Life as a pedal builder (was : ElectroniX pedals is NO MORE!)

[musicelectronix]

One guy e-mailed me the other day. He was all angry and offended that why I wouldn’t sell him a GeminiDrive. That was the last straw.

I have been building pedals commercially a little less than 4 years now. I can’t say I enjoyed every single day of it, but it really was a wonderful overall experience to say the least. The main motivation for me is that I LOVE MUSIC, no strings attached. I love playing bass, I love playing guitar, I love recording stuff, I love composing and I love the fact that my pedals have been making a difference for fellow musicians; most of whom I never met or talked. All of my ex-partners and college buddies are currently earning more twice as much as me, but I chose to stay in touch with music. I did what I can live with and what I want. I manage to turn my college hobby to a successful business. I am proud of it.

That being said, today I suspended all operations. Basically, ElectroniX is NO MORE for the time being. Of course I will fill all the pending orders, ship every pedal and keep all the promises I made. Am I thinking of quitting for good? I don’t know yet, there is a lot to consider. It is not something I can move on easily, so most likely I will be back after taking some time off and making some adjustments.

So why? Here you go:

When I first started building pedals commercially, everything was much cheaper and I had the false belief that my labor was free. With the economy going downhill, most costs increased drastically. I kept the prices the same, even though most of the industry raised the prices. It wasn’t much of a problem; I am not a greedy person. But recently I did some economical analyses. My one hour worth is around $9.00 and I am not counting the time that I answer e-mails nor do the listings! That is barely more than a McDonald’s employee. My wife, who has roughly the same level of education, earns $22.00 an hour and she started her first job last year. So this is her starting salary and what could mine would be now if I took a similar job 3 years ago, which I easily could. On top of that, she comes home at 6 pm the latest. If I do not work at least 3 nights a week, I fall behind orders. I don’t remember the last time I took a weekend off. One can say, this is my choice and I should be able to live with it. I somewhat agree, but…

Again very recently, I contacted some of the major pedal companies and talked them about dealership stuff. Behold! I work about 4-5 hours for Submarine, everything is included. I paint, label, solder, etc. On top of that, I designed the damn pedal. Let’s leave the labor out of the equation. I find out the cost of the components to build a Submarine is roughly the same as buying a XXXXXX pedal (which retails around Submarine) from the wholesaler! That means: I can just pick up something from the shelf, pack it, drop off at the post office AND still earn as much as I do from building a Submarine. No messy works, no central nervous system problems associated with spray painting, no lead poisoning, no effort. NOW that is something I can’t live with.

Now, what I want to do? I honestly don’t know, but I know what I don’t want to do. I can’t keep going on like this; I am spending myself and those close to me. I lost my motivation about a month ago; people are expecting communication or their pedals. So I close the store (temporary for the time being) and will only deal orders with open lines. Then I will decide what to do next.

[icarussmicarus]

Sad news. But your personal life comes before ranty impatient wankers.

Have you thought about licensing your designs to a bigger manafacturer? So you can atleast make a small profit of your hard work?

[rcubed]

See my response in the other thread.

[DanGouge]

Originally Posted by icarussmicarus

Sad news. But your personal life comes before ranty impatient wankers.

Have you thought about licensing your designs to a bigger manafacturer? So you can atleast make a small profit of your hard work?

Or even seeing if one of them would hire you on in some capacity?

[bongomania]

I'm sorry to hear it Os... but not surprised. I have run a few small operations on a similar scale myself, and the same issues you describe were as much of a problem for me. I also started down a path of pedal building a few years ago too, but then I saw how hard it was for the builders out at the time to make ends meet, and having a long business background I saw how they were pretending their labor didn't cost anything. So I decided to go to school for an EE, with the idea that by the time I got through I would have developed a solid professional business plan. That's still at least three years away for me. Anyway just wanted to say "I can relate", and empathize with your situation.

[nad]

This rant makes me want a FaceDrive even more.

[Wasted Bassist]

This is kinda disheartening to hear. I agree that you should do something to keep your designs alive (I've been on the fence on buying one for a while...). It'd be a shame to see these designs waste away.

[musicelectronix]

If it comes to abandoning ElectroniX (35% likely); I would most likely keep the website live and share the schematics, PCB designs, templates there free of charge.

[jmeid]

I feel proud to have a Submarine after reading this

[irvinz]

Originally Posted by musicelectronix

If it comes to abandoning ElectroniX (35% likely); I would most likely keep the website live and share the schematics, PCB designs, templates there free of charge.

even the tmk?

[B.C.]

Originally Posted by musicelectronix

One guy e-mailed me the other day. He was all angry and offended that why I wouldn’t sell him a GeminiDrive. That was the last straw.

I have been building pedals commercially a little less than 4 years now. I can’t say I enjoyed every single day of it, but it really was a wonderful overall experience to say the least. The main motivation for me is that I LOVE MUSIC, no strings attached. I love playing bass, I love playing guitar, I love recording stuff, I love composing and I love the fact that my pedals have been making a difference for fellow musicians; most of whom I never met or talked. All of my ex-partners and college buddies are currently earning more twice as much as me, but I chose to stay in touch with music. I did what I can live with and what I want. I manage to turn my college hobby to a successful business. I am proud of it.

That being said, today I suspended all operations. Basically, ElectroniX is NO MORE for the time being. Of course I will fill all the pending orders, ship every pedal and keep all the promises I made. Am I thinking of quitting for good? I don’t know yet, there is a lot to consider. It is not something I can move on easily, so most likely I will be back after taking some time off and making some adjustments.

So why? Here you go:

When I first started building pedals commercially, everything was much cheaper and I had the false belief that my labor was free. With the economy going downhill, most costs increased drastically. I kept the prices the same, even though most of the industry raised the prices. It wasn’t much of a problem; I am not a greedy person. But recently I did some economical analyses. My one hour worth is around $9.00 and I am not counting the time that I answer e-mails nor do the listings! That is barely more than a McDonald’s employee. My wife, who has roughly the same level of education, earns $22.00 an hour and she started her first job last year. So this is her starting salary and what could mine would be now if I took a similar job 3 years ago, which I easily could. On top of that, she comes home at 6 pm the latest. If I do not work at least 3 nights a week, I fall behind orders. I don’t remember the last time I took a weekend off. One can say, this is my choice and I should be able to live with it. I somewhat agree, but…

Again very recently, I contacted some of the major pedal companies and talked them about dealership stuff. Behold! I work about 4-5 hours for Submarine, everything is included. I paint, label, solder, etc. On top of that, I designed the damn pedal. Let’s leave the labor out of the equation. I find out the cost of the components to build a Submarine is roughly the same as buying a XXXXXX pedal (which retails around Submarine) from the wholesaler! That means: I can just pick up something from the shelf, pack it, drop off at the post office AND still earn as much as I do from building a Submarine. No messy works, no central nervous system problems associated with spray painting, no lead poisoning, no effort. NOW that is something I can’t live with.

Now, what I want to do? I honestly don’t know, but I know what I don’t want to do. I can’t keep going on like this; I am spending myself and those close to me. I lost my motivation about a month ago; people are expecting communication or their pedals. So I close the store (temporary for the time being) and will only deal orders with open lines. Then I will decide what to do next.

My friend, I know the feeling. I really hope everything works out for you. Its not easy and I understand that. Thanks for your hard work, you provided a fantastic template for me. Keep me informed on your progress and what you are doing in the future, because I love your work

[jufros]

Wow this makes me really sad but I completely respect everything that you had to say. You made a great product and all 3 guitarists/bassists use your products in my band due to their outstanding quality, value, and unique sound. I feel really really lucky to have the Gemini and the MessDrive and wish I had been more adamant about picking up the FaceDrive.

[warwick.hoy]

This is a bummer Os, I was probably going to be contacting you about your next run of Gemini Drives. Your life is your life and you deserve better than fast food wages.

I don't want to blow a bunch of smoke up your ***, but I truly love my Submarine and am very proud to be the owner of one.

All the best O.K..

EDIT:

Originally Posted by irvinz

put ur prices up os. ur pedals are worth more!

irvinz wrote this in the other thread. I agree with him. How much of a price hike would it take to recoup costs and make a better than fast food wage, maybe take a weekend off. Consider how much you pedals will be sought after (meaning what people will pay) when they are discontinued and elusive. Think of who won't see a dime from that. As mentioned in the other thread; outsource your labor,...we too have companies that will do that around here,

Originally Posted by irvinz

put ur prices up os. ur pedals are worth more!

[Spacelordmother]

I am truly sorry to hear this.

[phatbass]

All I can say is I love my Messdrive and I hope you can find a way to keep doing pedals AND have a relatively sane existence at the same time.

[shinobi]

the fact that you get hate from these wankers is testament to your mad pedal building skills

[bassman251]

I have been building/modifying pedals for around three 1/2 years now. I decided early on not to do it on too wide a scale because once I do then I would have to commit to all the orders.

I need something flexible time wise. It was mostly for fun and to make a little cash on the side. So now, I just build/modify a few, then just put it on sale.

But I have learned from doing retail for a few years is you will never make every customer happy. There will always be a few that will complain no matter what. Try not to let it get to you too much.

It is hard for a smaller pedal builder at times to compete with the larger companies as they often buy parts in bulk at a discount. Then buy cheaper parts too, but then often cheaper parts might mean cheaper sound too so it might be a compromise in that regard.

But I did get my Gemini-drive so if you discontinue it, maybe increase in value?...lol

Good luck!

[Bootzilla]

I completely understand that you stop doing this, I've always wondered how you could sell pedals of that quallity for that cheap. I hope you keep building a few as a hobby (maybe selling them only on TB for a higher price). That would at least keep the hope of ever owning one of your great pedals alive .

Good luck

[cybersnyder]

I was just going to buy a v3 Submarine to keep as a backup, just in case... Too late.

Os, hope it all works out for you. Kicking myself for selling my Gemini this past weekend. Doh! Oh well, it's a great pedal, but I don't do much in the way of dirt. So even though it's a potential collector's item, I'm much more happy that it's in the hands of someone using it rather than not being used by me. It would be like hanging the Mona Lisa in my bathroom.

Now I'm going to completely baby my Submarine!

Os, I hope everything works out for you. You're a genius in pedal design. I wondered how you could be so competitive. I've felt your pedals should cost ~ $50 more each based on quality. If you do shut down, (I hope not) and the schematics are posted, I'm going to have to learn how to solder. I'm a little selfish sad, but I hope more than anything you walk away from this happy or stick with it after a break and are happy.

[kirkm24]

Hearing stories like this further supports the rationale for the bigger companies off shoring their production. Consumers aren't generally willing to pay more so it's almost a necessity to offshore production.
I don't like it but it's certainly understandable.