Members bikehorn Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 I'm in university and I've been thinking of building a few pedals for side cash. I could get a job, which was my original plan, but it would be hard to balance with my class schedule and school workload because they would need me to commit to working certain hours on certain days and then be available to cover other people other times. Not super practical at this point. I got to thinking, I can solder and I've built and worked on electronics before(hi-fi power amps and speakers, plus repaired my Ross Distortion). Making a few pedals(like 7-10 in total) wouldn't be too hard and it would allow me to work on them when I have the time. I could grab some parts in bulk(some of which I already have from previous projects) and use a pre-made PCB to build some easy stuff like dirtboxes, buffers and boosters. I know there's 32084 pedal makers out there with an established reputation that people have already heard of but I'm not looking to start a "business", I just want to make a little money from my hobby. I asked an artist friend of mine if she would be interesting in giving them unique paint jobs and she agreed to, for free as long as she had 'creative control' over what the finishes looked like. That's fine by me. So, I think I could make an okay profit, not a huge one but enough to make me happy - if it sells. The question is, if you saw an eBay auction or a Craigslist ad, or even a cheesy Geocities website selling a "boutique style" TS-808 or Fuzz Face, would you consider buying it? Or would you be turned off because it's not by an established name with a reputation for reliability and "tone" ? I'm just wondering if this is worth my while and initial investment. I would like to offer something similar to what people get when they order a pre-built BYOC pedal. thanks peeps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrjones Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 No. If you're going to have ANY success, you'll need clips. Good clips. But I'm not interested in another Toob Skreemur - much less an unknown thing for $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 No. You can buy any number of good ones from established companies for that price. I don't think the world really needs any more tube screamer clones to be honest with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bikehorn Posted October 15, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 No.If you're going to have ANY success, you'll need clips. Good clips. But I'm not interested in another Toob Skreemur - much less an unknown thing for $100. Pretty understandable. Clips can be arranged, I can get access to recording gear(and a better guitarist than myself) to make them. I'm banking on people wanting a well-built version of the original circuit with a few switchable extras. Personally, I want 'another tube screamer' for my own effects chain, but I can understand why someone wouldn't. I've been working on a somewhat original opamp OD/distortion design too. It's not groundbreakingly different in design or anything but I haven't seen one done this way yet and when I get to prototyping it(one reason I want to sell clones first, to raise some capital) I'm hoping it'll sound unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SUPER VELCROBOY Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 the time you spend to build the pedals is likely more profitable if you actually get a job. It's actually pretty hard, and I'm talking from experience Building a ts clone is pretty boring and the market is full of them. But anything i say is just that. You should try it just to find out for yourself. Build 10, sell them, and come back and report to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members superthumb Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 Your best bet is to sell to friends and friends of friends. I typically sell my pedals for around 110-150 (depending on the pedal) that way, but on ebay they go for maybe 80 if I'm lucky. Something to keep in mind is that it can take 6-12 hours to build a pedal from start to finish. If you factor in, say, 60 dollars for parts, you have to ask yourself what your time is worth. GTRJones is right about clips, you gotta have clips if you want to do the online thing. But, unlike GTR, there are actually a lot of people that wouldn't mind having a truebypass tubescreamer or whatever if the quality is good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nbabmf Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 You know what would be nice is a TS clone with a mini-switch to ditch the mid hump (for an additional voicing) and a boost to kick the gain even higher... But seriously, I was toying with the idea myself. I'd probably stick to selling them to friends and maybe at a small guitar shop or two in the area. Word of mouth is how these pedals get around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L_Z_nut Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 I don't want to burst your bubble or anything... more fill you in on the truth about pedal building. You can't just up and decide to build pedals and sell them for profit, cause no offense, but you're a nobody. I've learned from other peoples experience that it's a whole hell of a lot harder then you think. It's not hard to build the pedals, but selling them, now that's where it gets tricky. Plus, are you going to make you're own designs? By that I mean, will you be designing you're own PCB layouts, and circuits? Will you just be buying a BYOC kit/GGG kit? Will you be making your own PCB's, or will you be buying them from BYOC, GGG, or TonePad? Are you just going to sell the same tired old TS circuit? If you choose any of those options, you will more likely get into some legal issues/battles over intellectual property and design with the artist(s) who originally made the PCB's, unless you design your own circuit. I don't mean to sound rude, but you say you'll sell them for $120 and make a "OK profit". Building an actual TS costs about $30 (without paint) if you know where to get your parts... add a paint job from another person (your friend) and it will maybe cost $50 total. Which means you'll make a profit of $70, that's aactually pretty big for a "no name pedal". IF you look on eBay people who don't have an established rep. sell their pedals for really cheap. Unless you come up with your own design, and original sound that you can't get anywhere else... maybe a nice gimmicky paint job or name, you probably won't sell anything since most people can buy a TS that they know will sound good for less. It's just the reality of the industry. Go to diystompboxes.com and ask the same question... you'll the same answer I gave you. EDIT: There are people on DIYSB that actually do come up with their own designs, and still don't make that much profit either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members melx Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 I think it's the same with anything, you have to be doing something slightly different, something to get people exited. a TS clone isn't going to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L_Z_nut Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 ^ Exactly Take the old non mosfet Fulldrive2. It was basically a TS808 with some mods, a toggle switch, and a booster switch. But, if you put it in a fancy enclosure (that it is... I always loved those Fulltone slopped enclosures) and people will buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nbabmf Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 When all else fails, stick an LPB in front of it haha and call it something funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EL KABONG Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 no every0one has about four ts clones already in their arsenal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike.sartori Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 I agree with the friends & family approach, if you have a recording studio to hang around you can meet lots of people in bands who will buy your stuff. Another thing is, try to figure out the minute differences that make the really expensive TS clones, and sell clones of those (Xotic AC & RC booster, zendrive, lovepedal eternity, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members starsailor803 Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 Actually, yes, I would and have bought no name clones. A few months ago I bought a mxr dist.+ clone from this local guy for $70 and love it. Soon, I'll get one of his screamer clones. He's just building a few and selling in his spare time. Here's his page. Just build one or two and try to sell locally and take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cdawzrd Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 whatever you end up building, sell it for cheap, that'll get people's attention. I wouldn't buy a TS for $120, I might however buy a rat-type distortion that already has all of the cool rat mods in it, maybe even for $100 (i'm a cheap college student though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 Make a ts with a lpb in front of it like another member said... if they were both in one box it would be kind of like a Fulldrive II, but if you allowed the boost in the pedal to be used seperately from the TS and gave it a cool paint job that may work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members echodeluxe Posted October 15, 2007 Members Share Posted October 15, 2007 like we really need another ts clone? do something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.