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Author Topic: Hmm.... New Business Idea...  (Read 14921 times)

blue

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2006, 11:58:33 PM »
the only problem here is that you'd be making replicas of existing pedals.  putting one together for yourself or a few mates is hardly going to draw much attention, but selling them on the internet as exact replicas throws up all kinds of legal problems.  what i think you should do is pick a small number of pedals, probably the ones you have the best understanding of, and using what you know as a basis redesign the circuit.  then you could say for example "imagine the creamy gain boost of a tubescreamer combined with the brutal fuzz of a big muff! well her it is! the muffscreamer!!!"
making exact replicas just puts you in an awkward position if anyone takes offence.  what if i started making Warpigs? i imagine Tim and the boys would be round like ligtning to show me just what a muffscreamer should sound like!
cry HAVOC!! and let slip the pigs of war!!!

indysmith

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2006, 11:58:41 PM »
Quote from: sambo
P.S what the hell is a neve

LMAO +1!!!!
nawww 20 would be easy... yu just need a snappy name. like bare knuckle effects pedals
LOVING the Mules!

Searcher

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2006, 06:35:29 AM »
I'm not a big effects user, but I'd be interested in a delay and a chorus at some stage, for sure.  I could do my own paint job--in fact, that'd be fun for me to design.
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Aaagh! Help!!! The GAS!!! The GAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

38thBeatle

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2006, 07:33:20 AM »
I agree with Crispsandwich and also echo the points made by Blue. I'd keep it as a kind of cottage industry. The list is attractive and I am sure you will get enough orders to achieve what you are trying for and hopefyully you will get enough orders to enable you to work on other projects.You have a very bright future I reckon.
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BKP's: Apache, Country Boy, Slowhands.

sambo

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #19 on: March 22, 2006, 07:48:09 AM »
half agree with blue half dont- as long as he doesnt advertise them as replicas, so if he just comes up with his own name, and advertises them like the BYOC pedals- just calls them clones, then he should be alright. especially if its really small scale.

Brow

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #20 on: March 22, 2006, 10:07:21 AM »
I'd be willing to buy 1 or 2 :)

I'd want a Tremolo and (possibly) a Phaser :)
Selling lots of gear, enquire within!......

bucketshred

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #21 on: March 22, 2006, 10:47:32 AM »
Dude, if you can mod my Wah and build me a custom Tubescreamer to my exact spec.  And possibly a phaser, I'd be all over it.

Andy!
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Bainzy

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #22 on: March 22, 2006, 03:55:51 PM »
Andy - I could easily do that.

I'd definately want to do it more as work for a few mates as opposed to a small business selling exact replicas. Most of it would be just getting the boards (or making my own if they're not available to buy) and the parts, and putting them together for people that aren't technically minded or don't have the time. Whether I'd do it after I got the Neve, I'm not sure - I'm hoping the album I make with the Neve will be a good source of income instead. I'm also making a 5-6 track demo CD that I know quite a lot of people would buy anyway, the proceeds of which are all going to my Neve savings.

This is a Neve 1272:



I need to get the kit for this with the correct transformers, plus a power supply and then I'll be rackmounting it. It's a microphone preamp used in the consoles of top studios, and features on many classic recordings. I need it to get a more 'professional' sound to my recordings, as it will really help my albums seem more credible when I start distributing them.

I'm not sure whether I'd 1) assemble and polish the steel chassis' and apply decals, 2) paint them with hammered paints (I don't know if I could use normal car spray paint, they're not as durable from what I've experienced) and decals, or 3) leave them for people do paint and have fun with their own design. It'd be a 2 minute job unassembling and reassembling the pedals to remove the parts from the box, and you wouldn't need to unsolder and resolder anything.

Bainzy

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #23 on: March 22, 2006, 04:00:37 PM »
I've been toying around with ideas for some decals to put on the pedals
to make them a bit more interesting, how about something like this, and calling them 'Nuke Pedals' or something...:

willo

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #24 on: March 22, 2006, 04:50:57 PM »
I like Zvex's designs, pictures of cats and beetles...it's not what you'd expect. The nuke sign is OK, but it seems a bit cliched...not so individual, if you get what I mean (no offence meant)

Why don't you silkscreen black and white photos of dead celebrities on to them? I think that would be cool, 'Dead Celebrity Pedals'. I'm serious...

As an aside, a friend of my bassplayer has apparently started making pedals too. He tweaked an Ampeg Scrambler so that the octave up feature descends after a preset amount of time. It certainly sounds interesting...

I think the problem with those kind of off-the-wall FX is that they are so individual that you can't use them too much. Invariably they are often the more expensive pedals, so it's hard to justify spending so much on a pedal with limited use. For instance, I love the sound you can get from a Zvex Seek Wah - it sounds incredible. But I couldn't use it repeatedly, maybe only once a gig or something, just because the sound is so distinctive. So I'll probably just end up getting another standard wah instead, because the sound of a wah is so typical within rock music that it's ok to use it multiple times during a gig; the Seek Wah is so original in sound that you couldn't get away with it.

The pedals I want to see are pedals that have a great and useful main use, but with the ability to do something wierd and out of the ordinary at the flick of a switch. :)
The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away...

Ratrod

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #25 on: March 22, 2006, 05:04:21 PM »
I would say build to order. It's less risk for you and it will give your pedals an exclusive vibe.

Can you tell me more about your Metal Zone mod?

And question 2: I have a Danelectro Rock-a-Bey. It's a dual pedal with an echo and an overdrive. The echo is great but the overdrive isn't. It's supposed to sound like a hot tweed and is very similar to the overdrive on my Hot Rod Deluxe amp. Could you modify the overdrive in the Dano pedal? Maybe with an original TI chip that was in the old TS-808.
BKP user since 2004: early 7K Blackguard 50

_tom_

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #26 on: March 22, 2006, 05:30:28 PM »
Quote from: willo
I like Zvex's designs, pictures of cats and beetles...it's not what you'd expect. The nuke sign is OK, but it seems a bit cliched...not so individual, if you get what I mean (no offence meant)

Why don't you silkscreen black and white photos of dead celebrities on to them? I think that would be cool, 'Dead Celebrity Pedals'. I'm serious...

As an aside, a friend of my bassplayer has apparently started making pedals too. He tweaked an Ampeg Scrambler so that the octave up feature descends after a preset amount of time. It certainly sounds interesting...

I think the problem with those kind of off-the-wall FX is that they are so individual that you can't use them too much. Invariably they are often the more expensive pedals, so it's hard to justify spending so much on a pedal with limited use. For instance, I love the sound you can get from a Zvex Seek Wah - it sounds incredible. But I couldn't use it repeatedly, maybe only once a gig or something, just because the sound is so distinctive. So I'll probably just end up getting another standard wah instead, because the sound of a wah is so typical within rock music that it's ok to use it multiple times during a gig; the Seek Wah is so original in sound that you couldn't get away with it.

The pedals I want to see are pedals that have a great and useful main use, but with the ability to do something wierd and out of the ordinary at the flick of a switch. :)


I love the Dead Celebrity idea. Kicks ass!

38thBeatle

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #27 on: March 22, 2006, 06:11:25 PM »
Yeah I agree it is a great idea but the actual image of the celeb may be copyrighted- I am serious.
Send three and fourpence we're going to a dance
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willo

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #28 on: March 22, 2006, 06:16:43 PM »
Quote from: 38thBeatle
Yeah I agree it is a great idea but the actual image of the celeb may be copyrighted- I am serious.


Yeah, I thought that too...I still think it would be cool to have a pedal called The Hepburn, The Jimmy D, whatever...

If you were an organized outfit - and I'm speaking hypothetically cos this would be long winded - you could hire lookalikes and take photos of them, and name the pedals obliquely a la Bareknuckle...for instance, 'The Slowhand' - it's obvious who the pickup references but it's not a copyrighted name so it's useable.
The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away...

_tom_

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Hmm.... New Business Idea...
« Reply #29 on: March 22, 2006, 06:24:26 PM »
Quote from: willo
Quote from: 38thBeatle
Yeah I agree it is a great idea but the actual image of the celeb may be copyrighted- I am serious.


Yeah, I thought that too...I still think it would be cool to have a pedal called The Hepburn, The Jimmy D, whatever...

If you were an organized outfit - and I'm speaking hypothetically cos this would be long winded - you could hire lookalikes and take photos of them, and name the pedals obliquely a la Bareknuckle...for instance, 'The Slowhand' - it's obvious who the pickup references but it's not a copyrighted name so it's useable.


Yeah thats also a good idea.

For a british sounding overdrive "Hatchett Harry" would kick ass  :D Thats probably copyrighted though as its on lock stock.