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Bristol, UK

I don't think most of the people here are "cheap", if you look through threads like the "post your gig/home set-up", it seems like most of the people here have a lot of expensive gear.

I think the reason some people might not agree with high prices for some of the simpler mods is because of the whole ethic the scene seems to have about music being free.

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astral cat
Turtle413 wrote:

You get ripped off everyday by the stinkin' man, so its time we get a slice of the pie tooo!!!

hahaahaha

hero

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I'm just saying is that to everyone who complains about pricing, change the game and offer a cheaper alternative. If you can mass produce cheaper dmgs on a consistent basis, then obviously the median price will come down. If you cannot meet the demand at your perceived value for the price then possibly you are wrong!

I'm a musician. A modded dmg is still pretty fucking cheap compared to the rest of my gear, so instead of wasting a few hours of frustration fucking around with "simple" mods i'd rather just buy a nice one, and be done with it and get back to actually making the music.

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rochester, ny
herr_prof wrote:

I'm a musician. A modded dmg is still pretty fucking cheap compared to the rest of my gear, so instead of wasting a few hours of frustration fucking around with "simple" mods i'd rather just buy a nice one, and be done with it and get back to actually making the music.

yeah, exactly. i've modded a bunch of gameboys but when i wanted a new one that had RCA outs, a backlight, and a variable speed knob, i just thought i would be easier to buy one from justinthursday than to go through all the effort of buying a dmg and all the parts and doing all the mods.

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Australia

You have to remember that it's not just labor - it is also the overheads from equipment purchase and the time for sourcing DMGs, etc.  Yes, the components are $12 + $3 and you can buy a $10 soldiering iron and DIY (which is great), but pass it to a pro who is heavily into electronics and you will probably find they have an electronics setup costing at least $1000.  Good temp controlled iron, quality solder, sample & hold meters and good skills.  In answer to the original question, I'd pay about $90 for a DMG (shipped) with Prosound and Backlight and feel like I got a good deal.  But then again, I just paid $700 for an Amiga, so it's peanuts in comparison!

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England

6 years of making Game Boy music and I still don't understand why people have to have mods.

A pitch mod would be cool as it actually has practical uses but I've never struggled to get a good bass out of the Game Boy. The others that I know of seem fairly pointless to me.

Or am I missing something essential?

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Light mods are essential unless you want to waste an extra 4 batteries on a shitty nuby. Sound mods on a dmg is questionable i think, but why not if you are already in there?

I dont really care about the paint jobs and interior lights. Most of the artists I like dont seem to need 'em big_smile.

Last edited by herr_prof (Apr 27, 2011 5:35 pm)

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Minneapolis

Thanks for the feedback. I guess my puzzlement comes from my viewpoint. I'm not really a musician, and electronics basically is what I spend my time on. When I'm working on my "trade" I can usually justify the purchase of expensive tools because I'm experienced enough to know they'll be helpful, and that a few jobs can usually offset the cost if I'm careful. Also, people who have had me do work for them know that when I was unemployed I valued labor far too low, since I had nothing but free time. I have been trying, since I got my most recent job, to re-evaluate how things like electronics work is going to happen for me, and if I continue to do it, how much I'll have to charge.\

In such a competitive and consumeristic world, it's nice to know people still value skilled labor, even if it continues to baffle me. smile

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New York City
herr_prof wrote:

Light mods are essential unless you want to waste an extra 4 batteries on a shitty nuby. Sound mods on a dmg is questionable i think, but why not if you are already in there?

Yup, the light mod is essential for live performance unless you fake it.
I happen to think Prosound is necessary too, it reduces the noise quite a bit. Better for recordings.

The only other useful mod is underclocking.

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Bronx, NY
akira^8GB wrote:

Yup, the light mod is essential for live performance unless you fake it.
I happen to think Prosound is necessary too, it reduces the noise quite a bit. Better for recordings.

I agree completely with this. I loathe NUBY lights, and it's impossible to see what you're doing live without some sort of light on there.

Prosound is absolutely necessary for me; recordings without them sound absolutely abysmal with all that hiss underlying everything. It's extemely noticeable, that noise.

[soapbox]Also, I think that too often (and this doesn't apply to EVERYONE, just a few people) people's aversion to prosounding is an immature reaction to immature behavior. There's a  misguided assumption that anyone actually thinks prosound will improve the quality of their music as opposed to the quality of the sound.

No one really thinks that, but people who assume that anyone feels that way tends to go insane with offense at the very thought...[/soapbox]

Last edited by DaPantz (Apr 27, 2011 6:26 pm)

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Ciudad de méxico, MX

50-60 us dollars for a prosound backlite DMG is pretty nice price. in the third world (in chile, with expenses of a first one like tongue) we are used to pay really hi prices for ririculously cheap things.


Don't forget the rarity of this items at some places. i've heard that in brazil the gameboys are very rare.

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Los Angeles

I wouldn't waste my time selling moded DMGs for $80-$90. It's not worth my time cleaning the screen and such. I mean, I do it myself, but I would never do it for others, its just impractical, tedious, and a waste of time. My hat goes off to those who do.

Though- for just a Prosound mod, its a total waste of money. But hey, what do I know?
I think most physically able people can perform it without issue with a $1 soldering iron. I wish more people do.  My introduction into electronics was fueled by the demands of my art. The things I've learned along the way have put me in a better place both musically and financially.

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Matthew Joseph Payne
trash80 wrote:

My introduction into electronics was fueled by the demands of my art. The things I've learned along the way have put me in a better place both musically and financially.

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clovis CA
akira^8GB wrote:
herr_prof wrote:

Light mods are essential unless you want to waste an extra 4 batteries on a shitty nuby. Sound mods on a dmg is questionable i think, but why not if you are already in there?

Yup, the light mod is essential for live performance unless you fake it.
I happen to think Prosound is necessary too, it reduces the noise quite a bit. Better for recordings.

The only other useful mod is underclocking.

and putting in an arduinoboy =]

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Before I had the modification service, I wondered this too.

Buying gameboys is a gamble most of the time. Things like horizontal dead lines are a write off. If the LCD is scratched it's essentially unusable because even after replacing the polarized film, it won't look as good. So many broken battery doors, broken screw posts, etc, etc...
If I make $10.00 profit on a mod that takes me 4 hours to do, and one of my DMGs that has $80.00 of parts put into gets lost in the mail, I'd lose an insane amount of work.

Last edited by Apeshit (Dec 14, 2011 7:22 pm)

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New York City

5 dollars? They should not be worth more.

Modifications can be done at home by any shmuck like me. I have applied backlights, pro-sound mods, PS/2 internal ports, i never spent much in parts, the backlights have been the most expensive piece of kit I have bought for modification and they are tops, what, 15 dollars? How can you sum up 80 dollars in parts?

Apeshit, don't confuse research with actually making the modifications. The mods can be done/applied by anyone, and suggesting people to do so is, I believe and in agreement with what Trash 80 said, a good thing to encourage.

The research to get to advancements and/or breakthroughs in modification wouldn't be possible without people investing lots of money and time on such endeavors, though, so I don't think it has anything to do with the point of the thread. It would be like Trash 80 gettiing angry at people building their own Arduinoboys. That doesn't make sense. Nobody is out there to "take business away from you".


PD:

cTrix wrote:

But then again, I just paid $700 for an Amiga, so it's peanuts in comparison!

If that's USD, you're crazy. Unless you have a very beefy Amiga in there tongue

Last edited by akira^8GB (May 4, 2011 7:56 pm)