Large CGS Serge Project

large-serge-panelI am finally getting around to the assembly phase of this project, which I began to design almost a year ago.  Ken Stone has been producing PC boards by agreement with Serge to replicate many of the 1970’s and 80’s era Serge modules.  A couple of years ago I built my CGS Serge panel (see tag cloud) to go along with my BugBrand modular rack.  This new, expanded set of Serge and CGS modules will complement those and live in the same cabinet with them.  The photo above shows five panels, laid side-by-side, with only the panel parts installed.  This is a new panel format for me.  It’s the same form factor as MOTM, and uses the same vertical spacing.  But I laid it out with ten horizontal rows for fitment of banana jacks.  I had originally planned to put this into one gigantic Front Panel Express panel, but then I had an insight to make five separate panels.  The advantages include being able to use the standard MOTM rail system, and also being able to build incrementally, making assembly more manageable.  The downside is that some space was lost and I had to give up one mixer, one waveshaper and one VCA that were originally planned.  So what’s in it?  Going left to right, top to bottom:

  • Two 1973 Classic Serge Positive Slew
  • Classic Serge Smooth and Stepped Generator (SSG)
  • Serge Noise Source (minus sample and hold)
  • Two Original Serge Envelope Generator
  • 1973 Classic Serge Triple Bi-directional Router
  • Four passive attenuator pots
  • Two CGS VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier)
  • Two CGS Voltage Processor
  • Serge Resonant Equalizer
  • Classic Serge VC Phaser (with AC Mixers, one on the panel)
  • 1973 Classic Serge R6 Ring Modulator
  • Two Serge Voltage Variable Q VCF (VCFQ)
  • 1973 Classic Serge Triple Wave Shaper (two on the panel)

Color coding for jacks helps during patching:  Signal inputs are yellow, signal outputs are green, gate and trigger inputs are black, pulse outputs are red, control voltage inputs are blue.  The IO inputs on the triple bi-directional switch are gray.  Likewise, yellow knobs are signal attenuators, blue are CV attenuators, and the rest are red.

The next photo shows how many PC boards I have to assemble.  They are:

  • Two CGS 76 Serge Envelope Generator
  • One CGS 83 Serge Dual Positive Slew
  • One CGS 92 Serge SSG
  • One CGS 90 Serge Phaser and Mixers
  • Two CGS 112 Serge VCFQ
  • One CGS 202 Serge Resonant Equalizer
  • One CGS 97 Serge Noise Source
  • One CGS 85 Serge Triple Waveshaper
  • One CGS 88 Serge Triple Switch
  • One CGS 79 Serge Ring Modulator
  • One CGS 81 CGS Dual Voltage Processor
  • Two CGS 64 CGS VCA
  • Six CGS 108 Serge Gain Cell (submodule for the VCFQ)

large-serge-pc-boards

 

3 Responses to Large CGS Serge Project

  1. babysealclub says:

    I had a similar format idea. I like the Serge spacing and density but DIY is always more fun in 5U. I suggest calling the new format 5ยต.

    Great work as always!

  2. Low-Gain says:

    Epic project! Can’t wait to see it finished.. I really enjoy the BugBrand’esk theme. ๐Ÿ™‚ I’d build that if i had the panel!

  3. Richard says:

    It’s done!

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