I may be able to fabricate an empeg sled. I do not have the wire harness or connectors, so it would just be the metal piece.

I asked Rob for a drawing of the sled, but I never got a reply. So, the sled will take a bit more effort to make. Plus, it will result in the death of an original sled. Before undertaking such a project, I would like to gauge interest.

First, I would like to say that the aim is to get a 100% replica of the originals. Second, I have a million-dollar powder paint facility here, so it would be possible to paint the sleds. We mainly paint in black and white, but it is possible to do custom colors. Third, target price for unpainted sleds is between $50 and $75 (excluding shipping).

If you would be interested in something like this:
REPLY TO THIS THREAD
Please, no not send me email or private messages at this point. Thanks.

I couldn't afford to buy one now, which is the same reason that I didn't buy one before, but I would definitely be interested in general.

Definitely interested. I have two connectors on order from Shonky, and have acquired some DIN size sleds from old stereos, but they'll require modification to work right. It'd be nice to get some the right size with the holes in the right places.

What would be neat would be a half-sized sled, just big enough to fit the back end of the player into, kind of like a docking station..

Just like wfaulk, I can't afford one right now, but when money comes my way, it would be a great direction to throw it in.

I could really use some... when the store closed, I had no extra money to get some... so this would be great!

edit: So if they were powder coated, wouldn't it get scratched up from inserting and removing the player? Unless you powercoat that too.... I know the powdercoat finish on my bike doesn't like scraping up against rocks when I crash

I would be interested too.

Stu

rob count me in, if i could get a black one that would be so great. if you need some donations or what not for the inital products email me and i can paypal you some money. or ill send it some other way since i remember u hating paypal :-)

I would be interested. I'd like to get together the parts for a home docking station.

I would like two.

Ok, I will try to get this going this week. I don't need money up front. I just wanted to get an idea of how many I should make up on the first run.

Black seems like the obvious choice for someone that would like them painted. Thankfully, this is our standard color and we paint in black nearly every day. On a side note, we use textured black paint for durability, so the paint should stay on quite well.

Justin, yes I do hate PayPal.

Put me down for two, please.

Thanks

Count me in for a couple Rob.

Rob -
Please put me down for one in black. ...Mark

Rob,
Are you able to punch or mill or whatever the mating connector's shape in the back of the sled ? I know you stated that you would build it as close to an original as possible; I'm just curious how close.
When you work it out, I would like to find out what a black powdercoated sled will cost. I could potentially use 3 or 4.
Thanks for creating a solution for a fundamental problem when you have more cars than Empegs !

Lars.

Yes, the mating connector hole will definitely be punched in the back.

There will potentially be an ethernet bracket and an "expansion panel." The expansion panel would presently be used for a toslink docking connector.

I've just emailed you the .dxf of the sled design which I just found... hopefully this will help!

I don't plan to give these out generally, but there is a shortage of sleds and so it's useful that someone who may be able to make more gets the design!

Hugo

Thank you very much. This will likely allow for a sled or two to make it to the Cincinnati meet. It also prevented the untimely death of an original empeg sled. I would have hated to see it dismantled.

Rob,

When you decide how to set up the official list please let us know. I am interested as well. The quantity I buy will be directly related to the final price. I can see buying about three of them if I can afford that many.

I'd be interested in at least one, and I KNOW my cousin, who has bitched since empeg closed down, would be in for one or three.

Anyone in the US planning on doing a group-buy for the connectors? Someone feel like making the wiring harnesses?

If I had some more spare time Id give it a shot, crimping all those pins would be a pain in the ass though (by hand).

BTW, The first thing I did to my empeg sled before installign it was to paint it with three coats of "matte black" paint. Just hardware variety. It has held up VERY well, and looks SO much better than pain metal when the empeg is out.

-Jeff

Anyone in the US planning on doing a group-buy for the connectors? Someone feel like making the wiring harnesses?

I was looking in to that. It's not that the connectors are expensive, it just takes time to wire them up. For that reason, I would probably keep the wire harnesses a seperate purchase from the sleds.

Rob,

I would be interested in acquiring two or more.

Thank you,


Joe Mumme

Trust me. Wiring up a lot a connectors takes a long time. Particularly since it's not just 1 wire per pin. i.e. cut to length, strip, crimp and clip into plug. Because pins are shared between the serial port and others, it's quite time consuming. I even have a blister on my hand from my ratchet crimp tool.

I'm about 80% of the way through my first batch of 40 connectors. Those reading this who have already paid, I hope to start sending them out mid next week.

I would like 2 units.

How much would you charge for a single connector?

A single connector with all 24 pins but no harness was US$13 plus postage. I don't have any spares left though. If you like I can add you to my list of latecomers in case anyone backs out. Send me an email to the address in my profile if you want to go on my list.

Sorry Rob, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Yep, add me in for two, also, where can I find some sleds?

Can you put me down for 1 sled as well please.

Thanks

Wait a minute... Did you say no harness? Or in otherwords, does that mean that there will be no wires comming out of it at all? What would I have to do to connect it to power/RCA, etc? (Sorry if I sound like an idiot, I just wanna know what I'm getting myself into here...)

Crimp/solder your own choice of wires to the pins in the connector.

/Michael