Gutting a mixer (like a mackie 1604) to use as a midi controller

[intellijel]

I really want a midi controller that has the same layout and UI as a 16 channel analog mixer like a mackie 1604 or A&H mixwizard.

Older models of 1604's are really cheap on the used market (<$500) and the behringer rip-off versions are even cheaper.

Has anyone ever taken a behringer mixer and gutted it to use it as the enclosure for their midibox?

As long as it had panel mounted pots you could replace all of them with your own 10k pots. The fader+mute/solo switch section might be tricker...it may be possible to hack up the pcbs in there and mod them so you can re-use them. Maybe even the whole channel strip can be re-used if you cut traces and replace some of the pots.

This would save a lot of money on the UI elements such as an enclosure, front panel and knobs.

[SLP]

If you find matching PCB-mount faders and pots, you can do it like Wild_weasel and use the original PCB as template:

http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=wild_weasel

You can at least reuse the Balance/Pan-Pots. I'm not sure about whether the EQ-pots are log or lin.