All-American effects board?

[BassManPatsFan]

Originally Posted by Koldenblue

I'm just gonna point out that strymon pedals actually are made in the USA. You can check their website for verification.

I have the iron ether reverb, and it's a really great sounding pedal.

I think the source audio reverb may also be made in the US? But I couldn't find the info on the website. They are definitely designed in the US though.

Source audio gear is designed and built outside of Boston as far as I know.

[Vlad5]

...and... Canadian's are Americans... just saying... we share the North American continent... I don't mean to be a douche, it's just, well, it erks me when people call the Unitied States of America, America. Like we own the entire 'western' hemisphere or something, um, we totally don't. Nationalistic, narcisistic mumbo jumbo used by politicians to sell votes and US Steel to sell crappy cars. About as meaningfull as 'fat free' broccoli.

Also, try to keep in mind that any country that attempts to maintain it's economy entirely within it's own borders falls well behind the rest of the world, and is doomed to economic implosion...

Ok, stepping down from my soapbox; I myself was trying to build a board where every pedal was from a different country. Close, but no cigar. There are just too many good US builders out there, and they outnumber the 'foreign' guys quite a bit.

Still, I have or have had effects from many different countries, and I have no problem sending them my money. We share a global economy, and a very small planet.

Anyway, good luck man, and enjoy your US only assembled effects... in Korea.

[dlenaghan]

The only Korean builder I know of that really puts out quality is Moollon.. and they're pricey.. and very.. hi-fi. Good stuff, but it sounds one very particular way.

Ironic, though, yes, I agree, as I wait for the return of my refurbished Frye boots from Massachusetts... Wal-mart.. I won't get started on that. Too much in the news to even really contest whether or not a model like that is good for domestic economy..

A friend turned me onto this essential concept, who operates a clothing store here in Seoul, in the Gangnam district of Apgujeong, which is basically the money center of the entire country: he sells clothes that wear hard, wear long, and cost. They're designed, fabricated, and sourced from as close a place as possible to the original design so you don't have massive transportation and division of those who profit most (the designer) and those who profit least (usually the raw goods wholesaler or in many cases, eg Apple and Samsung, even the manufacturer/assembler).. So a company like CoPilot is good in my book and Adam, the honcho of CoPilot, is absolutely a stand-up guy and has an incredible and original vision which I'll defend as a customer. Like I said, it's kind of a thought-experiment.. I've got some marvelous gear, but too much gear overall.. this is part of a template to pare down what I really don't need.

I do however have an issue with larger companies that generally stock 'bog box' stores because there seems to be little in the way of resource control.. they'll sell as many as they can, and while in some sense that's just good business, a little restraint goes along way. And while I don't want to turn this into a political thing (mostly I was curious to hear about other US-based builders.. got some good ones already from the responses listed, and indeed, I'd happily stretch my definition to N American because damn well we share a lot of watersheds and such.. Keystone XL anyone?) ... There's certainly been a lot in the news lately to suggest that healthy domestic economies rely on skilled domestic labor as opposed to the equivalent of Wal-mart greeters. Small business, yo!

I'm happy to pay for a pedal builder whose design is competent and imaginative and somewhat inflated to deal with, say, environmental regulations. Been reading a lot about how electronics are manufactured lately.. we're going to be paying for the electronic age far longer than we'll be paying for the oil age or even the nuclear age, the latter of which is really something considering half-lives. So, for example, the absence of batteries as a design component? Cool. High-amperage draw.. well, not everything is worth scrutinizing maximum efficiency.

As for Korean-made effects.. they'll step up soon enough. Foreign-made stuff simply has too high a tariff for anyone to really enjoy the good stuff. Even Boss carries a premium here.. which basically means musicians are broke if they want effects. And China, well, it's less than two hours by plane, and if someone wants to apply a similar build QA to pedals that Apple does to its laptops, well, I'm on board, in general..

Funny though how dirty everything gets when you really get down to the nuts and bolts of the nuts and bolts. Germanium? Silicon? It all gets smelted somewhere...

Thanks for all the input! (PS - A country like Korea would be largely without wood-based instruments, especially those requiring hardwoods, without export.. Most wood instruments here are built from acacia, which makes a great soundbox for something like a gayageum - a silk stringed 12-string zither, very low tension - but you talk about electric instruments.. Acacia is not the wood you want. But then, you also need a lot of land to supply a large company like Fender or Gibson.. and land is something that Korea is very much without. Until the US annexes the North.. j/k..)

[HolmeBass]

Originally Posted by Vlad5

...and... Canadian's are Americans... just saying... we share the North American continent... I don't mean to be a douche, it's just, well, it erks me when people call the Unitied States of America, America. Like we own the entire 'western' hemisphere or something, um, we totally don't. Nationalistic, narcisistic mumbo jumbo used by politicians to sell votes and US Steel to sell crappy cars. About as meaningfull as 'fat free' broccoli.

Also, try to keep in mind that any country that attempts to maintain it's economy entirely within it's own borders falls well behind the rest of the world, and is doomed to economic implosion...

Ok, stepping down from my soapbox; I myself was trying to build a board where every pedal was from a different country. Close, but no cigar. There are just too many good US builders out there, and they outnumber the 'foreign' guys quite a bit.

Still, I have or have had effects from many different countries, and I have no problem sending them my money. We share a global economy, and a very small planet.

Anyway, good luck man, and enjoy your US only assembled effects... in Korea.

+1

I have family in South America, and this point has been brought up many times. Of course then what do you call citizens of the USA? United Statesers? Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. An obvious choice is to call us by the states we live in, so I would be a Virginian. That also poses problems as not everyone around the world knows the names of the various states, and "Georgian" is over-loaded as there is a country near Russia called Georgia.

Nevertheless I agree that "Americans" as a national term represents a subliminal aggrandizement that I don't personally like.

OP, your last post was very informative, I like the way you think. I will Google Silicon smelting later...