tvox tour

I'm looking around like a fool, googling, scanning ebay worldwide and so on, in order to find a tvox tour theremin. But without success.

I'm even ready to buy a defective one in order to fix it myself after having heard that there were some devices out there which have broken MOSFET circuits following an electrostatic attack.

I fear that if I will start developing my own theremin with similar specifications - almost 7 octaves, smooth sinusoidal timbre in the lowest register, muting circuit - I will loose or even waste too much time and/or money.

Thank you in advance for any ideas, suggestions, alternatives, offers - Hanukkah is approaching... ;-)

Hi

im no sure if you have one of this, but its not working, or you want one to modificate it with your own mods, you know, since a bit of time i wonder how works this Theremin, cos it has the longer registry and some others features very interesting, id like to have the Schematics of the TVOX tour, but for this time i think its almost impossible to have it, but id like you clearme what specific thing youd like to do, to make, to fix, or to build the theremin...

regards

Robi

thereminchile@gmail.com

Robi,

in the best case, I just want to buy one in good working condition for playing it and being lucky.

If I cannot get a working one, I'm ready to buy a defective one in order to fix it and bring it back into its original condition. No mods!

If I even can't get a defective one, I will have to design and to build something similar. But I'm afraid that this will take too much time and money for an uncertain result.

Thierry,
I know that you and some other people here at TW have been waiting patiently for evaluation samples I promised - but have probably given up by now!
I am getting real close to having kit to ship - Most of the modules are now prototyped and working, some minor issues require sorting - but early next year you will be getting a Theremin Developers Kit from me.. This kit will allow you to construct a Theremin to taste.. It WILL be worth the wait! The only thing the Tvox can do which my kit will find difficult, is giving the non-linearity the Tvox has..
My sensor modules give a voltage output (0 to 10V linear to distance from antenna to 1M at present) and VC electronics is used for sound generation, so 7 octaves is no problem (playing range is a function of how much one attenuates the voltage, and tuning a function of how much voltage one adds or subtracts).
If you can wait a little longer, you may not need a Tvox!

"I will loose or even waste too much time and/or money"

I know the truth in the above statement! I made some big mistakes, and shifted my focus too often, which made life more difficult - but even without those errors, the task of designing a good Theremin has been far more difficult and expensive than I imagined.. If I had seen the future a year ago, I would never have embarked on the project, and would have bought an EW-Pro and been about £20k wealthier today! (I could have taken on more paying work, instead of developing these damn Theremin products).

Dear Fred,

thank you for these encouraging words...

Even if I could put my hand on a tvox, I'll still wait with impatience for your theremin circuit. The one doesn't exclude the other. And I must admit that I have no musical experience in the CV - VCO domain. So I'll be certainly and positively surprised by your new design.

But this will not reduce my wish to own a tvox tour (... and a LongWave Theremin and a Big Briar 91A...)

"But this will not reduce my wish to own a tvox tour (... and a LongWave Theremin and a Big Briar 91A...)"

LOL! - I understand that fully.. given a chance at getting any of the above, I would also jump at it! - But this is a problem.. wanting things which are difficult or impossible to obtain - drives one mad - mad enough to spend a year trying to make equivalents, or worse, trying to better them!

With regard to VCO's etc.. What I am producing in this latest development is slightly different.. it still uses heterodyning, but adds VC features .. best of both worlds!

Good grief man....what on earth would make it cost so much to develop your own theremin design? I would assume you already possess more than a rudimentary understanding of electronic design and at least some of the basic equipment. Wouldn't much of the design process be based on existing theory, and wouldn't you be able to do much of the basic design work using software?

I've been watching things for at least the last six years, and I've...NEVER...seen a Tvox Tour theremin for sale in any condition.

"Good grief man....what on earth would make it cost so much to develop your own theremin design? I would assume you already possess more than a rudimentary understanding of electronic design and at least some of the basic equipment. Wouldn't much of the design process be based on existing theory, and wouldn't you be able to do much of the basic design work using software?"

Sorry Thierry - I dont want to hijack your thread.. >> "I would assume you already possess more than a rudimentary understanding of electronic design" << I have been an electronics designer for > 30 years, believe me.. it is extremely easy to design and make a reasonable Theremin - but the moment one wants something better than "reasonable" (you want to get into the E-Pro / Tvox class) all sorts of unexpected issues arise.. I would not have believed it would take this long - but its been a year, and I am only now getting to the point of being satisfied with what I have. >>"and wouldn't you be able to do much of the basic design work using software?" << - I thought this - One of my main incomes is designing SPICE/PSPICE simulation models, I rely on simulation for all my designs... But for Theremin design, you can forget about using ANY simulation package.
Perhaps I am getting old and doddery.. Things do take longer than they used to.. But I have put at least 8 full man-months into Theremin development - I have a fully equipd lab with analogue and digital scopes, spectrum analysers, distortion analysers, PSUs,Sig-Gens,Logic analysers.. I do this stuff for a living! - But I am sure glad I never took the Theremin design on for a client - I would have quoted for 2-3 Man months, and been in deep brown sticky stuff!

Thierry, I know your feeling.
I've been trying to get a tvox tour for at least five years. I think it was such a limited production run, and part cottage industry, that only "family members" got one.
If any turn up, I hope I'm right behind you!

BTW: It must not necessarily be a tvox tour. Any other theremin with a smooth timbre like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn4TgYkqdi8) will also be welcome!

My Etherwave Standard, although meticulously tuned and having almost 6 playable octaves will never have this beautiful sound. :-(