MEGA MOD: Fretless fader in Mackie d.2

John Beez's original fretless fader project has inspired many people, including RhYmEs who has turned his Mackie d.2 into a fretless fader MIDI mixer.

Another fretless fader mod has turned up, this time of skratchlounge member RhYmEs. Using the ageing Mackie d.2 mixer as a base, he’s done a comprehensive mod to drop a John Beez inspired fretless fader inside, as well as grafting a Livid Brain Jr to handle driving MIDI through the arcade buttons.

Fretless fader mackie d.2 mixer mod

I have nothing but admiration when DJs set out with a vision and a soldering iron. This is a beautifully executed project — one that has been done with great skill and pride, and looking more like a finished project than ever before. There are enough of these fretless fader projects around now that the principle is proven. We can but hope that it becomes a practical reality either as a service or a detailed home DIY mod.

Next step – performance video please RhYmEs. Good work!

GALLERY

 

Mark Settle
Mark Settle

The old Editor of DJWORX - you can now find Mark at WORXLAB

Articles: 1228

14 Comments

  1. Hmmm,
    I actually have a D.2 sitting around that I no longer use, but it isn’t worth enough to justify selling…never thought of modifying it.

  2. yes Yes YES!!! I was struck with so much awe when I saw Jon Beez’s vid drop with the fretless fader in 2009… but nothing happened. Then I saw a thread in the serato forums with JB himself hinting towards releasing “a fretless fader in a box” rather than a full mixer with FF (see thread: https://serato.com/forum/discussion/235650) but that was 2010 and still nothing happened, I guess he just ran out of steam. I’m so happy to see that the idea hasn’t completely died. The original FF idea revolved around using the FF with a midi capable turntable of which there are very few (such as the Vestax Conroller One or the PDX-3000MKII). Now with the ever growing integration of externally controlled midi efx in Traktor and Ableton I don’t think that there could ever be a better time to bring such a unit out! Time to jump onto Kickstarter guys!

  3. Have to give mad props to RhYmEs for making the first polished looking custom jobs too. I love how he filled in all the missing parts with plexiglass and put a decal on the side for the octives! Well well done mate!

  4. very nice project, tho i find the fretless fader idea too complicated for actual use considering the handling of up/down movement of the hand while on the cut.

    id rather control the notes with a normal foot controller like a wah wah for the guitar… feet are underated. someone build that please and take my money…

    • Wish I can try a fretless fader. I use my strong hand on the fader and believe it would work out great. The C1 idea is good, but only for people who scratch on their right. I used a midi footpedal on a KP3 kaoss pad to control the synth, and it’s harder than you think to hit certain notes, especially standing up.

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