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When could you start selling effects ?

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4/15/2003 5:49 PM

When could you start selling effects ?

Heres a topic to get the forum rolling. At what time could someone start selling effects as their own ? Sure one could do it right away but I mean start selling their *own* effects and not just clones. I'm sure there are people who play around with effects that occassionally trip over something that they think is cool and might be able to sell. Is just a simple mod enough to allow a person to sell an effect as their own ?

Andrew

4/15/2003 11:15 PM

Anytime someone will pay you for one, go for it.

I started by modding fuzzface reissues and painting them up and gluing toy dinosaurs on the knobs.
I also did a few tubescreamers repackaged as Texas Sreamers. They sold at the local Music Go Round for about 140 retail.
I didn't really make much money on them, but I had a good time and began to establish myself in the local market.
Then I started building some boxes from scratch.
The first few were a little funky, but they had a good look to them right away.

I would advise you to make sure the durability is factored in, pretend the pedal is going on a four year world tour when you think about how to mount things and decide on what parts to use, etc.

Also, having a distinct look is very helpful. There were dozens of 'home shop' pedal companies that started up in the last few years, many of them had amateur visuals [ sorry, opinion] ,and this doesn't help in a crowded market.

I went to the opposite extreme. I put too much emphasis on the visuals. The Tone is definitely there in NVN pedals, but a lot of people didn't take them seriously because they thought it was all flash and hype.

4/16/2003 12:01 AM
Chris ( CMW amps )	Hi Andrew Altough I'm repairing , modding and building amps I gotto agree with Joe . Imho go for the following points : - sound - looks - fool/tour-proof - good communications Don't forget : it's 1% inspiration and at least 99% transpiration Chris

4/16/2003 7:06 PM

For my own boxes this is the list of priorities in order:

1. Sound, if sounds like crap or sounds like something else why bother selling it ?

2. Quality, good parts put together well. I'm not talking about gold plated jacks but things like switches that have been tested so they are known to be good.

3. Durabilty, it should be able to take a beating. I've killed atleast one of every popular brand of box (Boss, DOD, Ibanez, Dunlop, etc.) If I can't kill it then probably no one can.

4. Apperence, for me functionality is more important. Logical and easy to use layouts. Then I can make it pretty.

5. Price, I want my stuff to be accessible to just about any musician.

Currently this is my situation. I have several effect designs of my own. Some are a varition of a theme while others are unique enough that I have not seen a equilvilant commercial version. I don't build clones or modded clones.

I've decided to start with releasing just one effect. A fuzz box. I'm finishing up the PCB and then I will debug. I'm planning on producing a small batch (<20). I have all the logistics laid out for this run. This includes parts, assembling, and finishing.

I decided to sell through a local music store that I have a good working relationship with including the owner, managers, sales people, etc. We worked out a good deal that everyone is satisfied with while offering the box at a cost effective price.

I have a good reputation for quality sound and workmanship so I'm pretty I'll sell the intial run. Thats not the part that scares me. Its if I should go ahead and do another, larger run. Also if I should release any other effects after the intial fuzz box run.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

Andrew

4/16/2003 8:50 PM
Chris ( CMW amps )	Andrew Your plan does look very good , all luck & good business from Driebergen , The Netherlands ! Chris

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