And hey it’s your thread, I was being a party pooper.
But to be fair you already have your poll, it’s all the other threads where it’s been discussed 
Realistically most of the people that click into the thread in the first place probably feel the way you do. Or are self-hating loons like me.
But I like the PBT idea I love that stuff - I still think you need to ask Elektron why they chose it.
Subsequent 37 has it on the wheels. Horrifying
Thanks, I did see that but I’m in the UK, it’s double the price with import duty & shipping. I don’t really use it much so it’s not a big priority for me atm. Thanks for pointing it out though!
I asked Elektron support if they could provide buttons without the coating. They said no. But they did reassure me and told me that they could provide more buttons. Just not without the coating.
I hate this fad. My Sub-37 pitch/mod wheels have became really sticky all of a sudden. And I’m wary it could happen to my Elektron devices too.
I sold every single device that had this coating (the last one was the 1010 Lemondrop), with the exception of my Elektron devices (for now), and will not buy again as long as more durable options are not chosen by constructors.
Me too, a handful of potentiometers & an encoder for an X-Station long out of production, completely free & arrived within 48 hours. That builds absolute loyalty imo.
I also don’t live in a swamp. This coating has degraded in San Francisco and Portland Oregon, two popular markets for electronic music production. I agree QA is nuanced but OP is right that this is a widespread issue on this forum, to the point people are tired of hearing about it. This is the best effort I’ve seen to collect a vote to get rid of the coating.
Well, I’m personally thankful for a place to moan & commiserate about the many hours I’ve spent scrubbing this crap off stuff I’ve paid for. It may not be seen by many companies, but it will certainly be seen by Elektron & perhaps it will make a difference.
Surely it’s not even a question of who likes it or not, anybody that’s knobs turn to goop isn’t going to be cheery about it. Elektron must know how widespread (or not) of a problem it is.
How TPE behaves is well established 🤷
I’ve pinged them an email to find out more about their material choices. They might not want to share anything about their product design process but I’ll report back if they share anything 
thanks! - do you just do this via the support email system or do you know folks at Elektron?
No less true!
Planned obsolescence is one of those concepts I see as way over-stated.
It is certainly a real thing for cheap-ass general purpose and seen-as-disposable consumer electronics, but has nothing to do with “resale value”. The base functionality still works (so no actual obsolescence) , and the coatings are nice in ideal circumstances before environment and skin detritus may change them. I get frustrations and have replaced non-Elektron knobs for it, but “I can’t sell it for as much money if it’s sticky” is not the same as a device making itself intentionally useless.
Beyond that bugbear of mine, I absolutely agree that the industry should eschew coatings that may break down over the years under general use conditions.
More constructively, I’d love reading about alternative process if we have anyone experienced in materials and coating
How is a closed question loaded exactly?
If you dont think there is a place for this thread, ignore this thread. Simple.
A surface material for a tactile device that becomes incredibly sticky and problematic over time is objectively a bad thing, for everyone other than maybe an unscrupulous manufacturer that might want to nudge owners of old devices to upgrade (not making any accusations btw, it was just mentioned previously). So I don’t think it’s really necessary to be impartial in this matter.
I have de gummed the wheels of mine but the sub phatty was a nightmare…the wheels and the entire end cheeks were gummy.
I’m in Byron in Australia and its sub tropical, my DT, DN, ARMKII and A4mkii all have sticking keys.
They have only just now outlawed the supply of “single use” plastics here and its kinda weird to think we are going to effort in some areas then popping all of the buttons off our synths and throwing the into landfill every few years.
I would actually consider it a sales point if manufacturers started advertising the use of more robust, more environmentally friendly solutions at NAMM etc…some nice bamboo knobs and faders etc.
Right, hopefully we can skip the “unscrupulous” framing and look into what alternatives exist that give a good grip and feel for interface, and are already being produced at scale, with mature process and might be an alternative if not today, in devices to come.
I’d love “sustainability” aspects in a synth’s ground-up design, especially digital ones.
I had suggested way near the top, those displeased bombard manufactures with emails re: the stuff.
Confront them at trade shows. Or the ones where you can purchase direct.
There must be a better way than using slime.
I’m definitely going to try to avoid the stuff as much as possible. I believe manufactures will think twice about people avoiding their gear because of the stuff.
Looking for mice [mouses?] that are straight plastic. Hard to find. Found a sweet mini Logitech, not gunk on the sides, but the wheel is gunk. And those get crazy gooey.
I’d love knowing what alternatives exist today before I make any requests. Elektron isn’t large enough in the space to drive on their own, perhaps the largest vendors like Roland can be persuaded to set better standards.
It’s hard to prioritize with that angle, many people barely clean their mice. Just toss them when they get dirty.
So my MD MM have plastic buttons and knobs. They are pretty much the same as the day I bought them. 2004-2007 I think? Can’t remember. Somewhere in there. I just remember where I werked when I got them.
The knob under the TPE werks fine. Just don’t put that shit on it.
Re mouse: ya, fuck the environment. That’s the way to go 
A mouse, dirty or clean, goes a much longer way than one that melts, the plastic mouse gets tossed when it stops werking. Not cuz you can’t touch it.
It does make it seem like that coating has a purpose. Mices would last WAY longer. And sales would go down.
I’m not endorsing disposable hardware! The mice still work after I’ve removed any tackiness, and I have plenty for a decade or so.
Ultimately, what alternatives for grip coating are superior?
Seems a much better angle to pursue than focusing on “obsolescence”. If bad faith and obsolescence is the claimed end-goal of all manufacturers, why expect anything to change for the better?
It’s an absolute scourge of modern consumer electronic equipment and car interiors. My Zoom recorder, Digitone, Rytm, Push – all absolute lint rollers. I’ve hardly used the Zoom and it’s sat in its box for most of its life, but has still turned to goo. I hate this stuff.
Hard textured plastic is perfectly fine – like the Faderfox controllers, IBM ThinkPads etc. They last and don’t feel at all inferior, are easy to clean/dust etc. Would love a pack of replacement buttons for my Digi and Rytm. Thankfully isopropyl alcohol doesn’t seem to remove anything but the coating, but it still takes loads of work, and only does the top of the buttons unless you remove everything. It’s a massive pain.
You can hold a glass no problem…right?
Should be just as easy to turn a knob made of plastic, glass, stone, wood…what have you. Can’t IMAGINE the knob would keep slipping out your fingers 
I’ve tried removing the stuff. Sometimes it comes off. Other times, like on my MPC, stripping it takes off all the labels. NOT what I’m after. And try cleaning a wheel on a mouse that has a THICK coating. Or a pitch/mod wheel.
I imagine that creating the plain plastic knob is more cost efficient as well. My old MS2000 has plastic pitch/mod. Same as the day it was born. Never had a slip mishap easy to handle
My old Logitech M215 mouse, all plastic. PERFECT still. Lost the damn usb transmitter. I keep it in case I find it. That mouse is OLD, they don’t make it anymore. Too bad I chucked my melty one. I’d make a vid showing how SOFT it got. And there’s no way to repair that. So gross.