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Iron Ether Appreciation Society
- Thread starter Jared Lash
- Start date
I find the pedals sound even better than they look . Whatever gets them in the hands of musicians .
Taylor Livingston
Commercial User
I appreciate that, and I like doing them too. It's just that the number of people on the notification lists just keeps ballooning, and at this rate there are a lot of people that just aren't ever going to have the opportunity to buy them (new). The pedals sell out very quickly, which makes folks who didn't catch them annoyed, and a lot of them probably write me off completely as a maker. People are starting to buy them just to flip them for higher than new price. I see comments when IE pedals are mentioned, like "good luck finding one." So I just want to make them more steadily available so these kinds of things are less of an issue.
What I'm planning is basically what you see in the pics below - in the past I've done runs with powder-coated enclosures, still engraved by me in-house. It won't be a permanent change - just a few batches to get things more available. So, for those who like my painting style, there will still be more of those in the future.
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,348
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
I think it's a good idea. The danger is to become the kind of 'club' that Broughton kind of feeds by producing very small limited effects that you have to shark at 4am on Friday morning to even be in contention with, but then most people just use for bragging rights or flipping for high value.
By nature hand built small production pedals will always have some level of rarity and collectability, but it doesn't need to have an ecosystem that's more akin to Pokemon or Magic cards when we're talking about players actually getting their hands on and using the pedals. If it frees up time for your production schedule to have more pedals in stock and/or has the opportunity to give you the freedom for development of new & interesting effects in larger production or even smaller runs, I can't see where your downside is.
I've been struck on the road with my board how many production/engineers or other players will look at my board and either not have heard or seen your (or my other pedals) and comment about how they've never seen the stuff and "look at all the boutique stuff you have". That's a little sad, given the quality and tone of them.
I always thought you did a good job of balancing unique and slightly esoteric without a sense of real rarity, but it seems like that's harder to do and the wait times get longer, etc.
i think they all look pretty dam good! i like the solid colors (& they do have texture which is pretty sweet)
I like @teopatl 's idea of being able to order solid colors (which ship right away) or custom paint jobs which would take a while (& prolly have a surcharge for it?).
Taylor - this is a sign that your pedals are great and more and more folks want them!
Taylor Livingston
Commercial User
My plan is just to do the next few batches in the above style to help get caught up with demand. So in theory after that, future batches will be hand-painted. I might alternate, not sure. People who've been following IE for longer will remember that I used to do every batch in a different paint style, so this isn't any big shakeup or anything.
I know from feedback I receive that a lot of people don't really care what the pedals look like - they just want it to be in stock when they are looking to buy one, and I can't really ever get to that point without outsourcing some things. Some people don't even like my idiosyncratic paint style and have been asking for more conventional-looking finishes.
I had planned to expand to a bigger shop and hire some help this year (like I used to do in the earlier years before going back to doing everything myself), but COVID made that impossible. I also have numerous other pedal designs (and synth modules and even whole instruments) that I would like to finish up and release, but just don't have time to work on due to being so involved in every step of the build process.
Thanks for your continued presence in these forums, Taylor. I'm waiting patiently of the next batch on Xerographs. It's been about 4 years since I sold my last one 
While I really enjoy the paint schemes, if there are more pedals, instruments and other projects on the back burner I'd MUCH rather that those are able to be progressed.
Most pedal makers do the special paint as a limited edition or something, we've just been fortunate that Taylor has put so much effort into them on a regular basis.
Though I might regret not going for a pink sparkle Franta when I had the chance.
Most pedal makers do the special paint as a limited edition or something, we've just been fortunate that Taylor has put so much effort into them on a regular basis.
Though I might regret not going for a pink sparkle Franta when I had the chance.
Chiming in, definitely a fan of the custom paint jobs, especially the dubterranera. But at this point I'll just take anything so I can finally get my hands on some IE pedals, namely the dubt and xero d, looking forward to seeing those in the shop soon!
One more good reason to wash my hands!
I love the solid color finishes every bit as much as the distressed ones and the recent
stacked color ones. It’s all good.
Hey I’ve got a SubT, old one with the first knob type. It works fine but the finish is pretty jacked and I’ve been thinking about stripping the finish to bare metal. Any/best way to do that without messing it up?
I need to get a bigger board but this is where I’m at right now.
(The SubT pictured here is not the one I’m thinking about refinishing).
We at the tippy-top of that job, almost done hope there’s more.
Taylor Livingston
Commercial User
I haven't ever done it, but I guess there's stuff like CitriStrip. The first Subterraneas were still in the etched era, when I used different paint. That stuff might be harder to remove. You can tell if it's this type because the lettering is not as deep and 3d as the engraved ones. If it's engraved, the finish is the more eco-friendly kind I switched to later, which should be easier to remove. Might even be possible with isopropyl.
Thank you Taylor. Yes somewhere in here Goo-Gone is mentioned, rubbing alcohol is too and yeah it was in reference to a newer pedal if I recall correctly. I don’t mind applying some elbow grease, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just kinda monochromatic like like my Frantabit. I’ll make the lettering black again as well.
I friend here was asking about my Divaricator. I told him I’d put it thru it’s paces, it’s been awhile.
It’s Gnarly! I put the Oxide in the “hi” loop. It killed. I’m hurt for money but I’m gonna hold on to the IE stuff that I’d sought out and am fortunate to have acquired.
The one exception is the QF2 that been around here. That was an impulse buy, had $250 sitting In PayPal. It’s super clean and fully functional (I adjusted the knobs so none of them catch the pedals face and they all turn nicely now.
I spent quality time with the pedal just once and was starting to catch on. Just starting really
I dig Into that too
Please be safe
I friend here was asking about my Divaricator. I told him I’d put it thru it’s paces, it’s been awhile.
It’s Gnarly! I put the Oxide in the “hi” loop. It killed. I’m hurt for money but I’m gonna hold on to the IE stuff that I’d sought out and am fortunate to have acquired.
The one exception is the QF2 that been around here. That was an impulse buy, had $250 sitting In PayPal. It’s super clean and fully functional (I adjusted the knobs so none of them catch the pedals face and they all turn nicely now.
I spent quality time with the pedal just once and was starting to catch on. Just starting really
I dig Into that too
Please be safe
I've put both the Oxide and the QF2 behind the Divaricator and both work well, and its needed as both those pedals seem to have some low end bass cut going on. QF2 with an expression pedal is really cool - i wish the Oxide had a expression input for the "Morph" knob - the oxide is pretty insane and can really have some crazy synth-like sounds at extreme settings.
Iron Ether » Shop FMeron available
Please forgive me, but I hope I still get the cool paintjob as in the picture! - Rainer
Please forgive me, but I hope I still get the cool paintjob as in the picture! - Rainer
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Thank you Taylor. Yes somewhere in here Goo-Gone is mentioned, rubbing alcohol is too and yeah it was in reference to a newer pedal if I recall correctly. I don’t mind applying some elbow grease, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just kinda monochromatic like like my Frantabit. I’ll make the lettering black again as well.
I friend here was asking about my Divaricator. I told him I’d put it thru it’s paces, it’s been awhile.
It’s Gnarly! I put the Oxide in the “hi” loop. It killed. I’m hiring for money but I’m gonna hold on to the IE stuff that I’d sought out and am fortunate to have acquired.
Thanks again BSkys, just read you post. Great information. I picked up a QF2 myself recently
I friend here was asking about my Divaricator. I told him I’d put it thru it’s paces, it’s been awhile.
It’s Gnarly! I put the Oxide in the “hi” loop. It killed. I’m hiring for money but I’m gonna hold on to the IE stuff that I’d sought out and am fortunate to have acquired.
Thanks again BSkys, just read you post. Great information. I picked up a QF2 myself recently
Taylor Livingston
Commercial User
Just for anyone wondering, the picture in the shop page listing (where you can click "add to cart") will always be representative of the actual pedal you're buying. I update the photos there for the batch that's in stock, so no need to wonder if what you'll receive will look like what's pictured.
Totally awesome and 100% correct business practice! Happiness here and I can’t waitJust for anyone wondering, the picture in the shop page listing (where you can click "add to cart") will always be representative of the actual pedal you're buying. I update the photos there for the batch that's in stock, so no need to wonder if what you'll receive will look like what's pictured.
