General Information, Links

[Gigahearts_FX]

Hi, my name is Ian and I am a pedalholic.
I go by the name LaceSensor on various internet forums dedicated to building DIY guitar pedals (FSB, BYOC, Madbean, TGP...!)
With that confession out the way, here is the back story to my ventures into crafting guitar effects pedals....

I started building effects for myself following a 15 year affinity with the humble stomp box. I soon realised that I could build modern versions of classic effects, or reproduce cool pedals that were either out of production, or exhorbitantly expensive. I really wish I'd picked up a soldering iron as a teenager as I could've built so many cool things and saved myself a wealth of cash on dodgy purchases. This has subsequently lead to many friends, local musicians and then famous bands recruiting my services to build custom effects for them. I started doing this as a not-for-profit hobby that has built up to the point where it is now self funding. I don't do this for a living; for me its for the fun of building, and any profits I make either go into buying more stock or the occasional commercial pedal from my favourite builders, or new guys on the scene.

My pedals are roadworthy, affordable, and built to meet the demands of gigging musicians. For the past few years I've used many pedals I've build on my own boards, and have had my builds go out on the road with "proper" bands using them night in night out. Every pedal I make is hand crafted by me, in my home, using the best quality parts I can source such as Alpha pots, Neutrik Jacks, Lorlin switches and WIMA capacitors. These days I typically use Hammond powdercoated cases and employ a method of graphic transfer which looks like screenprint, and is quite robust, but only in monochrome.
As everything I do is by hand, one at a time, by one person, things like minor blems can be expected and these are always pointed out.

At present I am occasionally offering workalike/clones of "Lovetone" pedals, which have been out of production for nearly 10 years. I love these pedals. I own ( and have owned) all of them. I feel that they offer absolutely wonderful all-analog goodness and everyone should be able to get a piece of that action without paying the massively inflated costs for an original.
In addition to this I may post up the occasional one off of other designs, typically from the DIY community (PCB suppliers such as 1776effects, Grind Customs, Madbean).

The large clones are built typically in Hammond brand powdercoated cases:
http://www.rapidonline.com/Mechanical-F ... res-200116
Analogous boxes are the New Sensor 1790ns. Its the same size (145mm x 121mm x 39mm) as the current large XO line from EHX such as the Pog2, Deluxe Memory Man etc
The smaller Mecha Feta will typically be built in the 1590b case (112mm x 60mm x 31mm) or the slightly larger 125b (119mm x 63mm x 38mm)

As standard I like to use the grey version of this case.
However, I can also easily source the following colours:

Red // Green // Orange // Purple // Blue // Yellow
The Blue is very dark however and the graphics are hard to see, but thats up to you!
From experience I have found that the purple doesnt take the graphics and can be more blem-risky(!)

A lot of what I do is "paint by numbers" but I am learning as I go and hope to introduce my own designs as time and interest allows.

Lastly, I am always interested in Custom work. Take a look at some of my previous work under the Custom tab of my website.
Please note I am not in the habit of cloning current in production pedals such as ZVEX

Enjoy this sub forum and feel free to ask any questions.

Ian
http://www.gigahearts.co.uk
Twitter: @gigahearts_FX


The trademarks Lovetone, Doppelganger, Meatball, BIg Cheese, Cheese Source, Brown Source, Flange with no name, ?, Ring Stinger remain those of Lovetone.
Any clones, workalikes or other synonym refers to a circuit inspired to work and sound in a similar fashion.
To learn more about these wonderful effects please visit http://www.lovetone.com/index2.html

[phantasmagorovich]

Dude, you need to get sound demos or video demos going. Your builds look great, but I would be hesitant to buy without hearing even a bit before.

[Gigahearts_FX]

Dude, you need to get sound demos or video demos going. Your builds look great, but I would be hesitant to buy without hearing even a bit before.

Oops massive oversight on my part. New page made with a couple vids.
Thanks for your valuable feedback.

A couple guys here have bought Lovetone clones off me and the feedback was favourable, as was my selling adventures on ebay.
See the feedback thread here: viewtopic.php?f=258&t=38507