U47-style bodies - who can make one?

[synthi]

so the time is coming... Great!

 

[Skylar]

...got sample parts from the manufacturer. They look good; I will post pictures here.

Most excellent Skylar, thanks so much for your continuing hard work on this... You are a gentleman and a scholar, we shall wait with much excitement for the the pics...

Hey, thanks for your very kind words!


Honestly, the pics won't be that exciting, as the sample parts are not for my mic body...they're just parts the manufacturer already makes.
I requested these parts to get an feel for their machining/finishing capabilities/quality.
I will take photos this evening.

I am sending the manufacturer reference parts this week or next week (Holidays might delay things).
After they receive those, I am giving them the green light on production.
They tell me that the tooling will take 1 month to complete.
The actual production run will take an additional month.


Wow, that means this project has taken a year (or more) to get going! Time flies...

 

[MagnetoSound]

Hi Skylar, does that mean you estimate completion around the end of January then?

Would you need to be taking payments much before then?

And thanks again for persevering with this through all the hurdles to (hopefully) a worthwhile result!

 

[tommypiper]

OK, great. I hope.  

A couple questions, sorry for the bother.  Just wondering... So you're not getting prototypes made from the new manufacturer?  After all the painstaking approval processing you put the previous manufacturer candidates through?  I'm just asking.  Because that was the problem you reported with the previous makers, their prototypes kept coming back out of spec.  (Is that correct?)  

So, are we to understand that this time you're just looking at samples that they already make, and you're going to give them the green light based only on samples that they already have in production?  Skylar, you're not going to ask them to make a sample of your design?

If so, I don't understand the change in your approval strategy.  Could you explain, please?  (Maybe I'm completely confused, sorry if I misunderstood.)

I'm a just a little worried...  Is this the Chinese maker?  If so, they are on another continent, beyond our influence and reach, and some manufacturers there have, fairly or otherwise, earned a notorious reputation for changing specs, parts and materials on (other) microphones and mic pres without notice and not taking returns, even when defects are found.  Do you have some leverage in case the production run doesn't meet spec?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks for your perservance and sharing with us.  

 

[zayance]

The badge could be done on your side, your logo or whatever, give it the right curved form and a drop of epoxy and there you go, ask a jeweler for custom badge, Mic body is a big project on his own i think, i'm actually building a mic body from scratch, and a badge is one of the things i will put on mine...

 

[fazeka]

Now that the mic bodies are almost here. I’ve got an idea that I’ve been mulling over to put forth:

How about having a badge made up for the mic bodies?

<snip>

God, no! Didn't we have this discussion way back in the thread?

 

[plumsolly]

There was an extensive thread about badges in the Black Market, which looks to have been lost now. I would be interested, depending on the design chosen. That topic could probably use its own thread. Best, Ben

 

[studiosteve]

.

 

[Skylar]

OK, great. I hope.  

A couple questions, sorry for the bother.  Just wondering... So you're not getting prototypes made from the new manufacturer?  After all the painstaking approval processing you put the previous manufacturer candidates through?  I'm just asking.  Because that was the problem you reported with the previous makers, their prototypes kept coming back out of spec.  (Is that correct?)  

So, are we to understand that this time you're just looking at samples that they already make, and you're going to give them the green light based only on samples that they already have in production?  Skylar, you're not going to ask them to make a sample of your design?

If so, I don't understand the change in your approval strategy.  Could you explain, please?  (Maybe I'm completely confused, sorry if I misunderstood.)

I'm a just a little worried...  Is this the Chinese maker?  If so, they are on another continent, beyond our influence and reach, and some manufacturers there have, fairly or otherwise, earned a notorious reputation for changing specs, parts and materials on (other) microphones and mic pres without notice and not taking returns, even when defects are found.  Do you have some leverage in case the production run doesn't meet spec?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks for your perservance and sharing with us.  

Thanks for bringing up some good questions.

I WILL have samples made...but I have to initiate production first.
I think I may have mentioned the process several posts back, but I'll detail it further here.

Because tooling will be required before even a single sample can be made, an initial deposit must be delivered to cover the tooling expenses (which will be several thousand dollars).
After the deposit is made, the tooling will begin, which will take one month.

The first off-tool sample will be TNT-Expressed to me and I will inspect.
[I'm in the market for a new micrometer/caliper set just for this occasion—any suggestions?]
If the sample is totally within tolerance and totally aesthetically acceptable, production commences.
If there are problems, I report them, they fix and re-tool if necessary at their expense, and deliver another sample.
This process repeats as necessary until everything is 100%.
Then production commences.
It will be one month to produce the full 200.


So, there is a risk here if they are unable to get the mic body correct even after multiple attempts and one of us decides to give up, and I'll be out 6 big ones.
I suppose that there is also the old "bait & switch."
I'm working out an agreement that will cover the terms of the deal, but, ultimately, I doubt that's going to help much if things run afoul.
However, I really don't see any of that happening.
I feel confident about the manufacturing.

Of course, all the risk involved here is my risk, so I don't think there's anything for you guys to worry about.

 

[Skylar]

God, no! Didn't we have this discussion way back in the thread?

Whoa. I'm sorry! Please instruct me. What did I do wrong? Sorry.......

zayance
Thanks for the guidance. I guess I'll go the way you suggest. It was not my intention to restart a conflict. If that's what I've done(?).

Should I take my last post down? It's not a problem.

Not a big deal.
Don't worry about it.


There's no way we can please everyone if we try to do badges, so I'd rather keep things plain & simple.

 

[Mbira]

I hope after all this work and tooling, etc, that you will make another run available for folks...I know I missed the first run, and I'm positive there are many more that would like a crack at this.  After all the setup, making 200 or 400 or 10000 probably isn't much different.

 

[Skylar]

I have a pretty good feeling that there will be additional runs!
And I suspect that the turn-around time will be considerably shorter.

 

[Skylar]

Pictures of sample parts.

Note: these are just off-the-shelf parts to demonstrate quality/capability.
Actual samples of my EQU47 design will be shown once they're made, but this is what I have for now.

       


           

 

[tommypiper]

Skylar, thanks for the explanations! 

 

[MATTI]

It would be a nice surprise / extra if they could make the parts for fitting ioaudios boards also for us making those mics and without any decent tools to make ones.

Best

Matti

 

[fazeka]

Whoa. I'm sorry! Please instruct me. What did I do wrong?

Nothing.

Maybe I overreacted a little. I just didn't want to have people "putting the cart before the horse": we don't even have a mic and yet were talking about badges (again, which I thought was out of scope for this GB).

<snip>
It was not my intention to restart a conflict. If that's what I've done(?).

Not in my mind. My apologies.

 

[fazeka]

There's no way we can please everyone if we try to do badges, so I'd rather keep things plain & simple.

Yes. This was perhaps the better way to address this concern. Thanks Skylar!

 

[radardoug]

Skylar, I notice you are putting your money down to make this all happen and its not just change. Do you want any help on the finance side? I would be happy to put up some money to help out. You've been doing all the work so far, and I wouldn't like to think it is going to strain your resources. Let me know if I can help.

 

[Ian]

I agree, I don't think its really fair you put a substantial chunk of your money up for this considering the work you've put into the project. I think it could be a good idea to get a small deposit from interested parties. That would help show you exactly how many people are actually serious about buying the bodies and keep the financial burden of this project off yourself.

 

[audiovisceral]

If they come back remotely decent or like the last prototypes (which were gorgeous), I very much doubt after the past year of building interest he'll have any trouble selling them.