The facts of my disappearance have been humorously overstated.
Back in about March I had mentioned in an e-Mail or in a posting that I was coming up on a long 5 or 6 month period where I would be so busy in several new product developments that I would essentially be unavailable. Well, that period has slowly diminished and I am popping my head out of the sand for a look around!
I was a bit confused when QuadFather mentioned to me that he couldn't get any reply to e-mail messages as every single one of my contact e-mail addresses has been in play for at least 4 to 5 years and nothing has changed in recent history. Also as mentioned, I did occasionally post in the discussion forums of several other support web pages that I sponsor:
Music Man Guitar Amplifiers
and
PS Systems EB100S Digital-Midi Guitar Amplifier
Unlike the Composer, I never had any involvement with the development of these products, but like the Composer these were great products that were essentially orphans because the companies that made them haven't been in business for 15-20 years! The EB100S amp even more so than the Composer, as only 60 units were ever produced!
As mentioned, I scanned the schematics of the Audionics Space & Image Composer along with a lot of other relevant material I came across. I sorted through several large boxes that hadn't been opened in 20 years and tried to make as small a pile as I could that was representative of the Composer and its development. Over the last few weeks I have scanned, assembled and converted everything to PDF format so I could offer these materials for download to interested parties through a web page interface.
Everything is in place except the web page itself, which as of now is about 75% complete. I plan to have the web site up and operating by Friday night (maybe even sooner but I can't guarantee it) after Thanksgiving. It could show up at:
www.spaceandimagecomposer.com
as early as late Wednesday evening (tonight, 11/24/04) but it depends on my energy level. The site will be well populated with download-able material primarily targeting Audionics, its SQ products, the Space & Image Composer and materials relating to Fosgate's early Tate products.
I have left open the possibility for installing a discussion forum to support the Composer and Composer Owners if there is enough interest but the Discussion Forum button doesn't currently do anything. Also, I plan on adding some color photos of a production Composer, my pre-production Composer and one of the production remote controls (inside and out). I also plan to create an animated GIF image of a composer display as it "works" so those who have never seen a Composer can see the display action. I also will be posting an annotated MP3 file that illustrates just what the Solo Null function does and who might find it of interest.
I don't feel that Audionics was allowed to do all it could to let people know just what a special unit the Composer was, partially because they couldn't financially justify the continued effort for a product that had the rug pulled out from underneath it after only 225-250 units or so (I am still not 100% certain about that total!). I was kept pretty busy on new products after the Composer production and modification backlog dried up. I never really had the chance to improve on the manual or produce any additional documents that may have been hinted at or promised.
With the help of current computer tools and the Internet, I hope I can help fill a small void in "tribal knowledge" that has existed for the last 25 years regarding the Composer's development, features and operation. Check out the site, look over the materials and let me know if there is anything else that might be of interest or value that you don't find.
** Please Note: In order to navigate the web sites mentioned above you MUST have Java for Windows loaded or you won't have access to all the files, areas and materials they have to offer! **
Steve
