Since last writing, Endangered Audio has apparently done a complete re-spin of the PCB board. I haven't seen it, but this is good news. While I felt that the board construction was fine, a few things were placed on it rather awkwardly, it seemed. Hopefully it better meshes with the schematic, and that the documentation has improved as well. Fingers crossed that the power & CV stuff is a bit cleaner as well. Unfortunately it seems that the PCB is no longer available on its own from EA, but only as a kit (with all the main components), but perhaps they will sell them individually upon request. All that means that what I've previously written (and would have written) is mostly moot, I'm afraid.
Anyhow, I did complete my Gristleizer, and it sounds great! I wanted it to be a table-top model with the knobs on the top - at least for me, that makes a lot more sense given how I work both in the studio and live. Final assembly was a bit awkward; the PCB was designed to have the pots fixed to it - in my case, they were going to be on a different panel entirely than the one where the PCB would be mounted. Granted, part of the difficulty was surely due to the fact that this was the first thing I've built go to in an enclosure... at home they've just been fun little projects, and at work they've been prototypes connected to various things on my desk. However, everything eventually went together. Hopefully it all stays. ;-)
Not the most beautiful thing (or the greatest picture), but it works great. The first trials were running my MS-10 through it, and the VCA worked some crazy magic on the sounds. When tweaking the controls (particularly the rate), I could definitely hear elements of that distinctive TG sound. The VCF is great too, though more subtle than I would have expected.When I built this, I got enough components to make a second one. If I get around to starting on a modular synth later this year, I'll definitely try to get a second PCB and make a Gristleizer module. If/when that happens, I'll be sure to better document the process and post it here!
