- Correct if I'm wrong but isn't uniformity something for the mass market crowd - to keep prices down . As a boutique builder Senor Sushi has a very dedicated fan base and much of that is built on having exactly those kinds of choices of finish available . As much as it may be a pain for manufacturing - I feel like many here would gladly absorb the cost differential to get the " sparkle " finishes of their dreams . Maybe a poll is in order to see how many would be okay with " custom " prices for custom work - the trick is to price it fairly for the effort it takes and that is the hard part I'm sure . ... Kelly
Tl;dr - I'm still figuring things out, I'll keep everyone posted.
So pain of manufacturing would definitely be the biggest reason for making a forced switch to uniformity, but it's more than a time thing, it's really a quality thing as well. I love doing UV prints over raw enclosures because clear powdercoats are hands down the easiest to apply, I can get a good-looking, professional finish in a single coat. Some of the other finishes don't go on as easily and require as many as 4 coats to get consistent coverage over the box, but with certain finishes (violet sparkle in particular) the texture changes as coats are added, so I try my best to get everything looking good in a single coat but I can't always do it, and I'm sure those of you with colored finishes have noticed spots here and there where there isn't enough powder or where it looks like it was bumped off.
I know my current enclosure supplier offers pre-colored enclosures and I know they have a handful of options, but part of why I want uniformity is for logistics. I place orders for circuit board components every month, but heavier things like enclosures that have higher shipping prices I order in bulk and keep on hand so I can order every 3 months or so. If I were to order multiple color enclosures I would run into issues like not having enough black enclosures because I ordered too many whites or vice versa. I would probably also not get as good of a bulk discount if I'm ordering a bunch of different colors instead of a single color.
I know customization is really cool and it's getting less and less common to have customization options in pedals, and I wish I could justify making everything 100% custom, but doing 40 builds a month, continuing to design and develop new pedals (hands down my favorite part of the entire process), working a full-time job, spending time with my family, and still trying to find time to actually play music every now and then, I'm just having trouble finding enough time in the month to do everything I want to.
I'm always working on ways to improve and streamline my process, but I'm still just a guy running between my basement and my garage, throwing stuff together as a hobby. I'm considering hiring someone to help out, and there's a guy locally that's been asking for months if he can come learn more about how to build pedals, so if I can get things set up in the way I want and it makes sense financially I may start talking to him about helping out in the shop. I'm always trying to improve Sushi Box to make it work better both for myself and for my customers, and it will probably be an ongoing process forever, but it's a process I'm continuously thinking about and working on. It's easy to say "this is what's easy for me and most people are okay with it, everyone else will have to settle," but I sincerely want everyone to be happy and will do what I can to make it happen.
This was supposed to be two sentences or so about powdercoating and turned into a five paragraph report on the state of the company, so I've added a Tl;dr at the beginning. Maybe I should actually schedule that live Q&A we talked about forever ago so I can stop posting huge rants like this here
