just re house the board.

I was going to do this with a Doepfer pocket fader - but its just 1 board with 16 faders on it.


I have 2 x lv1, 1 either side of my laptop and i am dead comfy with this setup.

just too big for a turntable lid, so one usually gets parked over the channel fader on the dj mixer.

but - No change for me in the near future

you know - i am still as excited about receiving my mac next week as i was yesterday.

wilxon wrote:

stealth1 wrote:Just a thought, but could I just buy a UC33e and put the parts into a new box with decent knobs + sliders plus a bit more customization?

That way I could get most of the components id need for like £140 plus it would interface and be powere from USB.

What do you think?

I thnk the UC33 will be on a printed circuit board, so it wont be so easy to change the faders and knobs - unless you leave them exactly where they are and just re house the board.

I was going to do this with a Doepfer pocket fader - but its just 1 board with 16 faders on it.


I have 2 x lv1, 1 either side of my laptop and i am dead comfy with this setup.

just too big for a turntable lid, so one usually gets parked over the channel fader on the dj mixer.

but - No change for me in the near future

mmm, thats the only problem I can see and thats where my electronics knowledge runs dry...BUT

In theory, if you wanted that kinda setup/layout, but just more refined in terms of quality, I reckon it could work.

I remember Adam Jay did a respray of his UC33e, and remember reading about replacing casing and knobs in the same thread, but I can't find the link!