He should put the entire next batch up for auction. That would be very entertaining!
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3Leaf Audio Club - Episode 2
- Thread starter fivestringgecko
- Start date
A price increase of $120 would bring flipping to a screeching halt.
You are right that such an approach would make 3 Leaf pedals more readily available, but upscaling doesn't seem like something Spencer is interested in: he clearly likes exercising degrees of creative control that he would sacrifice if he were to outsource production. 3 Leaf Audio has been around for over 15 years; if he wanted to run that sort of business model I suspect he would have already pivoted to it. But hey, I could be wrong: he could change his mind at any point. I'm just saying the history of the company doesn't suggest that is likely to happen.All that aside, it’d be pretty amazing if he was somehow able to create a regular (*cough* offshore) production version and do limited color runs on top of it - similar to how Zvex has the Vexter series & custom shop.
OR put out a 3Leaf/Chase Bliss collaboration & watch the world burn
When I look at the collaborations that Chase Bliss has done--Meris, Empress Effects, Goodhertz, Old Blood Noise Endeavors, Drolo FX, Cooper FX, Benson Amps, Keeley Electronics, and even ZVEX Effects--there is no world in which I see a 3 Leaf Audio and Chase Bliss Audio collaboration. Here's my thinking:
- The companies have different visions and different interests. Both companies purse excellence, but they do so in different ways. Chase Bliss is all about pushing the envelope of effects, either by imagining new ones (Mood, GenLoss, Lossy, etc.) or taking traditional effects to places they've never gone in both form (the Automatone series) and function (Habit, Thermae, Reverse Mode C, Dark World, etc.). 3 Leaf Audio finds excellence in refining the same few circuits (filter, fuzz, and suboctave) over and over until they are the best possible versions of themselves (at least in Spencer's judgment--an opinion shared by many users).
- While Chase Bliss pedals work very well on bass guitar (I currently use five of their pedals and I've owned many others in the past), synthesizers, desktop production, electric guitar, and even drums are the principal targets of Chase Bliss's current pedals. 3 Leaf Audio, on the other hand, is firmly rooted in traditional effects for live performance and are designed with the bass guitar in mind (though they work well on instruments like electric guitar as well).
- The direction that Chase Bliss has been moving for the past five years (since the Dark World) is about as removed from 3 Leaf Pedals as it's possible to be: Chase Bliss all about ramping and knob tweaking and MIDI control because all their recent pedals are instruments unto themselves. 3 Leaf pedals are not the sort of thing one tweaks mid-performance to find new sounds.
- Chase Bliss has already done the dirt thing numerous times (Condor, Ayahuasca, Preamp MKII, Brothers, and Bliss Factory). I cannot imagine Joel releasing a suboctave pedal because Chase Bliss Audio's whole thing is wild manipulations and that's one effect where you do not want wild manipulations, just good tone, volume, and tracking. So that leaves a filter as the best candidate for a collaboration. But that doesn't make it a good candidate because, again, how much would it really benefit from the Chase Bliss treatment (MIDI, dip switches, etc.)? Plus Chase Bliss builds filters into many of their existing pedals (Habit, Reverse Mode C, Lossy, etc.). They aren't as powerful as a standalone filter like the Chromatron, of course, but they aren't meant to be either: they're additional ways to manipulate some core effect that better aligns with Chase Bliss's vision.
- Spencer's last partnership--with Darkglass Electronics--ended bitterly. I wouldn't be surprised if that soured him on collaborations or partnerships in general. (I'm just speculating here.)
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Yeah I viewed "price discovery" as him saying he wants to see what people would really be willing to pay for his pedals as opposed to what he's charging now.
That's a small sample size and small chunk of the actual market for 3Leaf, though. Looks like all the auction pedals went for more than $600, not including tax & shipping. So they were $300 more than the $333 standard price on his site.
I don't know about anyone else, but $350 is already at the edge of what I am willing to drop on any single effect - 3Leaf or any other brand. If the prices went up to even $400, I would be out. I'm just one guy, but I have to imagine most people were in the position of either getting one of the standard sale $333 pedals or not getting one at all. To think those ebay sales were indicative of the general market and price threshold is a stretch.
$400 for a pedal NIB is a high limit, and it better knock your socks off. A $333 pedal that scalps for $500 is gouging, and should be deemed unreasonable. I think if these pedals were priced @$450, they would present a real challenge to flippers. I’ve got deep pockets, but I wouldn’t pay $500 for one of these pedals under any circumstance. If someone were to buy one of these pedals @$450 with the intention of flipping it, good luck on that. That gets you $30 after shipping.
I think I've cracked the $300 mark on pedals a handful of times for a few rare, out-of-production pedals. I don't see anything in my current collection that cost me more than $300.
333 is about my limit, plus shipping.
299 was pushing it, if the price increases again I’m probably out. Just glad I got an Octabvre at 229 (iirc), sitting in stock. It is a very nice pedal, but if I were entering the octaver market right now I’d certainly go a different route.
I’d like a Doom 2 but not for anywhere near over 350. My Stomp can get “good enough” for me at this point.
My pockets are deep too but at some point your ROI diminishes significantly.
I can’t imagine people will have the patience for this cycle to continue indefinitely. This month will be my final attempt at a Doom 2. I probably won’t get one, and I'll only consider one in the future if I still happen to be in the market and they’re either in stock or available to pre-order.
Spencer posts haiku
The complainers in shambles!
Price discovery
The complainers in shambles!
Price discovery
This is way over my limit. I might consider a pedal at $500 or more but it must be a rare or hard to find pedal.
I paid $400 for my octabre mk2 and might consider paying up to $650 for a chromatron, but no more than $450 for a doom2
Somehow Im not really interested on protons
I paid $400 for my octabre mk2 and might consider paying up to $650 for a chromatron, but no more than $450 for a doom2
Somehow Im not really interested on protons
Actually the Latest Proton (Version IV) have became my favorite Envelop filter of all time.
I have two of the early black box version on two pedalboards I've built and I was lucky enough to get a third one from the latest batch two months ago and I keep it as a spare.
I'm still waiting for the Octavbre to arrive but I admit that the Doom and Doom II were never favorite of mine.
Maybe I'm more of a Big Muff/Woolly Mammoth/Blue Box guy
I have to agree in a way. Being in Australia, converting to Au currency, adding $50us or so for shipping on top of it, at $333us plus shipping i'm at about $600au dollars. Which is a huge chunk of change for one effect pedal. As a comparison the Origin Effects Bassrigs are around the $699au price point at a store to be picked up straight away. Checking the Ebay auctions they are all over $1000au at the final bid, plus about $92 shipping, putting them around the $1100 mark. That is getting a little nuts for one pedal. I'm quite glad I managed to snap up a Proton when I did, and will try again for one of the drops, but if the price creeps up to high i'll be out of the running i'm afraid as it is just getting a little excessive. At the $333 mark i'm still willing to give them a go, much higher and to try out a pedal it is pushing my limits.
I don't understand unqualified statements of how much is too much for a pedal. Obviously this is a highly personal subject so I'm not here to question whatever that number is for another person--everyone's financial circumstances and priorities are different--but it seems to me that some pedals are worth more than XXX dollars and others are not. Like... a Meris LVX has a lot more going on than a Damnation Audio MBD. What I would be willing to pay for the former is different than what I would be willing to pay for the latter. My upper limit is not an absolute number, but something relative to each pedal and determined by its function(s), the current market for it (which includes rarity and availability), my desire or need for it, and my ability to afford it.
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You hit it right on the head. Ultimately it comes down to what the market will bear. These things are commodities. Niche commodities. Subject to availability, a limited supply with a strong demand that seems to still fall short of its peak, as shown by the recent auction prices. Sustainability is the issue here; how many of these arcane gizmos can still appeal to what must be at some point a shrinking market?
I sold my Mk3, I think I'm in the market for a Mk2 though. I like big white pedals, and that seems to fit the bill. Good thing I have trades available, because there's so many other octaves out there that I enjoy better than the octabvre, and there's simply no way I'd pay these prices.
There is a small % of mental angle that contributes to what I choose these days. I used to praise the mk3, "all I needed" Id say. I now understand this, these high prices directly affected that angle. I used to hope the Chromatron would come back, so everyone would get to try this wonderful filter. Now I'm not so sure, it's the one 3leaf untouched/untainted,
YRMV
There is a small % of mental angle that contributes to what I choose these days. I used to praise the mk3, "all I needed" Id say. I now understand this, these high prices directly affected that angle. I used to hope the Chromatron would come back, so everyone would get to try this wonderful filter. Now I'm not so sure, it's the one 3leaf untouched/untainted,
YRMV
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Yeah I’m with you on that…
Apart from a multifx / any pedal that is over 350 aud is pushing it to me… not to disrespect the small boutique builders - but when you have stuff like the clone companies or tc electronics / behringer going super cheap… even a boss at brand new 250odd aud… a 400 dollar distortion pedal and up would have to be the absolute bees knees.
I guess sucky that aud and postage isn’t what it used to be… I had an original doom that I got for only slightly above the brand new US price… back when it was in stock and never seemed like it would be a rare thing hah! Do and don’t regret selling it as it never quite fit the band mix. But always wanted a doom 2 on the bucket list..
I'm sans 3Leaf pedals for the first time since 2020 and I like my board just fine. There are other pedals.
I've been gigging my original Octabvre mini for years now; but to me it doesn't do much more than my vintage OC-2 running at 12 volts. I can say that the build quality of my Octabvre is second to none and I've never experienced issues with it while touring, flying, throwing it in the back of a van etc.. but yeah there are other pedals and these sounds can be achieved
I have every version of the octavers there is no clear winner to me but if I had to keep one it will always be the mkii
