Yes, the Moth gear is gorgeous and absolutely worth picking up when you can find it. It took some searching to land the Si2A3, but it was completely worth it.
If you want to design your own gear, it really isn't all that difficult or expensive. Here's the latest project I'm piecing together:
This is going to be Kevin Gilmore's
All Triode Electrostatic Amp. This is very rough here, so I'll explain what's going on. Those round things are old gauges I've picked up at junk shops and swapmeets. I'm going to take the gauges out and use my jigsaw to cut a round piece of aluminum to sit where the glass is. That'll turn them into small chassis enclosures. Same with the control-like thing at the front left. I'll cut a new face piece for that and use that for mounting the headphone jack. Everything is sitting on a piece of 1/2" thick aluminum plate I found on eBay. The amp section will go in the gauge with the tubes on it and the power supply will go into the gauge at the back. I'm going to use the jigsaw to trim up the aluminum plate to contour around the pieces - it won't be rectangular. I haven't decided how to cut it yet.
Everything will be stripped, sanded and then powdercoated with a black wrinkle finish. My favorite detail is that it's going to have exposed wiring. Instead of hiding the wires inside something, I'll heatshrink and Techflex the wires coming out of the transformer and run them into the power supply gauge. Similarly, the power will come out of that gauge in a shielded cable with Techflex and into the amp section gauge. It'll like the 1920s breadboard radios from Atwater Kent. Here's a photo of one so you know the look I'm going for:
I know this is just some parts thrown together, but I think it's going to turn out well. If you want to see more of the awesome old Atwater Kent radios,
here is an online museum.
I still need to finish up my other amp:
I like Art Deco, too, and I stole the idea for the fins from an 1939 Hallicrafters radio I have. This one just needs to have holes drilled to hold the front and back plates on, then I'll drill holes for the tie points and get to soldering. For a finish, I'll sand it out and polish it by hand. It won't have the mirror polish you get from the pros, but an almost weathered, antique finish that I think will compliment it. I've had a hell of a time finding time to finish this - it's been almost done for six months and I've either been working or tied up every weekend. But I will finish it.
