7PS portable scratcher update GoFundMe
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UPDATE: 7PS Portable scratcher — get involved!

Time for an update to one of my favourite projects. Portablism is hot, and I’d say that there are more portablist videos hitting the internet than full sized ones. And Lauris Honore took his idea for a fully fledged and designed-for-purpose portable scratching device and made his 7PS Portable Scratcher prototype as real as he could. But he needed help to take it a little further, thus a GoFundMe page was started asking for a paltry €6000, an amount that I thought would be easily reachable given the popularity of portablism right now. Right now, it’s a little under €1000 — disappointing to say the least.

7PS portable scratcher update GoFundMe

Undaunted by the surprising lack of support from the burgeoning scene, Lauris has carried on regardless (as he always has) and got the 7PS to a point where the whole thing is pretty much fully 3D printed. It’s a bit rough and ready, but you can see it coming together nicely, including a rather fetching 3D printed DJWORX branded 45 adaptor.

For the record, I have no financial involvement in this at all — I’m simply offering help and advice where I can, and just want to see a hardworking DJ with a good idea achieve their dream. And you can too.

7ps portable scratcher gofundme (6)

A PORTABLIST CALL TO ACTION

As previously alluded to, the support from the Portablist scene could have been stronger. I had hoped to see the GoFundMe campaign plastered across all the key media outlets delivering portablist coverage, and those active on social media to help Lauris make this most splendid device into something that actually works out of the box without having to add and tweak non-portablist devices.

Portablism is a strong and vibrant scene. So please use this opportunity to support somebody that’s working for you entirely out of his own pocket up to this point. How many people invest in a 3D printer just to realise their dreams?

Be it a single euro, a pot of gold, or some expertise, every little bit helps. So please support one of your own and let’s all work together to make the 7PS Portable Scratcher a reality.

 

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Mark Settle
The Old Owner
I was the editor around these parts for the first two decades of the DJWORX journey. I’m on a creative journey at The Worxlab, and drop in occasionally here. Expect the odd article from me every now and again.
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21 Comments

  1. It’s a really cool concept, this 7PS, my eyes popped when i first saw it, which was just after ordering a PT01 Scratch (you’re partly responsible for that, Mark, your review was positive on it and rightly so). BUT, BUT, this is why portable scratching has become so popular, it’s cheap! Also part of the fun for many is modifying and building your own set-up. With the 7PS, although it looks great, Innofader and M44-7’able, rechargeable batteries already there, switchable for left/right handed … people who are into this scene are doing it because it’s cheap and that’s partly why it’s put the fun back into the turntablist culture, we’d rather spend money on a 7″ record, or put money towards a fader for our PT01 than throw money at this project. I wish the developers all the luck with it though, the fretless fader made it through in the end so i hope this does.

    1. Hi Matthew. Yes the PT01 is cheap (because their molds are, according to me, already paid by their old model that has the same design) but only if you don’t upgrade it with a “real crossfader”, if you don’t upgrade the tonearm, if you are a right hander… There is no battery as well, etc. I can only but be agree on their move. It is a bankable move but here I am more to bring a full turntablist set into a portable device. I hope to be able to go where I wish to go but again without all your support it will be only a device done for me.
      Another think, you said it is popular because it is cheap and you right, but now that the cheap products have been release and worked just fine in a business POV, now it is time to come up with a complete device, maybe more expensive but that doesn’t hide extra costs and tweak and fit the turntablist expectations.
      Thank you for your words and for wishing me to succeed.
      L.

  2. One thing that kept me from donating is that I don´t own a f*cking credit card. Having this as the only option to choose from when you want to donate is vey limiting… I already asked on the FB page if there was another way to donate but since I never got an answer my money stayed with me.

  3. Why would people pay six grand just to be allowed to join a Facebook page for a piece of vaporware? If you guys were serious about this, it should have been a Kickstarter with some actual timelines and incentives for people to get involved, not a charity fund for a commercial venture. Gofundme is for cancer patients and birthday parties, not product development.

    I actually emailed the 7PS guy to get more details about the project before donating, and I never got a response. So of course I didn’t donate.

    I think a lot of DJs would buy this thing if it were actually released and priced reasonably. But this isn’t the right way to raise support.

    1. You don’t have to pay six grand — just donate as little as €1 to help take this project further. And you call it vapourware, but each time we post something, you can see the progress being made by a guy working on his own without any investment at all. I’m supporting Lauris because I admire his desire to turn his dream into something real.

      And this is one of the key points of crowd funding — for startups to be able to create something niche for the people who want it. If ever there was an ideal project for crowdfunding, it’s this. Lauris wants to get a project that is notoriously expensive to make to a point where he can judge if it’s commercially viable. And reading the GoFundMe site, it shows it’s for just about anything, including business projects: https://www.gofundme.com/business-fundraising

      1. Crowdfunding can lead to great things, no question, but successful efforts have the right ingredients. There’s no doubt that the mockup design looks great, but that’s all it is at this point, 3D-printed snapshot notwithstanding. No one has heard of the designer, and Gofundme is de facto used mostly for charity because it offers no incentive to supporters besides feeling good about donating. So we can either bemoan the lack of support and blame the DJ community for it, or you can decide that maybe this wasn’t the right approach and go back to the crowdfunding drawing board. Getting the designer to acknowledge simple questions from potential supporters would probably also help.

        1. First of
          all Paul, sorry but I don’t see your email or message (when did you send it and
          where ?) and secondly you can guess that I receive bunch of messages that takes
          time to handle, because once again, I have a full time job and a life beside
          this project.

          Concerning Kickstarter, I won’t go there because you have to ask money upfront
          and it generates issues that I don’t want to mess with. Have you ever backed
          some crowd funding projects? I did plenty of time and I cannot say I was happy
          most of the time on quality or delay or else. I’d like portablists community to
          avoid this.

          “I think a lot of DJs would buy this thing if it were actually released
          and priced reasonably. But this isn’t the right way to raise support.” OK
          you are probably right but according to you and according to my means and the
          few time I have to work on it what should I do better? I’ll use your advice if
          you give me one or at least I’ll take it into account but I need one for that.

          It’s easy
          to give criticism and I take them as there are but I’d rather prefer solutions.
          That will be what I’d call support. With all my respect Paul, you really should
          take time to read the full GoFundMe campaign story. Not to hope that you will
          donate but to hope that you will understand things a bit better.

          “No
          one has heard of the designer” Do I have to be an international famous designer
          to create something? Or a DMC world champs? Or does it mean I might be a scammer
          working hard for 2 years and asking for a donation to build a proto? No but
          seriously, if you read the so hated GoFundMe campaign story, there are
          explanations on everything and even my full real name, then if you have 5 more minutes,
          just type Lauris HONORÉ in google nor LinkedIn (if still not satisfied with my
          introduction) and you’ll know more about me even if I doubt it will interest
          you. And if it is not enough, I have a Skype: Portable.scratcher and an email: 7portablescratcher@gmail.com – I
          and will try my best to answer everyone but again…

          Question to you Paul. Have you ever experience making a full project from
          design, to conception/engineering and everything around (emails, social
          netwroks…) ALONE? I do and I can swear it isn’t easy at all, mostly when people
          are showing disrespect to your effort because they don’t take time to read what
          you took time to write FOR THEM despite the fact that you have a hard work to
          provide to satisfy THOSE SAME PERSONS among the others and yourself.

          I don’t
          oblige anyone of you to support the project with a donation and as written in
          the GFM, you can show some support with your expertise or advice and it might be
          more valuable.

          Once
          again, sorry if you felt put aside because I never answer you, but either I
          haven’t seen your message (sorry for the others too) either you asked me a
          question already answered or announced several time in the big lines.

          I hope I have not been unpleasant in my
          reply. Have a nice weekend. Lauris

          1. I understand your frustration, but I didn’t mean to “disrespect” your effort. I know this isn’t an easy project to handle on your own, and I really do hope you succeed. Again, I was planning to donate at first anyway, even though I was confused by your donation page. I’m also not criticizing the fact that no one in the DJ community knows of you–I was just saying that your anonymity combined with the lack of any real incentives or promises makes your Gofundme a doubly hard sell. As far as solutions go: while I can understand your reluctance to use Kickstarter, I’m having trouble thinking of another effective way to crowdfund in your case. It might just be that you’d either need to use Kickstarter and offer more details and incentives (while risking disappointing your funders), or give up on the idea of getting any real traction through crowdfunding. Or collaborate with someone else who has more time and funds. I understand you want to retain complete control over the project, but it sounds like there are a lot of factors that make it pretty difficult. The Gofundme route obviously isn’t working the way you’d like, so maybe it’s time to compromise in some ways to get it done–especially since you don’t have forever to get this to market. Anyway, best of luck. If you do end up with a finished product (without an insane price tag), I’ll definitely be in line to get one.

            1. I am cool with what you said, no worry. You just went a bit strong on your first comment and I wanted to clarify things. I am agree with many things that you said but as you gave your opinion I had to do the same and defend my 2 years of hard working.

              Yes, I should or could have done differently, but I chose this way to go and I have to assume them. I’ve been approached by few brands but nothing serious actually so I had to continue the project anyway. One of my biggest mistake was to put it on internet but meanwhile it is because of all the supports I received that it helped and helps me to pursue.
              “your anonymity combined with the lack of any real incentives or promises makes your Gofundme a doubly hard sell” you are totally right on this and I am planing something to open a bit my privacy for next week or the week after (It is a bit because of you btw, so thank you).

              I’d like to debate more but for today I am done. You have my email if you want to discuss in private. Have a nice weekend. Lauris

  4. I am sorry to say that I am completely happy with the way modders have stepped up to capitalize on the PT01. I have already modded my fader with the Jesse Dean (which is a better fader IMO than my 150€ ecler eternal fader btw), and am just waiting for the new Bihari tonearm & no-soldering-required preamp to ship. Rechargeable battery? Using panasonic eneloop pros with the panasonic eneloop D-cell adapters.

    As cool as the 7PS is, I prefer modding a PT01 to get to the same level of performance. Back in the heydays, DJs built their own mixers, this modding is considerably easier than that and a nice homage to those DIY roots, which IMO adds to the charm. You also kind of make the portable your own while modding, which adds value in a way to the experience as well.

    Having said all this, I hope the 7PS will become a reality. More choice can only be good for the community.

    1. I get that, you like the way we can mod the PT01 and I’d have liked it too, but I went for a different approach because I have some knowledge that allow me to do it. Modding a PT01 or else is a challenge as well as building a full product from scratch.

      “Back in the heydays, DJs built their own mixers” and by the end it gave professional mixers with some brands as Rane, DJ TECH, Mixar… I am just trying to get to this step and get interest from people outside the game and from brands to come up with something studied for the purpose of scratch.
      Thank you for your encouragement. Lauris

  5. I said this before, but here goes again.
    That weird shape is a problem. Won’t fit on your lap, won’t fit in a case, and it’s not much smaller than a turntable with a fader fitted into into, which anyone can do for their self.(if you’re reading this and don’t think you can, trust me, it’s simpler than you think)

    Focus on the elements that are new, that you are bringing to the table; internal rechargeable battery and eq controls. If you don’t do this, you can bet Chris Roman is reading this, and he will.

    You could focus on your fader being a fader”box” (detachable) that could be used with other products. I think you just kinda “tunnel-visioned” yourself into a corner.

    1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf5ed7f76901da0542f2af26787edc363ae588a61409c3fee162c13d57135ac8.jpg

      I did a size comparison. As you can see, it’s considerably smaller than anything else on the market, this will easily fit on a lap and in even smaller bags than the others.

      I think the fader in a box has its own market. What the 7PS aims to do is offer a fully self contained unit with everything that you need without the need to mod. For the modders however, you can still add your own knobs, faders, and carts if you wish — probably tonearms too.

      1. @DJWORX:disqus Mark you took the old design. The cross fader case is a bit bigger (user requests). Anyway the size won’t change that much.
        @EFMFnHutton I can understand that you don’t feel the shape but I can swear it will fit in a bag pack. The idea of a detachable fader is a great idea, but for that you need a wireless connection and a very low latency. I went a different way.

        BTW, who is Chris Roman ?

        1. I feel it’s new enough to demonstrate that it’s considerably smaller than a turntable.

          Chris Roman is the man at inMusic, responsible for a large amount of their cool product for as long as I remember.

        2. I have a djtech 4 mix, and an ecler smac first as my “combined mixer.”
          the smac had an old-school crossfader, so i removed it and put the crossfader from the midi controller in there.
          sometimes i use each separately or individually.
          so..i installed cable connectors in the sides of the cases, and when i use the two as a “combined mixer”, i just plug in the cable.

          anywhoo…just think about it, not a wireless fader, but one that can be disconnected/reconnected with a cable.

  6. I have an an electrical / electronic background & emphasise with a lot of the comments.

    Many new full size turntables have been released but they all have the same form factor. And DJWORX seem to be championing the portable turntable scene. But many of us learnt to mix & scratch on belt drive systems & do not wish to re-visit that realm.

    A direct drive turntable with a 7- 8 inch platter & smaller base would be more popular with dvs users. The construction would also be of a
    higher quality. It can also be technically powered by a larger 18v 3ah battery & appeal to all parties . ( I’m considering modifying a full size turntable but I would immediately buy a pair if they were available )

    1. I have a creator pro. I wanted to save filament and time, that’s why the quality isn’t that good not to say shitty. Again, this “proto” will be used to check things and have a scale1 version. The quality doesn’t really matter here.

  8. I think the main problems with this project are that the pt01 scratch, while far from perfect, is damn good for portable cutting as it is. both the pt01 and the handytrax feel good to scratch on and with some mods are even better, the Numark is cheap enough to make it accessible to many people which has led to a lot of sales.
    That last point leads into the other issue you face, asking for money to help “bring this to life” is meeting a brick wall because a lot of people have their portable scratch solution already, they are far less likely to part with their money for something they probably won’t buy.
    I really think a kickstarter or indiegogo campaign would have yielded better results because Im almost certain that people would give money if they were going to receive a product (even with the risks involved, potentially ending with nothing) than the chance to maybe see a product get to the point of release.
    I feel bad for you to be honest as its a great idea and I will kick in some cash at the end of the month to support but ultimately, I think its a case of bad timing, the pt01 and the modding scene answered the public before you were able to, the potential customer base wasn’t enormous to begin with (despite the perceived popularity of portablism) and the lions share of them have already gotten their fix.