Overview:

A highly skilled engineer–musician approached CS Electronics with a challenge no other PCB supplier had been able to solve: creating a digital version of the Cimbalom, a rare percussive musical instrument. This required an oversized, carbon‑printed PCB robust enough for percussive impact and precise enough to capture the instrument’s expressive nuance.

1. The Customer’s Challenge

The customer had spent years studying the Cimbalom and wanted to preserve its physical presence while enabling modern digital control. To achieve this, they needed:

• A PCB far larger than standard manufacturing tolerances
• Carbon printing to replicate the instrument’s feel
• A board strong enough for repeated strikes

Every supplier they approached hit the same limitations. Those who could fabricate the size couldn’t carbon print it; those who could carbon print at that scale didn’t support PCB fabrication. After months of searching, the customer was close to abandoning the project.

2. Why They Turned to CS Electronics

They discovered CS Electronics through our technical insights and reputation for solving non‑standard PCB challenges. What stood out was our approach: listen first, explore possibilities and draw on a decades‑built network of specialist manufacturers where necessary.

3. CS Electronics’ Approach

Our Purchasing team immediately recognised the project required both internal expertise and external specialist support. A two‑stage manufacturing route was explored but rejected due to risks around transport damage, alignment issues and extended lead times.

Refusing to compromise, we expanded our search to niche and long‑standing partners. Eventually, we identified a supplier capable of fabricating oversized boards and applying carbon printing at full size in the same facility — eliminating multi‑stage risks entirely.

CS Electronics Engineering then collaborated closely with the customer and manufacturer to validate structural integrity, refine carbon thickness and feel, ensure sensor responsiveness, and support iterative prototyping.

4. The Outcome

The customer successfully integrated the board into a fully functional digital Cimbalom prototype and has since returned for further development and small‑batch production

5. Why This Case Matters to Future Customers

This project demonstrates several core strengths that set CS apart:

• We thrive on unusual challenges. Where others saw limitations, we saw opportunity to innovate.
• Our network is an extension of our capability. Decades of relationship‑building allow us to solve problems no single supplier can handle.
• We combine engineering precision with customer empathy. We understand that behind every technical brief is a vision—and we value this greatly and treat it with upmost respect.
• We deliver solutions that enable creativity. Whether for instruments, industrial systems, or emerging technologies, we help customers push boundaries.

6. Conclusion

The digital Cimbalom project is a perfect example of what happens when expertise, curiosity, and collaboration come together. For a customer who had exhausted every other avenue, CS Electronics provided not just a PCB, but a path forward.

If you have a project that seems too complex, too unusual, or too ambitious for standard PCB suppliers, we’d love to hear your story. Chances are, we’ve solved something similar—or we’re ready to solve something entirely new.