Anyone ever build a Paia kit before? They have some great projects for building your own gear- including synths !

http://paia.com/index.asp

I bought and built the Fatman synth... It was guite an in depth process really. If you have never worked with electronics, you could easily be in over your head. I had to get my brother, who has soldered stuff since we were kids, to help me finish it. The outcome is sitting in my closet. Don't get me wrong, it works and it can really teach you a lot. Truth is, it just doesn't sound very impressive. That's not why I built it though. I love having a synthesizer that my brother and I put together. I still pull it out from time to time just to mess with. If you decide to build it... Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Yeah I might wait 'til I'm retired to do one.
I'm just into using the gear at this point not making it.
I threw some new pads on an MPC the other day, and it was about as fun as getting stung by a hornet-- okay maybe a little bit more fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_3x-9UEjxk

i saw and voted your mpc3000 video, it was interesting!