Interior photos of equipment- a good or bad thing?

Niteshade · « **on:** 7 Jan 2009, 03:02 pm »

I take pride in my work and skills and have nothing to hide. Some ask me for interior photos if they are not present. Here's my question: Is it good to always show interior photos? I have a feeling they make some people nervous and/or may simply not want to see them. I don't want to deter people who don't want to see wires, circuits, etc...

What are your opinions? Who among us doesn't like to see wiring? Who likes to?

BobM · « **Reply #1 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 03:36 pm »

Maybe you should make this a poll. I also think you will get different answers depending where you post it (i.e. the LAB forum would probably all be "yes")

I am a Yes

Bob

DustyC · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 04:30 pm »

Depends! If it looks like a rat's nest, I doubt it. If it is neat and orderly, and shows the years of thought and experience that an assembler or designer has, then yes, show it off. Makes a great sales tool in the case of the latter.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 04:36 pm »

Quote from: DustyC on 7 Jan 2009, 04:30 pm

Depends! If it looks like a rat's nest, I doubt it. If it is neat and orderly, and shows the years of thought and experience that an assembler or designer has, then yes, show it off. Makes a great sales tool in the case of the latter.

I agree, but I also balk at seeing a small (inexpensive?) circuit board on a mega-dollar product. Makes me feel like I am paying too much. Make sure the photos are of excellent quality and not only of the whole interior but some nice close-up details.
Bad photos are worse than no photos.

hmen · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 04:57 pm »

IMHO interior photos of hand-wired tube amps are a great selling tool.

Brown · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 05:03 pm »

Yes, yes, yes. Especially if its well executed like yours.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 05:58 pm »

Yes, definitely.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 Jan 2009, 06:17 pm »

Quote from: hmen on 7 Jan 2009, 04:57 pm

IMHO interior photos of hand-wired tube amps are a great selling tool.

Yeah, but be sure to get that nice erotic glow in the shots. The vacuum tubes, I mean.

Niteshade · « **Reply #8 on:** 9 Jan 2009, 01:15 pm »

Well- I didn't see one person who wouldn't like to see interior photos. Thank you for the compliment too! I like the tube glow idea as well. That's difficult to capture w/ a digital camera. Maybe it's time to experiment with time lapse photography.

There are multiple ways to handle point to point wiring.

1. Wire bundling & looming
2. The right angle approach
3. Shortest route, orderly
4. Shortest route, not orderly
5. Birds nest

Of the 5, methods 1 through 3 work the best and #4 is second best. The last one (5) is generally amateur work.

My personal favorite is #3 and that is the one I always use.
Reasons:
1. Best noise elimination
2. Easy to trace the circuit
3. Uses less wire
4. Repairs and mods are invisible
5. Has been used in commercial amplifiers for decades

Method #4 is decent, but yields more noise because oftentimes wires cross the should not (i.e. filament wires getting close to high impedance circuits). It's also not as easy to trace a circuit.

Method #1 reportedly works well, but I really dislike it. To me it's a bundled birds nest. It's difficult to trace anything and if a mod/repair has to be made the looming might have to be removed and THEN you have a birds nest! It never looks the same when trying to stuff everything back together. Not only that, but the amount of wire used skyrockets...and for what reason? Looks? One other thing- if a wire overheats & melts, it ruins the surrounding wires. Sorry, not for me.

Method #2 is like #3 but much more labor intense. I can't see using this method because it would result in price increases that are inaudible. Besides labor, more wire has to be used. I would rather place the customer's money into something that will make an audible difference.

Method #5 is mostly amateur work. It usually follows through with glued down parts, solder blobs and other atrocities. I have not seen anything like this on AC. For those who don't know what it looks like- think of a steel wool scouring pad. The components generally are not that visible and there's no logic to wire paths. It looks like a fast, slick job. You may also see 'in air' component connections- where one end of a resistor or something else goes directly to the wire. Amateur practices can be dangerous.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #9 on:** 9 Jan 2009, 07:22 pm »

If you were nearby I'd offer to do the shots for you. I love the challenge of integrating tube glow with studio lighting.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Jan 2009, 02:36 pm »

Maybe Blair could send the amp to you for a "Photography session". aa

thunderbrick · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Jan 2009, 02:54 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 10 Jan 2009, 02:36 pm

Maybe Blair could send the amp to you for a "Photography session". aa

DAMN! You discovered my evil plan!

Only trouble is my listening room is all torn out, and the completion date is 3-4 months away.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Jan 2009, 03:23 pm »

Sorry about exposing your plan Bob.

But you notice I didn't mention how long it can take to properly photograph a tube amp.
It can take MONTHS to get it right.

Bob

thunderbrick · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Jan 2009, 01:07 am »

Yeah, you have to send the film out for processing, and study and scan the negs, find a good printer, etc.

MONTHS at least.

BillB · « **Reply #14 on:** 14 Jan 2009, 02:49 am »

Blair, definitely take shots.

And for the glow, put the camera on a tripod and run a long exposure.
Here is a shot of my 6t9 amp with a 20 sec exposure:

Danberg · « **Reply #15 on:** 14 Jan 2009, 02:58 am »

I'd recommend taking the photo using a "fill flash" that is underexposed by 1 or 2 stops. That should show off the tube "glow", and will allow detail of the rest of the other components to be plainly seen.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #16 on:** 14 Jan 2009, 03:05 am »

Quote from: Danberg on 14 Jan 2009, 02:58 am

I'd recommend taking the photo using a "fill flash" that is underexposed by 1 or 2 stops. That should show off the tube "glow", and will allow detail of the rest of the other components to be plainly seen.

Couldn't agree more, and get the area around the tubes in very sharp focus.

Niteshade · « **Reply #17 on:** 14 Jan 2009, 01:33 pm »

That does look impressive- I'll have to try it...

Marco Prozzo · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Jan 2009, 02:27 am »

Quote from: Danberg on 14 Jan 2009, 02:58 am

I'd recommend taking the photo using a "fill flash" that is underexposed by 1 or 2 stops. That should show off the tube "glow", and will allow detail of the rest of the other components to be plainly seen.

Good advice. Set the white balance to flash or daylight and let the tube glow run warm. The on-camera flash may result in harsh shadows and reflections though, or worse; if there are reflective surface on the component you'll get the flash blaring right back at you. If you can soften up the flash by bouncing off a wall or ceiling, and or try to get it off off-axis of the lens (you'd have to remove it from the camera entirely, of course and either trigger with a slave or with a cord or radio remote), that would also serve you well.

Good luck!

Barry_NJ · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Jan 2009, 04:36 am »

I like to see the workmanship that goes into electrical/mechanical gear.