Dear all at ILF
Thanks for your support and interest in 2014
Moving into 2015 I am revising how I promote myself as a pedal builder.
Most of you know me for offering clones / work-a-like of the "Lovetone" brand.
Over the past year I have been fortunate to make the acquaintance of Dan from Dinosaural, and in speaking to him got an even deeper respect for the Lovetone circuits, brand (if that were possible?!) and as such I think I will wind down my offerings on that front. I might still make the odd one, but I am no longer gonna build any to "stock", only on request. A small addendum also any that I do make will have no recognisable font / trade dress resemblance, as I was told that the guy still with Lovetone would not appreciate that (read: sue me, potentially).
As such I changed the Gigahearts font - I used a free font called Dakota which is a 70s style bubble font which was very similar to the one Lovetone use, purely because I like their aesthetic. I can see now that some people might not think that was cool, and after a small lecture on originality I decided to change it for an 80s style font which I also like.
Further to this, I would like to offer my pedal making skills to a wider interest group than just people looking for Lovetone-type sounds.
Additionally, my cost model is being revised to the following for custom work:
Revised 08/01- knew something was missing(!)
£15 - £30 depending on complexity, plus 2x cost of parts, plus actual shipping.
This means I only make a very modest "hourly bench fee" on the pedals and is more for the fun of it. It should also mean quite economical custom stuff for people.
Typically I like to work from PCBs, and folks like Madbean and the other providors there allow builders to re-sell pedals using their PCBs - so if there are DIY products/projects out there of interest, but you dont fancy to build them yourself, give me a shout and we can see what it would cost.
As an example, a Big Muff (to pretty much any spec) would break down like this:
Case - £8-12, depending on size and colour, lets say on average £10
Hardware (jacks, footswitch) - £6
Pots and knobs - £3
PCB - £7
components inc resistors, caps, transistors, diodes - £3
so thats £29, times 2, plus £15 (lower complexity build) = £73 / euro 93 / USD 110
Worldwide shipping is typically £15 or less recorded, tracked, signed and insured.
In the UK and parts of Europe it would be £10 or less.
As always feel free to PM me with your requirements and we can talk
All the best for 2015
Ian