What's the going Rate for a Schumann PLL these days?

[resynthesis]

^
Read the whole saga:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/i ... c=102012.0
http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic ... humann+pll

It was my bedtime reading for a couple of years (along with the Ludwig Phase II stuff)

[Lee]

^thanks for the info. It's a good read for sure. I wish I didn't miss out on the PCB run or the Dimehead PLL. A Jerms PLL would be wicked.

I've been in contact with one of the sellers on Reverb and he is thinking about my offer. I didn't make an official offer but messaged him and he's thinking about it. He might be having second thoughts about selling the pedal.

[jerms]

if you want a dimehead just message him thru facebook

[sicko]

Have any PLL's actually sold for around $3k? I owned one a few years ago and sold it for much less than the ones on Reverb are going for, though asking and selling price can often be drastically different.
John Schumann is a genius, it's such a shame that he vanished off the face of the planet; radio silence since '06. I often wonder what he's doing now, does anyone have any update on him whatsoever?
The PLL was my prized possession for years, though it was always more a romantic thing than anything as I used it very sparingly in actual music creation. Endless fun, won't argue that- also the best looking pedal ever.
Excited to see what Montreal Assembly do with a PLL style circuit. Incase anyone is into Eurorack (modular synths), there's a couple PLL modules (not Schumann clones; people in the guitar world seem to strictly associate the term 'PLL' to just John), the most affordable being the Doepfer PLL. Cool little module for little money.

[jerms]

^^^^ no.... the last few have gone in the $1500 range.... these guys are dreaming with those prices....

[digi2t]

^^^^ no.... the last few have gone in the $1500 range.... these guys are dreaming with those prices....

I have to agree with that. Not worth spending more than that. Most of the $1500 covers the rarity, the balance covers what it does. Best option remains building one yourself, if you can, or get someone local to build one for you, if such a person exists in your area. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that no one has drawn up a PCB for OSH Park yet (Bueller....Bueller.... Bueller....). As for reasonably priced clones, if anymore ELTA units pop up, I might snag one for dissection.

To date, contemplating all the original units, and clones that I've played, every single one is a tad different. Probably has more to do with resistor/cap value tolerance, and where you park your negative and positive rail voltages. As such, which unit I think is "the best of all time" is totally subjective. The answer is all.... and none. I've played originals that are great, and originals that are crap. As for my clones, I just tried to stick as close as possible to the original specs, but even then, at first trial, I've had units that I've had to go back into and tweak the livin' bejeezus out of. All this to say, if you fork out $500, or $5000, there's no guarantee that the $500 unit won't sound better. Sorry if that pees directly into your Corn Flakes, but best you get used to the taste now, before you skipping out on your mortgage.

IC-wise, the SN74HC14N always struck me as a bit "flakier" than the CD40106BE, and yet, both were found in original units. Although the SN74HC14N tops out at 7v for operation, Schumann was still running the rails in excess of 10v, and the units worked fine. It may have been the fact that they were running over the 7v limit, yet could take a bit more, that made them sound less jumpy. I've tried both IC's, at various voltages, and in all cases, the SN74HC14, when exceeding the 7v threshold, will start to act differently, and never the same way in an IC to IC comparison either. Personally, I never liked the SN74HC14 sound, and always opted for the 40106, or 74C14 variants. With a supply voltage tolerance of up to 15v, they always seem to sound more stable.

The same holds true where rail voltages are concerned. Perfectly balanced voltages (i.e. +12.00v/-12.00v) is not necessarily desirable. Since it`s impossible to have "perfectly matched" components on both multiplier and divider sections, there`s an interaction that needs to be compensated for. Think of it as a twin engine boat, running at speed. Without a synchronizer to manage the RPM's, you get this incessant frequency bounce, like harmonically tuning two strings on a guitar, but you keep raising and lowering the pitch of one string. Setting the rail voltages is different for every unit that's come across my bench, and not a single one has sounded best at equal settings. Nor do they sound best at particular voltage settings either. Boosting/lowering one rail voltage over the other effectively boosts or lowers the divider or multiplier voices as well. Tuning them is akin to being trapped in a whore house sometimes; You're there, having fun, but at some point, you'll start looking for the door out.

[cajone5]

I know I'll never use it and don't wanna be that "flipper guy" so here's a pretty badass looking clone for a pretty nice price.

https://reverb.com/item/4235017-ftelett ... drone-rare

I hope this earns me some cosmic karma points on something down the line

[daCod]

haha i was just coming to post that one cliff

[resynthesis]

I think my missus is currently about 35km away from that PLL in Montpellier. I've never really wanted one but I wonder if it's calling to me? And she hasn't bought me a Christmas present yet...

[innerflight]

well thats a good price especially if you take off the shipping, they are €295 shipped to the UK from the builder