Frayed Knot Electronics

[Confuzzled]

Has anyone asked the person from FKE if they wanted to join the forums and discuss?

[Chankgeez]

Why would he join the forum if some people are prejudiced and already attacking him?

[Dandolin]

Here I am barging into this thread a month after everyone else left it.

I came across FKE's demo of the Marma last month while searching for something else. It was one of those aha! moments. I'd been enormously taken with Seppuku's 2015 demo of the Eccodrone (billed as a more polite version of the Memory Loss) but since Seppuku's production seemed erratic in all sorts of ways I never committed actual funds. To my ears, the Marma has some of the Eccodrone's tonality but seems more controllable and in the demo appears free of clock noises, rf interference, crackling switches and the like. $260 is indeed steep for a new arrival but it looks to be a complex build.

Reader, I wrote to Mr. FKE the same night. I explained that I liked what I'd heard very much, that I was too broke to place an order, but would he consider building me one with a slam switch a la the Caroline Meteore and Kilobyte at some point in future? I'm used to too-cool builders ignoring such requests but he replied in less than 12 hours with a sympathetic note and a clear (and reasonable) price for the mod. So my impression was positive. This guy is alright. I will follow through later this year and tell everyone how it goes.

One caveat about the pedal: the demo has filters moving up (mostly) and down. I'm guessing that those movements are being created by tweaking the relevant pot during play, which is not an option for me. So maybe I'll ask if the slam switch could tune a filter instead.

Best, NP.

Hey--thanks for reporting in

Definitely still have my eye on a few of Mr. FKE's items

[dubkitty]

i rather like the Marma, which would be great for Boards of Canada-type stuff. the Zippery Slipper is also interesting, but i'm not quite sure i understand how it works.

[Confuzzled]

Why would he join the forum if some people are prejudiced and already attacking him?

If I was a builder I'd be on here discussing my stuff, good or bad reactions.

[frayedknot]

Hey fellow pedal nerds,

Thanks for the kind words about my work, and for the constructive criticism. Thought I would step in and answer a few questions and comments you brought up in this thread:

-I would have responded earlier, but have been waiting for my account to get approved.

-The price point of my pedals is there for a few reasons
1.I opted to use quality microcontrollers, and dac / adc to overcome the common limitations of "spin chip" based digital pedals. (3 control knobs, external memory, etc...)
2.I don't use cheap/unreliable components.
3.I offer a conditional lifetime warranty
4.I spend ALOT of time refining / coding / designing / assembling / etching these all by myself.

-Due to my digital pedals being built off the same pcb & the only difference being a pot / knob or two and programming, the price for my digital stuff is the same.

-If you have a hard time understanding what a particular pedal does, well that's kind of the point! I try my best to describe what they do, but some of the functions are hard to understand until you have tried one.
Quote: "The pedals/synths made by Frayed Knot express my desire to create sounds and controls that inspire musicians, while gently disregarding the idea of what a pedal is expected to do, without lacking control, range, or practicality."

-I occasionally build small runs of unusual fuzz, boost, and analog delay/modulation pedals when the parts/time present themselves. The cost on these vary. (I don't sell these often, or in stores)

- I have never claimed to be a dsp wiz, I have been programming for a few years, and after leaving my last job made it a goal to get proficient enough to start designing digital versions of analog circuits i designed too large/expensive to be produced into pedals.

-The lack of labels is what it is, I list what each knob does in the descriptions. The manual just has arrows pointing out what knob does what, and has pertinent warranty info.

-My website is the first I have ever designed, and frayedknotelectronics.com has recently been updated, but still optimizing for mobile.

-My videos are more teasers than demos. I have a modular synth/video synth/vintage video editor I play with from time to time, and decided to merge my interests. While the video may have a lo-fi aesthetic, I record audio at a reasonably high quality, youtube does degrade this a bit but not substantially.

-As the company grows I will be purchasing new mics / good cab simulator / camera & working with local musicians to make a wider range of demo video types, and cover multiple genres/applications. I understand this is a huge part of any successful pedal company, and have plans to expand. I just past the first year in business, and only started selling in stores last fall.

Thanks for the interest in my products & hearing me out, and if you have any more questions/concerns/advice I would be happy to respond / listen!

Sincerely, Francois of Frayed Knot Electronics

[Chankgeez]

Good answers!

[dubkitty]

so, do you build to maintain stock or build stuff specially as orders come in?

[frayedknot]

I mostly build to stock, but take custom/modified orders regularly. I have a batch of Marmas and Bella-Donnas i'm wrapping up atm. While I am out of stock of these two currently, there are two retailers/reverb stores that have them available.

[Dandolin]

Hey Francois, welcome...thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts and info on your pedals and design choices! I'm definitely interested in what you're doing and I'm pretty sure there are others here who already do share that interest or might. I think a lot of good points have been raised in this thread, including some expressions of skepticism which I for one welcome as food for thought. Hope you're not too taken aback by the sometimes rough and tumble of our discussion mosh pit. Respect for stepping into the fuzzy lair--hope you stick around

Also - - great idea confuzzled

[frayedknot]

Hey Dandolin,

Thanks for the warm welcome and I appreciate interest in my work! I understand some of the skepticism, and know that my work will speak for itself as it gets into the hands of more people & things move forward.

Seems like a cool forum, and will definitely be posting some content in the near future.

[Jero]

Welcome to forum!

[PeteeBee]

Just wanted to say “welcome!” It’s always cool to have interesting builders on here.

[UglyCasanova]

Welcome! This feels like a good time to do a tour-box.

[Confuzzled]

WELCOME! Glad to have you here. Looking forward to more from you and your company.