Very frustrating .....components in the UK !

[pedro]

Hi Guys - a plea for help really ....

Ive been trying to source some decent caps to try here in the UK.
At present I'm using various RS poly film/foil signal caps in my build.
After being tipped off about Orange drops 225P and PS series Ive been trying to get hold of some.

I thought I'd cracked it when I found that Farnell-In-One - who are the UKs biggest component distributor - and right here in my home town, turned up on a google search as stocking 225P's.

I can usually even turn up at their trade counter and pay on credit card for stuff without a trade account.

However when I tried to place the order for about 3 builds worth of caps I found that the 225P and PS's are special order from Newark-In-One in the US. The surplus charge for shipping is really steep and doesnt make sense.

I can see 2 options - buy direct from another US stockist and pay for airmail charges - or see if anyone will post to me from private stock and pay via pay pal or something similar.
If its option 1 who do you recommend to buy from ?

So Option 2 - I wondered who would be able to help me out ? Anyone willing to ship for me and take payment direct ?
I really want to try some of the component swaps Ive been reading about - PS series, 225P, Vishay Dale metal films etc .

My amp is sounding great but I'm getting very restless seeing you guys trying different components.

hopefully -

Pete C ( pedro )

PS - anyone else building their own clones in the UK here ?

[Tdale]

I share the same problem living in Norway. I order almost all my parts from the US. because it's impossible to find a supplier here in Norway that has more than one or two of the things I need. And some stuff I haven't even been able to find at all.

One way would be to make big orders together with other builders, and share the shipping costs. But in Norway I ususally end up with paying tax on the things I order too, so having a guy in the US. that could send "birtday presents" from time to time would be great. Maybe a business idea for someone..?

Tommy

[Bob-I]

Option 3, pay yourself and ship to someone in the US. I've done this before even with guitars.

Had I known before this week I could've brought stuff with me, I was in Slough England all week. I may be returning later this spring or early summer, plus I may be traveling to Sweden in the same timeframe. I'll post a msg when I schedule European travel.

So if I can help out with shipping let me know.

[pedro]

Hi Bob,

I live 200miles from Slough but travel to work about 10 miles away every week for a day or 2 in Uxbridge at my Head Office.
- let me know if your ever across and I'll take you for a beer in London and we can talk dumbles !

cheers
Pete

[casajr]

I feel your pain. It is next to impossible to find anything decent here in China. The worst part is, alot of the stuff is actually MADE here. However, the factories are only licensed to sell for export and, even if they did sell locally, the decent stuff is too expensive for the local market. Imports are hit with relatively high duty and 17% VAT.

There is also no such thing as a distributor like Mouser or Newark. There are about 10,000 little guys who sell one thing...so you need to find the resistor guy, the capacitor guy, the switch guy, the power cord guy etc. Transformers? forget it. Tubes? I found one guy who sells them and he never has stock. And if you want to deal with the factories, the minimum order size is one 20 foot container.

Fortunately, I have several ex-pat friends who travel to the US every few months and I prepare a shopping list for them. Of course no one likes lugging iron back and forth, so my transformer problems still are not solved.

Yeah, I know I'm whining.

[Bob-I]

Hi Bob,

I live 200miles from Slough but travel to work about 10 miles away every week for a day or 2 in Uxbridge at my Head Office.
- let me know if your ever across and I'll take you for a beer in London and we can talk dumbles !

cheers
Pete

Will do. I usually spend 3-4 days so I'm sure we'll cross paths.

My point is saying I was in the UK was that I can carry stuff overseas and then local shipping will be reasonable. Even if you're 200 miles away I can ship it much cheeper than from the US.

[llemtt]

Pedro

try www.tubes.it and www.banzaieffects.com, both are EU based, they carry lot of stuff.

Teo

[pedro]

thanks Teo ,
I'm checking out my order for Xicon caps right now.....

Rgds
Pete C

[malt]

I share the same problem living in Norway. I order almost all my parts from the US. because it's impossible to find a supplier here in Norway that has more than one or two of the things I need. And some stuff I haven't even been able to find at all.

One way would be to make big orders together with other builders, and share the shipping costs. But in Norway I ususally end up with paying tax on the things I order too, so having a guy in the US. that could send "birtday presents" from time to time would be great. Maybe a business idea for someone..?

Tommy

hi Tommy you can try this in Norway has most of the rs things :

http://www.kompotek.no/

[Funkalicousgroove]

Jeez Dude, Tell me what values you need and I'll send them to you. the type PS are going to run $.75-$1.50 USD depending on value. You can paypal me the Dough. I'll get you a total on the shipping once I weigh the caps, should be well under $30 USD with shipping.

Funkalicousgroove_AT_hotmail.com

[Tdale]

I share the same problem living in Norway. I order almost all my parts from the US. because it's impossible to find a supplier here in Norway that has more than one or two of the things I need. And some stuff I haven't even been able to find at all.

One way would be to make big orders together with other builders, and share the shipping costs. But in Norway I ususally end up with paying tax on the things I order too, so having a guy in the US. that could send "birtday presents" from time to time would be great. Maybe a business idea for someone..?

Tommy

hi Tommy you can try this in Norway has most of the rs things :

http://www.kompotek.no/

Nice site.. Can't find any orange drops or carbon film resistors though. The pots are also a bit unfamiliar. I'll have to look into it more. It's a bit easier with the dedicated web stores, that only sell guitar-amp related parts.

Tommy

[malt]

Tommy take a look under : High Stability CarbonFilm Resistors.
i dont think they have the orange drops, but they have turets, bords ++