Well that pic above is of some old panels.... but just bringing FSS back out of the ashes (quite literally?) after the workshop where most work is carried out had a blow-out to give you some news:The good thing is, this whole experience of everything suddenly going dead for months has got me thinking about the whole process.... so here's the new deal:
-PCBs will now be produced by a local service. Sure, I can't oversee the production process, but it means the PCBs are in fact much more reliable and being local, I can nag them if need be.
-Aluminium panels will be cut and etched (or maybe screenprinted) by another local service. This is much better than Schaeffer in Germany (where I have to wait around a month for panels) as it's all better for the local economy and gives a faster turnaround time.
-Acrylic panels, construction and assembly work will still be done by myself.... but in the case of another blow out I'm not put out - all that can be halted are the acrylic panels. Aluminium panels might even be as cheap with a better supplier.
I've had a few emails coming round, which is great, including customer enquiries, stocking enquires from Post Modular (a new upcoming place in London, I'll try and keep people updated by that whenever I get news, sounds like a good place) + Shawn at AH, and perhaps most important of all a journalist from Sound On Sound asking for pics for an upcoming modular synth feature.
So, all in all, after a few old orders have been fulfilled, FSS will be back in business. Working on a batch production routine, I'll be bringing back the modules one by one... so I expect 50 of the DC1 will appear, then 50 of the NPN1, and pretty much cycle round depending on demand, etc.
