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#1
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm
in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? This is unprecedented in the history of highway robbery. I'll sooner give the board to Fletcher for his next shish kebab (or maybe stuffing for kishke?) than bend to that kind of swashbuckling. Ok, enough melodrama. Does anyone know where to find wholesale or cheaper equivalent faders for this board? KZ |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
wrote in message ups.com... It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? This is unprecedented in the history of highway robbery. I'll sooner give the board to Fletcher for his next shish kebab (or maybe stuffing for kishke?) than bend to that kind of swashbuckling. Ok, enough melodrama. Does anyone know where to find wholesale or cheaper equivalent faders for this board? KZ buy another (used) 1604 with good faders and dust bin the junked one sad fact is on low end stuff like this replacment is cheaper than repair George |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
wrote:
It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? This is unprecedented in the history of highway robbery. I'll sooner give the board to Fletcher for his next shish kebab (or maybe stuffing for kishke?) than bend to that kind of swashbuckling. Ok, enough melodrama. Does anyone know where to find wholesale or cheaper equivalent faders for this board? I think they are ALPS types, and if you can get the part number off of them, you might find them in the Digi-Key catalogue. However, if they are noisy, you might be able to get away with a good cleaning with Cailube rather than actual replacement. The labour on replacing faders is not so low either. ---scott KZ -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Scott Dorsey wrote: wrote: It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? This is unprecedented in the history of highway robbery. I'll sooner give the board to Fletcher for his next shish kebab (or maybe stuffing for kishke?) than bend to that kind of swashbuckling. Ok, enough melodrama. Does anyone know where to find wholesale or cheaper equivalent faders for this board? I think they are ALPS types, and if you can get the part number off of them, you might find them in the Digi-Key catalogue. However, if they are noisy, you might be able to get away with a good cleaning with Cailube rather than actual replacement. The labour on replacing faders is not so low either. I heard they were Panasonic faders but Alps one will likely fit too. Here's a link to some Panasonic faders from Digikey.... http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea...S&Cat=34472515 Graham |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Well, they're not noisy so much as they have dead spots and dropouts.
I've got a spray can of MG Chemicals Nu-Trol, a contact cleaner/lubricant, but that didn't seem to cure the fader on which I tried it. Maybe Cai-Lube will yeild better results. I, too, remember reading that the faders were made by Panasonic. If I'm not mistaken it was mentioned in an old Mackie brochure. I guess I'll have to crack it open and find out for sure. Thank God for electric screwdrivers. ]-[ |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
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#7
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
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#8
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
You paid $1500 for a 1604 VLZ? Man, you can get them for $849 all day
long on MF. While we're talking about 1604's, the pre-amp on the first channel just went out. Does anybody know what it costs to replace it and has anyone else had the same thing happen to them? Thomas www.yourhomestudio.com Free Home Studio Newsletter - |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Funny, the channel 1 preamp on this particular mixer is shot as well.
I purchased this board about a month before the Mackie started advertising the VLZ-Pro series, if memory serves. $1450 plus tax was about the going rate at the time. KZ |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
YourHomeStudioDotCom wrote: You paid $1500 for a 1604 VLZ? Man, you can get them for $849 all day long on MF. While we're talking about 1604's, the pre-amp on the first channel just went out. Does anybody know what it costs to replace it and has anyone else had the same thing happen to them? You can't 'replace' it, it has to be repaired. Shouldn't be too complicated for a decent tech but the labour cost for stripping the damn thing down to get at it and then re-assembling will probably be the dominant factor. Graham |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
You're right, Mike, but I've got more time than money at this juncture.
Am I sure it's the faders? Subs 1 and 2 drop in and out at random. When they're out and I slide the faders up and down they come back. There's no crackling. Does it sound like the faders to you? KZ |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote: wrote: It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? Same reason why pistons can cost $250 a piece for a $3,000 car engine. They cost more when you don't buy them by the thousand. Besides, faders are both important and not really cheap to make. That sounds like a pretty fair price for an exact replacement to me. Well, actually in this case it's because Mackie's making a huge 'mark up' on the price they pay themselves. It's quite outrageous in fact. I presume it's intended to discourage ppl from repairing their stuff and encourage them to buy new. Ok, enough melodrama. Does anyone know where to find wholesale or cheaper equivalent faders for this board? I'm sure you can get something from Digi-Key that's the correct value, but it won't fit the holes in the chassis exactly. Actually, in this case it probably will. The main problem with replacement faders is that the shaft detail may be different, resulting perhaps in the need to use a different control knob. Graham |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote: Besides, faders are both important and not really cheap to make. I doubt Mackie pays more than 50 cents for them in manufacturing quantities. It's not like it's a Penny and Giles part in there. Graham |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
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#16
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Pooh Bear wrote: Well, actually in this case it's because Mackie's making a huge 'mark up' on the price they pay themselves. But this is typical of parts, particularly original replacement parts. The pistons cost $5 when they build the engine, but $250 when you have to go to the parts counter and buy a replacement. It's the same $5 piston. |
#17
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Pooh Bear wrote: I doubt Mackie pays more than 50 cents for them in manufacturing quantities. It's not like it's a Penny and Giles part in there. What difference does it make what they pay? If you want to get a fader from another source and make it work, that's fine. But it's not you doing the work in this case. Unless someone has actually replaced a 1604 VLZ fader with something from the open market and can supply a stock number, we probalby should all hold our peace and let the original poster stew about this himself. As I recall, they're soldered directly to the circuit board. He'll need a good solder extractor to remove them without damage. There's probably too much copper area to do the job with solder wick. |
#18
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote: Pooh Bear wrote: Well, actually in this case it's because Mackie's making a huge 'mark up' on the price they pay themselves. But this is typical of parts, particularly original replacement parts. The pistons cost $5 when they build the engine, but $250 when you have to go to the parts counter and buy a replacement. It's the same $5 piston. In both instances it pays to go ( if you can ) to an independent. In the case of the car to a motor factors, in this case to an independent components distributor like Digikey. The manufacturer offers the assurance you'll get *exactly* the correct part of course ( usually ). The Digikey site had what I expect are the right faders ( electrically ) for around $3-4 ea, Graham |
#19
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote: Pooh Bear wrote: I doubt Mackie pays more than 50 cents for them in manufacturing quantities. It's not like it's a Penny and Giles part in there. What difference does it make what they pay? If you want to get a fader from another source and make it work, that's fine. But it's not you doing the work in this case. I just fancied illustrating Mackie's greed. I've bought similar replacement parts from Soundcraft and whilst pricey, they're much more reasonably priced, around £3 ea from memory. Unless someone has actually replaced a 1604 VLZ fader with something from the open market and can supply a stock number, we probalby should all hold our peace and let the original poster stew about this himself. As I recall, they're soldered directly to the circuit board. He'll need a good solder extractor to remove them without damage. There's probably too much copper area to do the job with solder wick. You're right about it being tricky to replace. It's a fiddly job best only attempted by someone with excellent soldering skills and all the right tools. The danger of damaging the pcb is quite high. I find it necessary to use both a 'solder sucker' and wick to do the job properly. It helps a lot btw to simply cut things like the mechanical retaining lugs soldered in the pcb with fine shears before attempting to desolder and then remove those bits individually later. Graham |
#20
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote:
wrote: Am I sure it's the faders? Subs 1 and 2 drop in and out at random. When they're out and I slide the faders up and down they come back. There's no crackling. Does it sound like the faders to you? It could be, or it could be something circuit-wise. I assume that you're talking about when you move the subgroup faders, the subs come back, not when you move some channel faders. If you can move the fader slowly and find that the signal drops out at a specific point along the fader travel, it's probably a dead spot on the fader. If you just have to goose it to get the signal back, it's probalby a capacitor somewhere after the fader. Wait. How about ribbon connector sleeping sickness? It could behave like that. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#21
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message oups.com... Pooh Bear wrote: I doubt Mackie pays more than 50 cents for them in manufacturing quantities. It's not like it's a Penny and Giles part in there. What difference does it make what they pay? If you want to get a fader from another source and make it work, that's fine. But it's not you doing the work in this case. Unless someone has actually replaced a 1604 VLZ fader with something from the open market and can supply a stock number, we probalby should all hold our peace and let the original poster stew about this himself. As I recall, they're soldered directly to the circuit board. He'll need a good solder extractor to remove them without damage. There's probably too much copper area to do the job with solder wick. more the reason to sell this low end stuff off to a less critical user once it starts acting up I voice in on just dust binning it and getting either another cheap ass mixer, behringer 3242 are 299$ right now or getting a decent product but to spend time and money fixing what was a pos when sold as new is anti-productive George |
#22
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
YourHomeStudioDotCom wrote:
You paid $1500 for a 1604 VLZ? Man, you can get them for $849 all day long on MF. He's talking Canadian dollars. -- ha |
#23
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote: wrote: It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? Same reason why pistons can cost $250 a piece for a $3,000 car engine. They cost more when you don't buy them by the thousand. Besides, faders are both important and not really cheap to make. That sounds like a pretty fair price for an exact replacement to me. Sometimes fader prices make no sense at all. Replacement 60mm ones for the JBL "Musicmix", the closest thing a mixer can get to being a toy without being made by Fisher Price (made by Phier Meggitt) cost about $40 each here, and they go bad after a couple of years, Wheras the 100mm ones which A&H use in the GLs and Wizzes etc (made by Alps) cost less than $20 and last damn near forever. I kinda wonder about the cleanablilty of the CP faders used in the Yam PM4000 (having recently re-fadered one at the request of the owner and been left with a bucket full of pull outs). M |
#24
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
oups.com Pooh Bear wrote: Well, actually in this case it's because Mackie's making a huge 'mark up' on the price they pay themselves. But this is typical of parts, particularly original replacement parts. The pistons cost $5 when they build the engine, but $250 when you have to go to the parts counter and buy a replacement. It's the same $5 piston. It does in fact cost a lot to handle a single object in a stock of a large number of different kinds of objects. Everybody in retail is trying to reduce the number of different items on hand. Merchandising is migrating towards a relatively small number of very large highly-automated warehouses, such as those used by Amazon or Digi-Key. |
#25
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message ... wrote: It's time for new faders on my 1604-VLZ so I called my local rep (I'm in Toronto) for a quote on the parts. They told me replacement faders for this model were about CAN$20 a pop. I damn near had a conniption. I mean, OK, I expected to be gouged, but CAN$420 for new faders on a $1500 mixer? This is unprecedented in the history of highway robbery. I'll sooner give the board to Fletcher for his next shish kebab (or maybe stuffing for kishke?) than bend to that kind of swashbuckling. Ok, enough melodrama. Does anyone know where to find wholesale or cheaper equivalent faders for this board? I think they are ALPS types, and if you can get the part number off of them, you might find them in the Digi-Key catalogue. However, if they are noisy, you might be able to get away with a good cleaning with Cailube rather than actual replacement. The labour on replacing faders is not so low either. ---scott KZ -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Also try Mouser (http://www.mouser.com/). They have quite a few replacement faders, but I have no idea if they have the ones you are looking for. Mike |
#26
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
George Gleason wrote:
to spend time and money fixing what was a pos when sold as new is anti-productive For some reason Tonebarge replaced all the faders in his original 1604. Perhaps his and his alone is not a piece of ****? Or does he just know how to track, mix, and master? -- ha |
#27
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
"hank alrich" wrote in message . .. George Gleason wrote: to spend time and money fixing what was a pos when sold as new is anti-productive For some reason Tonebarge replaced all the faders in his original 1604. Perhaps his and his alone is not a piece of ****? Or does he just know how to track, mix, and master? your opinion of Piece of **** and mine differ when I am buying a piece of **** I perfer not to pay premimum price for it Peace george |
#28
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message oups.com Pooh Bear wrote: Well, actually in this case it's because Mackie's making a huge 'mark up' on the price they pay themselves. But this is typical of parts, particularly original replacement parts. The pistons cost $5 when they build the engine, but $250 when you have to go to the parts counter and buy a replacement. It's the same $5 piston. It does in fact cost a lot to handle a single object in a stock of a large number of different kinds of objects. Everybody in retail is trying to reduce the number of different items on hand. Merchandising is migrating towards a relatively small number of very large highly-automated warehouses, such as those used by Amazon or Digi-Key. It costs a lot to stock an item made specifically for one model of something (in this case a piston designed for one particular engine) and make it available for years in case a customer needs one. That does cost money. In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. The component was not specifically designed for this device, is used in many others and will not be obsoleted with that particular model mixer. In such cases it really is greed--IMHO--which drives astronomic replacement prices. The manufacturer doesn't even need to stock the spare. It can order as needed and drop-ship directly to the user from the supplier. jak |
#29
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
jakdedert wrote:
In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. The component was not specifically designed for this device, is used in many others and will not be obsoleted with that particular model mixer. In such cases it really is greed--IMHO--which drives astronomic replacement prices. The manufacturer doesn't even need to stock the spare. It can order as needed and drop-ship directly to the user from the supplier. Some it may be greed. But some of it may be the cost of keeping a bag of seldom-sold replacement parts on the shelf and the OUTRAGEOUS amount of tax on spare parts inventory. Some time during the second Reagan term, the laws on taxing spare parts inventory changed dramatically and a lot of companies as a result decided to just junk all their less-common spares. Very depressing. But for thing that don't fail often, or for parts that aren't really cost-effective to replace, or for parts that appear in only one product, it becomes very difficult for a manufacturer to justify keeping any spares on the shelf at all today. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#30
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
jakdedert wrote: In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. Are you absolutely sure of this? If so, then you should be able to provide a part number and guarantee that it will fit. Mackie has used a lot of custom parts in their mixers over the years. When you ship tens of thousands of mixers annually, you can have a manufacturer make a fader to your specifications and, because of the quantity you buy, sell it cheaper than the off-the-shelf part. I really don't know what's in a 1640 VLZ, but I can tell you that the Penny & Giles faders in the dxb are like no other Penny & Giles fader. |
#31
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote:
jakdedert wrote: In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. Are you absolutely sure of this? If so, then you should be able to provide a part number and guarantee that it will fit. Mackie has used a lot of custom parts in their mixers over the years. When you ship tens of thousands of mixers annually, you can have a manufacturer make a fader to your specifications and, because of the quantity you buy, sell it cheaper than the off-the-shelf part. Admittedly, no; but my money would still be on off-the-shelf. This is a $1500 (List) mixer...available on the street for less than $900 according to the thread. I earlier suggested buying ONE and comparing. Perhaps someone here knows, but he hasn't spoken up if so. What would be the advantage in spec'ing custom pots at this price point? Thousands of pots, yes, but if the difference is only pennies per, it still adds up. Even in the quantities of which we speak, off the shelf is still going to be cheaper. Design work and tooling costs. If Alps would sell me ten thousand custom faders for X dollars, I'm willing to bet that they would sell me ten thousand similar, but off-the-shelf, standard parts, out of their inventory for less. 'How much' less is open to speculation; but they'd be crazy not to... I really don't know what's in a 1640 VLZ, but I can tell you that the Penny & Giles faders in the dxb are like no other Penny & Giles fader. In what way? In any case, we're not talking P&G, anyway...but I'm willing to stand corrected if anyone knows for sure. jak |
#32
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
jakdedert wrote: What would be the advantage in spec'ing custom pots at this price point? Thousands of pots, yes, but if the difference is only pennies per, it still adds up. You can design a product around off the shelf parts, but then you're stuck with certain dimensions, terminal layouts, values, and other stuff too fierce to mention. It may be that by using a custom part they can cut costs in other places. When you're building thousands of units a month, you have to look at total product cost, not just parts cost. I really don't know what's in a 1640 VLZ, but I can tell you that the Penny & Giles faders in the dxb are like no other Penny & Giles fader. In what way? In any case, we're not talking P&G, anyway...but I'm willing to stand corrected if anyone knows for sure. They're P&G, but they're a design licesnsed to Mackie and manufactured by Mackie's sources in China. So there! The 1640VLZ does not have P&G faders, but Scott may be correct about Alps. |
#33
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote: jakdedert wrote: What would be the advantage in spec'ing custom pots at this price point? Thousands of pots, yes, but if the difference is only pennies per, it still adds up. You can design a product around off the shelf parts, but then you're stuck with certain dimensions, terminal layouts, values, and other stuff too fierce to mention. It may be that by using a custom part they can cut costs in other places. When you're building thousands of units a month, you have to look at total product cost, not just parts cost. You have to have a damn good reason to use truly 'custom' parts. When you're buying by the thousand or tens of thousand you do have more flexibility in being able to obtain the rarer versions of standard parts though, such as certain resistance tapers for pots. Bear in mind that the standard product was likely designed to fit your application in the first place. I've never seen a custom fader in any of the lower cost mixers. They all use the stock catalogue parts. Graham |
#34
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Pooh Bear wrote: I've never seen a custom fader in any of the lower cost mixers. They all use the stock catalogue parts. You could make this whole argument go away by supplying a stock catalog number. If you don't have one for Mackie, name a mass-produced mixer that you know and give us a reference to the stock fader that's used in it. And if you're just theorizing, back off. |
#35
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
Mike Rivers wrote:
jakdedert wrote: What would be the advantage in spec'ing custom pots at this price point? Thousands of pots, yes, but if the difference is only pennies per, it still adds up. You can design a product around off the shelf parts, but then you're stuck with certain dimensions, terminal layouts, values, and other stuff too fierce to mention. It may be that by using a custom part they can cut costs in other places. When you're building thousands of units a month, you have to look at total product cost, not just parts cost. I really don't know what's in a 1640 VLZ, but I can tell you that the Penny & Giles faders in the dxb are like no other Penny & Giles fader. In what way? In any case, we're not talking P&G, anyway...but I'm willing to stand corrected if anyone knows for sure. They're P&G, but they're a design licesnsed to Mackie and manufactured by Mackie's sources in China. So there! You misunderstood me, I think. I was referring to the OP's mixer, not your VLZ, which (if I understand) is a more expensive unit. I have no reason to doubt your word. If you say it's got P&G's, why would I contradict you? In any case, it's only peripherally related to the discussion at hand. The 1640VLZ does not have P&G faders, but Scott may be correct about Alps. ...or Panasonic, as one responder seemed to recall. I don't understand why this thread is getting heated. It seems that no responder has direct experience with the unit in question, so all is theoretical at this point. If someone can say for sure, I am certainly willing to be educated. It's still my feeling that at this price point, it would make sense for Mackie to use OTS parts; but I'm willing to concede that they might not have done so. OTOH, from this distance, I would lean toward the ribbon connector issue that some have discussed in reference to this(?) thread. If it was my desk, I'd have had it opened up by now, and know for sure. I'm not going to open up one of my (non-Mackie) mixers to supply a part number. Perhaps someone has a service manual? jak jak |
#36
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
jakdedert wrote:
In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. The component was not specifically designed for this device, is used in many others and will not be obsoleted with that particular model mixer. In such cases it really is greed--IMHO--which drives astronomic replacement prices. The manufacturer doesn't even need to stock the spare. It can order as needed and drop-ship directly to the user from the supplier. But just try and ask Alps to ship one or two or a couple dozen faders fader to an owner of a inexpensive console. They're just not set up to work on a scale that small. -- ha |
#37
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
hank alrich wrote:
jakdedert wrote: In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. The component was not specifically designed for this device, is used in many others and will not be obsoleted with that particular model mixer. In such cases it really is greed--IMHO--which drives astronomic replacement prices. The manufacturer doesn't even need to stock the spare. It can order as needed and drop-ship directly to the user from the supplier. But just try and ask Alps to ship one or two or a couple dozen faders fader to an owner of a inexpensive console. They're just not set up to work on a scale that small. Of course not, that's why there are distributers. jak -- ha |
#38
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
jakdedert wrote: I'm not going to open up one of my (non-Mackie) mixers to supply a part number. You're unlikely to find anything other than an abbreviated one on the part anyway. Perhaps someone has a service manual? Typically these just give the manufacturer's internal part number only not the vendor's. Graham |
#39
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
hank alrich wrote: jakdedert wrote: In the case of this relatively cheap mixer, however, we're talking about an outsourced, plain vanilla, off the shelf generic part...a simple potentiometer. The component was not specifically designed for this device, is used in many others and will not be obsoleted with that particular model mixer. In such cases it really is greed--IMHO--which drives astronomic replacement prices. The manufacturer doesn't even need to stock the spare. It can order as needed and drop-ship directly to the user from the supplier. But just try and ask Alps to ship one or two or a couple dozen faders fader to an owner of a inexpensive console. They're just not set up to work on a scale that small. That's why they have distributors. Graham |
#40
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Cheap Replacement Faders for Mackie 1604-VLZ
"hank alrich" wrote in message
But just try and ask Alps to ship one or two or a couple dozen faders fader to an owner of a inexpensive console. They're just not set up to work on a scale that small. Your point is well-taken. For example, log taper pots are getting to be very hard to find, particularly ones with more than one or two sections and with larger diameter elements. They are in the Alps catalog, but the minimum order is 1200 pieces. http://www.potentiometer.com/select_...06042203260216 |