Classes!

[Doc B.]

As we look at starting our move into the new facility it is time to begin discussing classes. I am looking for input on what folks might be looking for in a class.

Here are some ideas:

Amp construction classes, ranging from building a Quickie battery preamp in an afternoon, to a day long class building a Crack headphone amp, to a two or three day session discussing the design of and constructing a Stereomour.

Basic soldering skills -maybe a Saturday afternoon class where we build a simple passive switchbox

Basic schematic interpretation - what all those funny lines and squiggles do.

Tape machine operation, maintenance and alignment - an afternoon class where we go through the basics of keeping a tape deck running.

Design classes - these are a bit tricky to set up as each student seems to have a very particular set of design elements they wish to learn. I would need a fair amount of input about what folks would want to cover.

Speaker/room measurement - a clinic on how to shoot a room and, more importantly, how to evaluate the results.

How to listen - learning how and what to listen for when evaluating system components

Please throw out any other ideas you might have, I want to make this new space a useful tool for the community.

By the way, there are a couple of hotels fairly close to the office, and the new office is about five minutes drive from the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal. Conceivably one could let us know what boat you are taking, walk on the boat on the Seattle side and we can send someone to pick you up at the dock.

[ssssly]

I would suggest a turntable set up class. Seems to be an issue that prevents many from getting into vinyl.

Would also suggest recording the classes and making them available via download or DVD (or maybe a youtube series).

I know I would definitely watch them (living in Japan makes it difficult to make it for class dates). Would love a class on schematic interpretation (a how to go from schematic to physical product class) or a how to design a solid power supply class (transformer selection, voltage/amperage management, filter schemes etc). 

[Grainger49]

ssssly lives even farther away than I do.  I don't get into the Bottlehead neighborhood very often.  The videos would be a boon.  You can sell them like Micheal Fremer's TT setup DVDs.

[Aural Robert]

SCHEMATICS YESSSSS I'd love to know how to turn a schematic into a real working product. Translating the logical layout to a physical layout.

Aural Robert
... it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood ...

[glennn111]

Ditto what Ssssly and Grainger said. Especially schematic to physical product. But all classes would be welcomed.

[Steve Reese]

They all sound good. Do you have any idea how you would lay out the classes, for example, starting from a Wednesday through Sunday sort of thing?

[Doc B.]

I don't think any class ideas I have mentioned so far would need to be more than three days long, so maybe a Friday,Sat.Sun schedule for the longest ones, and Sat/Sun or one weekend day for the shorter ones would work.

Based on our past experience the one class that would take quite a bit of time to do right would be the suggested schematic to finished product class. This would involve a great deal of time discussing the logic behind physical layout and component choices, which requires a fair amount of discussion of basic to intermediate electronics theory. It might make sense to break it down into separate classes on power supply, grounding theory, etc.

[Paul Joppa]

...
Based on our past experience the one class that would take quite a bit of time to do right would be the suggested schematic to finished product class. This would involve a great deal of time discussing the logic behind physical layout and component choices, which requires a fair amount of discussion of basic to intermediate electronics theory. It might make sense to break it down into separate classes on power supply, grounding theory, etc.

We could also start with something very simple, such as a passive preamp. No capacitors, no power-line-related grounding issues, no components other than resistors and switches, no DC voltage issues, etc.

[2wo]

The room measurement class sounds interesting. Living on the east coast makes it hard to pop over for a day but hay  you never know

[Paully]

I live in WV, so getting to chateau Bottlehead isn't an easy option.  But I would like to echo that I would definitely, and I do mean definitely, buy a video of basic schematic interpretation.  Poor Grainger has been trying to teach this to me for years...  But having a video I could reference whenever I wanted would be a boon.  I would probably be willing to by a design class and tape maintenance video as well.

[bobster]

I could be interested in a video too

[Maxwell_E]

The sound room measurement class sounds like a good one, covers a topic that most people accredit to voodoo magic.

[STURMJ]

Videos would be great!!!!

[wylymon]

I agree videos would be great.
I live in Indiana, getting out to WA. would be very expensive. I would rather purchase a course. With Heathkit dead and buried. The opportunity for training courses would be a great source of revenue for Bottlehead. A suggestion would be to have a group of folks trained
to teach courses in their home area. If you do live courses it might be helpful to have course work completed....prior to the class ....saves time and allows maximum usage of on site training time. If done right.......quality classes could increase the visibility of Bottlehead and lead to increased sales of kits.

James

 

[Doc B.]

Bear with me while I relate a personal experience or two. I've been trying to get myself to learn to play guitar off and on for a couple of years. There's zillions of videos on the subject and I have acquired a few. My friends who play have to a man said "just take some lessons from a live teacher and play with other players". And they are right. Just a small amount of time spent with one of my buds who plays is worth a whole stack of videos because they can say "no, try it like this" - something a video can't do. Same thing when I learned to bake 30 years ago. A whole library full of cookbooks is never going to come close to one morning spent with a journeyman pastry chef in a commercial kitchen (especially if she is blonde and about 26 years old...better yet a whole kitchen full of them...that was some tasty education)

I would like to hear from folks who have taken our classes in the past. While the idea of videos is intriguing, my sense is that some things that are the most important in these classes are interactive rather like learning to play an instrument or learning cooking techniques. We are dealing with a manual skill and you can't get that level of experience from a video. In a class I spend a lot of time advising on wire dress, mechanical fastening and solder technique for various types of joints. Even simple things like how to wrap a wire on a terminal or work a wire stripper efficiently require a certain amount of sensory experience beyond what video can offer. A video can say "do it like this", but it can't say "actually this right here is what you want to focus on to get it perfect, not that thing over there - hand me the pliers and I'll show you how to get it just right".

I'm not really trying to completely shoot down the video idea. There are certain things that have been discussed that would probably fit that format quite well, like reading schematics and perhaps some of the aspects of design. In fact we recently did a test run, a video about fixing a common switch problem that occurs on Technics tape decks. But I feel that to become good at things like electronics assembly and soldering or tape head alignment it's important to have someone right there who can help you get the proper feel for the job at hand.