Thanks for the input people, much appreciated. From looking at pictures I would agree that the SSL controls appear badly placed, awkward and small. But I think its worth reminding our self's the age of the mixer being in the early years of the development of digital dj's. Obviously they answered a lot of the small control issues with the new 4 channel Rane mothership, but my Zero4/soon to be replaced by the S4 takes care of my 4 channel needs. The 57 will be a great replacement for my vestax 08.
I have on occasion been guilty of flying fader syndrome on not just the 56 but also mixers with P&G faders installed. Never happened to me with any Vestax I've owned or my Trusty pioneer 707 tho. So I think its not just down to over aggressive power scratching or design floor, but also down to wear and how some dj's move there hand when cutting it up.
Any serious scratch dj will know that when a cross fader has had heavy use over a couple of years the fader cap will begin to loosen, hence flying fader. For example I'm on my third fader cap for my pro x fade that I've had for five years now, as I worn the previous caps. But if you can't find replacements for wobbly loose caps, it's easy to over come by using tiny bits of thin card or paper to pack out the fader stem.
Mabe flying fader syndrome is the bi product of a thicker fader stem, as I said it's never happened to me on any of my previous vestax or my pioneer 707. But the problem with thinner fader stems is that after a few years of heavy scratching, they develop ye old lean, which always scares me to think it's going to snap soon. (I've only ever snapped after market P&G faders, which was a widely reported issue/design floor of an other wise awesome fader)
