I’ll bet most newbies have trouble with the extras: cables, connectors
I forgot the ribbon cables and IDC connectors last time I ordered. :-[
;D
Well, plans like this have been discussed many times - if you guys can do it then you are superheroes for sure 
I was thinking of writing a stickie for the top of the forum when I’ve finished - a sort of “newbies start here” to highlight anything that tripped me up along the way. “The Idiot’s Guide” if you will. Or “MidiBox SID for Dummies”.
As great as I think this site is, one or two things are kind of pre-supposed that everyone will understand them. And, clearly, that isn’t the case…
That’s a very good idea 
I got my parts from SmashTV today! So, it begins…
Oh, right…still need the parts from Mouser. Can’t do jack without cables!
On another note, the package looks very professional and everything’s smaller than I expected!
That guys blog for the optimized psu is great too.
Is that mine by any chance? www.danielprice.org.uk/synth-diy?
Glitched re: surface
Yeah, building the control surface might just be the least documented of the entire project, mainly because that is were the most individuality shows in each project.
A newbie CAN build all the modules with only basic soldering skills using SmashTV kits. He/she would not even need to know how to read a schematic… only match the parts to the pictures (ok, perhaps some no brainers, like match the notch on the chip to the notch printed on the board). Resistor color codes might be the only real head scratcher.
However, you really need to have an idea of how circuits work when you start on the surface panel.
This is the single most benificial area to write a guide for newbies. To most of us its second nature, but to the newbie its a spaghetti nightmare. Where do the wires go? Which pin on this nob (hey thats a pot yo!) do I solder to? Can I just twist all these little upside down triangle marked wires together?
A good photo set and descriptions of wiring a series of pots, LEDs, Buttons, and encoders would be really helpfull, as well as a simple trouble shooting guide.
I havn’t looked recently (and I cant say as I have ever looked FOR IT), but I dont remember EVER seeing such a guide.