freestompboxes.org

Here some guts of another Fuzz Face derivate:

http://www.digimart.net/images/140/DS00353314.jpg
http://www.digimart.net/images/140/DS00353314_1.jpg
http://www.digimart.net/images/140/DS00353314_2.jpg
http://www.digimart.net/images/140/DS00353314_3.jpg

A new color on the case combined with a new name = new money for the "King of solder jockeys"

analogguru

As you can see from this picture, the two are quite obviously "related".

One of the things i love about the Fuzz Face circuit is that it is extremely variable, depending on the parts values you choose.

Thanks for the Peppermint pic, AG.

AM wrote on his site that it's just Fuzz Face with high gain germanium transistors. More info here:
http://www.analogman.com/pepper.htm

You gotta give Mike Piera some credit, he makes a nice pedal.

I think it's a shame that there's a rift out there with Mike. I've bought several things from him and he's always done me good. I know a lot of others feel the same way. Please keep that in mind when discussing him and his products, he's a good, fair man. He's not looking to take people's money without delivering the goods.

ok but 200$ for and fx that could the sold for 100$ don't make sense....
and a fuzz face fx cost a lot less then that if you go DIY. here it's more like paying the name of the builder than the product itself

As you can read here in his own words:
http://digital.premierguitar.com/premie ... io=38&fm=2

somebody - like he himself - who is selling copies of another ones designs is only a "solder jockey". I haven´t found any original design by Analogman/mike yet - the "King of Tone" is not more than a Marshall Bluesbreaker - so I think he deserves the title: "King of solder jockeys".

analogguru
(aka "Internet Terrorist" No. 1)

analogguru
(aka "Internet Terrorist" No. 1)

How's that law-suit coming anyway?

I think it's a shame that there's a rift out there with Mike......Please keep that in mind when discussing him and his products, he's a good, fair man. He's not looking to take people's money without delivering the goods.

Well, 'there's a rift out there with Mike' the 'good, fair man' because of a few things he posted/emailed [not joking]:

http://www.phpbbserver.com/freestompbox ... oxes#16189

I'll leave you to decide what kind of person does that.

Meh... the poor guy freaked out and made a fool of himself. He's still a good guy to deal with as far as I'm concerned.

Starman wrote:Meh... the poor guy freaked out and made a fool of himself. He's still a good guy to deal with as far as I'm concerned.

Threatening to jack the KOT's out on ebay for a higher price while stabbing all the people in the back who had waited patiently for a couple of years would suggest otherwise.

In everything I have read him post, publicise on his own website, and state in interviews the man is a prize cock and has an over-inflated value of himself as a keystone of the fx industry. IMHO, like, you know.

<Edit - oops spelling>

Torchy wrote: Threatening to jack the KOT's out on ebay for a higher price while stabbing all the people in the back who had waited patiently for a couple of years would suggest otherwise.

In everything I have read him post, publicise on his own website, and state in interviews the man is a prize c**k and has an over-inflated value of himself as a keystone of the fx industry. IMHO, like, you know.

<Edit - oops spelling>

The bigger jack can be seen in this photo:

http://i23.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/ca/84/2705_3.JPG

Hand painted font (what a joke )? White dot? Must be some super-duper mojo trannys that were just recently found under a rock in China.

FWIW, I like the way the Peppermint Fuzz sounds.

Gila_Crisis wrote:ok but 200$ for and fx that could the sold for 100$ don't make sense....
and a fuzz face fx cost a lot less then that if you go DIY. here it's more like paying the name of the builder than the product itself

no offence meant by this post, so don't get me wrong, but here are my 2 cents:

i don't see what the fuss is about. i personally would not pay that kind of money and prefer to roll my own, but a large number of boutique pedal customers are professionals who need to keep the cash coming in. they couldn't be bothered to waste that precious time learning how to make PCBs, sourcing parts, etc. etc. etc.

another reasonably sized customer segment would be rich GAS afflicted non-professional musicians. the same principle applies here though.

as far as $200 price for $20 in parts is concerned - i really don't get the hate. nobody is being forced to buy stuff, and i think it is simply wrong to generalize and dismiss all of the boo-teekers as leeches. the simple reason for the high pricing is because people, maybe not you or i, are willing to pay that price. and if the people are lined up at the door willing to pay the price, there is no reason why you, i or anybody else should lower it. if Mr. X cannot afford it, it doesn't matter, Mr. Y can. if both can't afford it, that's when the builder should worry. as nice as it would be, this isn't a handout business. we all want to make a buck or two - why lambast other people who are doing the same thing?

what does irritate me immensely is not giving credit to the original idea, if the equipment has been cloned. or claiming a copied circuit to be "innovative". that's what i can't stand about the boutique business, all those panacea claims. to most of us who are technically aware, we know that there are only so many ways to distort a guitar signal. i feel sorry for the folks who hand over good money for a TS9 with a metal film cap swapped in and expecting an overdrive revelation.

a boutique builder should be able to charge what he wants to, as long as he declares what he has cloned, or what the circuit is based on, as the case may be.

i'm not trying to shit on anyone here, but i see room for curbing the hate a bit. i think it's pretty admirable that skreddy and brian from subdecay are on these forums and talk about their designs, it would be nice to see other builders follow suit. for all you know, it might even be better for business.

just my opinion.

P.S. and yes, AM's eBay dealings and threats are lousy!

My take on things is this: As long as builders don't violate copyright, trademark or patent laws, I don't object to them building what they choose and offering them at the price they choose. At the same time, I don't object to technically empowered individuals researching their designs and editorializing on the similarities and differences between the builders current designs and various existingl designs. Lawful entrepreneurship is invigorating, and knowledge is power.

Again, we are talking about business ethics, though business is hardly about ethics...

People taking designs off the web to sell them for lots of money doesn't get me out of my lazy chair... but what does did annoy me enough to start this forum was the that they went about pulling amateur diy web sites and threatening online hobbyist communities just to keep the charm of their business going.

It's not illegal to lie in commercial discourse, it's almost mandatory. But to go and spread blatant misinformation in non-commercial diy communities, what is that?

I can stand them making $500 over a box, no problem, but can they stand us having a critical look at it? Or even just a peep?

Truce!

very true, modman & drmathprog. i think something that is probably worrying the builders and causing a lot of the paranoia is that the freedom of information and the easy access that the internet allows could let an enterprising man, possibly from south east asia (i'm from india myself), realise the simplicity, clone the design and then flood the market with cheaper pedals, effectively killing their USP.

a good example that proves the opposite is stephan moeller's excellent AC30 sim project. he did distribute the schematic freely, but gave out the values only after getting people to close a non-disclosure agreement with him, before selling the circuit to TC electronics. from the samples i've heard, this thing kicks a$$. i'm still looking for the values with no luck

modman wrote: People taking designs off the web to sell them for lots of money doesn't get me out of my lazy chair... but what does did annoy me enough to start this forum was the that they went about pulling amateur diy web sites and threatening online hobbyist communities just to keep the charm of their business going.

I find it hilarious that analogman's tantrum spawned a huge influx non-DIYers to this site. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

I think freestompboxes would have continued to fly under the radar of most boutique pedal buyers if he had just kept his mouth shut. At least he was smart enough not to mention the name of the forum - although I suppose doing so proves his culpability.

flood wrote:...

a good example that proves the opposite is stephan moeller's excellent AC30 sim project. he did distribute the schematic freely, but gave out the values only after getting people to close a non-disclosure agreement with him, before selling the circuit to TC electronics. from the samples i've heard, this thing kicks a$$. i'm still looking for the values with no luck

So _that's_ what happened to that circuit? I don't think it made it to production, did it?

So _that's_ what happened to that circuit? I don't think it made it to production, did it?

What I heard it did.... in mathemtic (DSP) form....

analogguru

AG is right.. TC offers an AC30 sim for the powercore DSP. here is a link:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/TCThirty.asp

also, they have released a stompbox. i wouldn't be surprised if it is the same circuit:

http://www.tcelectronic.com/VPD1.asp

it is rather pricey though, about $279 if i am not mistaken.

there is also the V-stack BHM pedal, but i don't know what it sounds like anymore. that one is pretty much impossible to clone if the companies claim is right - they use a specially manufactured IC (not available commercially, goes without saying) for the V-stack pedals.

i feel ike i am hijacking this thread... back to the analogman fuzz?