So I'm thinking of starting a blog on effects pedals...

[Mudfuzz]

Mudfuzz, I hope its ok if I go to you for advice

I'd I would totally be down to collaborate on something once I get things going if you're ever up for it

I would be glad to on all acounts I think this is a good idea! You seem to be shooting for a big picture type of thing and I am going for hyper-focus, so I am looking forward to what you come up with

[mathias]

I'd subscribe. I don't have any guitar gear blogs (or music-related blogs) in my feed reader, but I subscribe to at least 50 blogs. Sites like Harmony Central are really not interesting me.

Heck, I may even write something..

[Wes Mantooth]

I'm liking the enthusiasm everyone!

I'll be doing a bit more research on the best way to start a blog up and get a stable of articles together and hopefully launch it within a month or so.

[lawrence scaduto]

dupe

[lawrence scaduto]

i'd be into it if it had a unique perspective.

and good design.

please.. nothing other then black text on a white background.

i really like these 2 mens fashion blogs:

http://www.selectism.com/

http://www.inventorymagazine.com/updates/

they're well designed and the tone is that of a smarter older uncle. no judgement, just a nod into the direction for those that want nice things.

the voices tend to give these points in well edited text:

check out this well made item
here's is the history of it's design
here is where it fits with in current trends
here is what it would work well with
here is what it costs
here is where to get it

a lot of the fx blogs i've seen just regurgitate info and don't make me excited for what's out there when there is SOOOOO much cool stuff being made by so many people. it's amazing that they make something so cool sound so boring. plus it hurts to look at their sites. once again good design is a must.

[Noise...]

i'd be into it if it had a unique perspective.

and good design.

please.. nothing other then black text on a white background.

i really like these 2 mens fashion blogs:

http://www.selectism.com/

http://www.inventorymagazine.com/updates/

they're well designed and the tone is that of a smarter older uncle. no judgement, just a nod into the direction for those that want nice things.

the voices tend to give these points in well edited text:

check out this well made item
here's is the history of it's design
here is where it fits with in current trends
here is what it would work well with
here is what it costs
here is where to get it

a lot of the fx blogs i've seen just regurgitate info and don't make me excited for what's out there when there is SOOOOO much cool stuff being made by so many people. it's amazing that they make something so cool sound so boring. plus it hurts to look at their sites. once again good design is a must.

Black text on a white background is nice, but add some damn color. Everything being stark black and white is boring. You don't have to do neon pink text or anything, but add some splashes of color here and there.

As for the regurgitated info, I definitely recommend doing the opposite. No "this deal here" type garbage that's just set to go up at a certain time. Go for actual written stuff, real reviews, demos, etc. Make it your own and all that.

[mathias]

I like the design here: http://gdgt.com/

Also, this was a simple blog design, until the sidebars started to get cluttered up: http://musicthing.blogspot.com/ (really wish this guy had continued to write)

And I agree, don't do the "here's new crap" posts every week. Real, in-depth reviews of gear (not necessarily stuff that just came out, vintage gear reviews would be great) and interviews with pedal builders would be great.

[Wes Mantooth]

Thanks for the design tips all

I feel that is an overlooked part of some blogs, I personally hate stark color contrasts, I'll certainly look into those themes.

On the blog I'm going to take paypal donations to pay for any expenses that may come up (hosting, domain name, etc.). The costs aren't too high but I would like to do something cool for donating members (anything from one cent to fifty dollars counts) any ideas?

In response to the comments on regurgitated info: I aim for this blog to be focused on all original material that stimulates healthy discussion focused on the uses of a wide range of effects and provides helpful advice and reviews. I also want to do some fun, more light-hearted interviews of some ILF builders, Ryan from Dr. Scientist has been super cool about everything so I hope I can draw some attention to how awesome Dr. Scientist is. I'd also hopefully like to get news, interviews, etc. from non-ILF builders as well so if anyone knows any who would be down, let me know.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! Keep the feedback coming!

[Jwar]

I've thought about doing this myself recently as well. Especially since I just bought a new interface for recording. The only problem is I'm like really fucking dumb with recording software. SIGH.

I like your idea though. Especially the giveaway part.

[Wes Mantooth]

Well if you'd ever like to record some demos for the site let me know and I can hopefully compensate you accordingly.

In order to fund giveaways I believe I'm going to put ads on the site using google adsense, yes ads are a bummer but anyone can install adblock. They will not be intrusive either, if they ever are, they are gone.

I hope everyone doesn't use adblock though, the more clicks on those ads I get, the more money I can spend on a cool giveaway.

[Wes Mantooth]

Also need a good idea for the domain name! Keep in mind I would like it to deal with guitar effects so it can become visible on google/yahoo/bing/whatever searches.

I'd like to register a domain and get the blog up and running within the next couple of days so I can write some content for it and hopefully some of you will contribute as well!

If someone comes up with the name I use they definitely get a special shout out for themselves and their band, business, group, etc. in a visible spot on the blog!

[mathias]

Hmm. I'll try to think up some names. For starters, how about:

Pedalholic
Tone Snobs
Effectswire
There Will Be Fuzz
A Mighty Sound
Pedal Peddlers
Soundtank
The Echo Chamber
The Daily Fuzz
Pedal Peanut Gallery
Stompblog
Effectual

Or going more formal/serious:
Pedal News Network (alt: Guitar Gear News Network)
Musician Gear Blog
Music Gear Blog

[Wes Mantooth]

Stompblog was one I thought of too, I'm seriously considering some of those mathias thank you!

I love the fuzz ones but I'm just worried people might think it's only about fuzz pedals when in reality it'll be about all kinds of effects (but there certainly will be a focus on fuzz). I think the daily fuzz will have to be at least a recurring section on the blog though!

[lawrence scaduto]

i've got it:

YOU SOUND GOOD TODAY

yousoundgoodtoday.com is probably available. get it before some domain webspider picks it up and registers it

[mathias]

i've got it:

YOU SOUND GOOD TODAY

yousoundgoodtoday.com is probably available. get it before some domain webspider picks it up and registers it

Sounds really close to the very popular podcast, You Look Nice Today. http://youlooknicetoday.com/

Stompblog was one I thought of too, I'm seriously considering some of those mathias thank you!

I love the fuzz ones but I'm just worried people might think it's only about fuzz pedals when in reality it'll be about all kinds of effects (but there certainly will be a focus on fuzz). I think the daily fuzz will have to be at least a recurring section on the blog though!

I like the idea of a recurring The Daily Fuzz series!

Also, I'd love to write some column for this. I do a lot of DIY stuff, but I don't have a backlog of projects I could write blog post-length articles about. Maybe I could cover what other people are building, MAKE magazine style? http://blog.makezine.com/