Lunetta Construction Methods
by Les Hall
www.electro-music.com Lunetta Forum

Introduction
There are several ways to construct your Lunetta circuits, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.  Depending on your budget and bulding skills, you may wish to use any of the techniques described below or more likely a combination of them.  

Stanley Lunetta's Construction Method
Our Lunetta founder, sTANg, tells us that his preferred construction technique is to glue the chips upside down onto a flat panel (or curved panel in some cases), and solder wires directly to the chip leads.  Some advantages to this technique include low cost, simplicity, ease of construction, and practicality when creating sculptures which is one of sTANg's specialties.  Disadvantages include difficulty in repairing damaged chips and the requirement of some slightly tricky soldering.  Since this method is the basis of sTANg's work, a true Lunetta purist will want to at least give it a try just for fun - recommended!  

Modular Synthesizer Construction Method
By far the most popular technique, this method involves cutting and drilling panels of metal or some other flat material in much the same way as is done with modular synthesizers.  Once cut to size and drilled with mounting holes, the panels are held in a rack or suitcase enclosure with mounting hardware such as screws or nuts and bolts.  Then the builder drills holes in the panel for attaching potentiometers, switches, and banana jacks.  The circcuitry behind each panel is then constructed on a small prototyping circuit board, attached to the back of the panel, and then wires establish connections between the circuitry and the parts mounted in the panels.  

Advantages of the modular synthesizer construction method include the elegance and functionality of construction and the ability to patch modules using essentially the same sytem as high quality modular synthesizers.  If a suitcase or other portable enclosure holds the circuitry, then the system is nicely portable as well.  Disadvantages include higher cost than other construction methods and the requirement of mechanical fabrication.  If you want to patch your Lunetta circuits together in the same way as done with expensive, high quality modular synthesizers then this is the construction method for you.  

Breadboard Construction Method
This technique is best suited for quickly and easily testing Lunetta circuit ideas.  Breadboarded circuits require little soldering and no banana jacks or panel mount potentiometers and switches.  Instead, stripped wires do the patching and all other interconnect required, and small thru-hole PCB mount parts such as thumbwheel potentiometers privide convenience and the ability to rapidly prototype Lunetta circuits.  The primary disadvantage of this technique is the cost of the breadboards, so usually the circuits are temporarily built this way for testing purposes and then the designer transfers the components to a more permanent and less costly form.  

Open Sculpture Construction Method
If you have good soldering skills, you may wish to build free-form sculptures of circuitry using solid wire to establish the interconnection.  This is a very artistic method, with completed sculptures having a three-dimensional appearance.  Advantages of this technique include beauty of the finished project and very low cost.  Disadvantages include time of assembly, fragility especially in transport, and difficulty of repair.  
Printed Circuit Board Construction Method
If the Lunetta circuit designer chooses to create multiple copies of the circuit design then a PCB may be the best option.  Once the PCB design is fully tested and debugged, the designer can have a professional board house produce as many circuit boards as desired.  For smaller PCB runs, in-home circuit board etching may be a good alternative as well.  

Conclusion
The construction method that you select is a personal choice depending on your budget and skill set, as well as your available time.  I recommend beginning with a single breadboard and building various simple circuits on it, then graduating to one of the other techniques according to your preference.  No matter what construction method you use, your Lunetta circuits will work essentially the same.  Good luck, and happy building!