Sources for Mitsubishi M51134P, and info on the DOD Meatbox for DIY?

[hymenoptera]

I know the DOD Meatbox has been rereleased, and it's not cheap, but it's still cheaper than buying a vintage one.

I have an original I bought on a whim on ebay probably 16 years ago. As broke as I was in those days, it's safe to say I likely didn't spend more than about $20 on it.

But holy wow this things is awesome! It's a sub synth for bass that's based on the concept behind the rackmount DBX model 120 subsynth "boom boxes", and it's a truely unqiue machine. It will rattle your skull! The lows are just insane, and the output is very loud. Tracking is pretty tight, except on the low B string of a 5-string of course, and I once even blew the tweeter in a bandmate's PA system going through it. It's that nuts!

I know there's plenty of octave dividers out there, but none I've used or demoed come anywhere close to my DOD Meatbox, so I'd like to DIY my own version of it. Maybe make some mods. The problem is that it uses an obsolete chip from Mitsubishi, the M51134P, and supposedly DOD bought up the last remaining examples in existence for their new run of reissue Meatbox pedals.

Which brings me to my question. I see a number of listings on ebay for that chip, in DIP and surface mount, from the usual far-east suspects, but I'm not sure I want to take the chance of buying some only to struggle with a breadboard project that doesn't work, and not knowing if it's my design or just a bad chip.

Has anybody bought or used these ebay M51134's, or have a better source for them? Any particular source I should avoid?

One source has sold > 60 of them so someone is using them for something. I was hoping it's someone from here who could school me on what's up with these.

Thanks!

[duck_arse]

look here:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=101580.0

seek that member and question him accordingly.

[hymenoptera]

You're right, and I found that thread awhile back, probably last summer, but I could never open that rar file the OP posted, and then I found the thread again yesterday, but I didn't want to bump a 2 year old thread just to go and change the subject.

Hopefully they're still around and will reply. If not I'll try to find another way to contact them.

But, aliexpress still have plenty of vendors with that chip, and they're half the price of the ebay ones. At least I can buy some eventually and not go broke doing it. $5/chip is crazy for something I don't even know if I'll get it work.

I guess there's just not a lot of interest in this one.