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Post by newey on Aug 5, 2023 20:41:13 GMT -5
( N.B.- This is not meant as an endorsement of any products, just reportage of the event. I don't own any of these products and, until today, had not played with any of them.) In nearby Akron, Ohio we have a manufacturer of effects pedals called Earthquaker Devices. The company started out as a couple of guys making pedals in a garage, now they've expanded considerably. Every August they have "Earthquaker Day" with food trucks, bands, tours of the factory, and a large bourse with many different boutique pedal makers represented. So, your intrepid Newey spent a pleasant afternoon playing around with various pedals and seeing how they are made at Earthquaker Devices. PRS had a factory display. There was quite a crowd- to hit the merch shop for discounted pedals and T-shirts, you had to scan a QR code; when I did so, it told me I was number 87 in line to enter the shop. So I blew off the shopping and saved my wallet. But here's a few pictures for the flavor of the event.  When you're the only pedal guys in Akron, you get your own street . . .  I liked this Jazzmaster!  On the factory tour.    This is a "Pick and Place" machine. It uses vacuum power to populate PCBs with the various components prior to soldering. You can see the reels of various components at the bottom  Product demos went on as well.   |
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Post by sumgai on Aug 5, 2023 21:00:37 GMT -5
Very impressive, newey, kudos for the photos. Too bad they had to admit buyers to the toy-house in a 'take-a-ticket' manner, but like you said, they're close by. Should you suddenly feel the need, of course.  sumgai |
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Post by newey on Aug 6, 2023 5:32:49 GMT -5
And, they also have a website, and they're sold at the local music store where I take lessons. The draw to the store yesterday was deep discounts on discontinued stuff and overstocks. Guy in line in front of me while waiting for the tour had bought three pedals (he got in early, apparently) and figured he had saved a couple hundred bucks. They apparently had a "buy one, get a second pedal for $100" deal as well. The event went into the evening, with performances by local artists, but I had to meet my wife for dinner after she got off work and so I didn't stay all day. I thought it was also neat that the event wasn't just all about their company; they had a whole bunch of other boutique pedal manufacturers with booths in the bourse. Some of those were apparently Earthquaker's own employees, as some of their workers make their own pedals in their garages when not working. There was also a charitable end, there were booths for a bunch of the local social-service orgs who were running raffles, etc. for charitable causes. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect yesterday either. Sunny, temps in the 70's (for a change!). |
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Post by unreg on Aug 6, 2023 23:49:06 GMT -5
Thank you for taking photos! Happy you had fun!  That “Pick and Place” machine is quite an interesting way to make a pedal by hand. “EarthQuaker Devices consistently cranks out top-notch effects pedals the hard way: by hand, one at a time, with an eye for detail, and with golden ears for listening to the classic sounds of future-past.” that’s a quote from: www.sweetwater.com/store/manufacturer/EarthQuaker_DevicesI noticed them a while ago and was intrigued at a pedal made “by hand”; I’ve always imagined that was kind of like the same thing I did with the StewMac GhostDrive pedal. But, their hands look like machines now. |
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Post by newey on Aug 7, 2023 5:37:51 GMT -5
The automation has come in the past few years or so, they started out being all hand wired. There is still a good deal of hand work involved.
The whole "hand wired" thing is just marketing anyway. A piece of woodworking might be better if shaped and sanded by hand, but with electronics? A PCB board made in a flow soldering machine is likely to be of better quality that one soldered by hand- and every one is probably good once the machine is set up properly, there won't be variation dependent upon the guy's beer intake the previous evening.
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Post by sumgai on Aug 7, 2023 10:33:24 GMT -5
Ya know.... I use a CNC machine almost every day, cranking out quilts of all sizes. Now I could do that quilting by hand, but I'd like to finish just one, before I die. IOW, hand quilting is very time consuming, and fraught with potential errors. The QA process is almost as long as the actual stitching, because invariably you find small errors... but not so small that someone else (like perhaps the quilt's owner) won't find them!  So instead I use a machine. A big one. A big computerized machine. And now I need only mount the parts and pieces, program the machine with a selected design, and let 'er rip. By hand? Indirectly, that's true, because I make all of the decisions, the machine (computer) only carries them out - no 'AI' involved anywhere along the line. As newey said, flawlessly, and repeatably if so desired. My QA time is shortened to minutes instead of hours, and usually turns up nothing to worry about. Yes there are occasional errors, but they're glaring, and with one or two exceptions, they're easy to fix. So, am I a "hand quilter"? No, but nonetheless I am a quilter who just happens to use an 'automated needle', which I prefer to think of it as my hand being on steroids, that's all OTOH, I suppose one could think that I'm now using my brains instead of my hands, but that would imply I'm working smarter, not harder. For Earthquaker, one probably should bet on the 'work smarter' aspect of their operations. HTH sumgai |
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Post by newey on Aug 7, 2023 11:29:08 GMT -5
They have had to automate as the demand for their pedals quickly outstripped their ability to hand-solder eveything. One thing I never considered is, since they have retailers world-wide, there is a good deal of logistics involved when they announce a new design or product. A US distributor will only need the new stuff shpped a couple of days in advance of the launch date, but a seller in Asia might need shipping a month or more in advance to be sure they have sufficient units to sell once the announcement is made. So, for new models, production ships overseas well before the US shops get it, they have to work out all the logistics to be sure everyone worldwide has the product before they announce the launch.
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Post by sumgai on Aug 7, 2023 17:09:06 GMT -5
^^^ Or they'll do a timed release, just like Hollywood does with moves and recordings. That way they get a better sense of how much needs to go where and when. Logistics is often the killer of innovation - just ask gumbo.  sumgai |
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Post by unreg on Aug 9, 2023 15:02:12 GMT -5
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Post by newey on Aug 9, 2023 17:36:08 GMT -5
I should ask you about your innovation suffering due to logistics. Can't speak for gumbo, but logistics are tough when you live where everything is upside down.  |
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Post by unreg on Aug 11, 2023 11:29:51 GMT -5
Can't speak for gumbo, but logistics are tough when you live where everything is upside down. Wearing shoes during your next opportunity to play guitar, outside, shirtless in the snow might help you with logistics. Your feet are important. |
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Post by sumgai on Aug 11, 2023 12:06:39 GMT -5
Can't speak for gumbo , but logistics are tough when you live where everything is upside down. Wearing shoes during your next opportunity to play guitar, outside, shirtless in the snow might help you with logistics. Your feet are important. His feet are covered by what looks like snow - how do you know that he wasn't wearing some kind of foot gear? I need not say any more. sumgai |
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Post by unreg on Aug 11, 2023 16:29:25 GMT -5
His feet are covered by what looks like snow - how do you know that he wasn't wearing some kind of foot gear? I need not say any more. sumgai , did you not read this thread: Well, I wouldn't say it was extremely cold, probably around 20°F if I recall. But the bare feet got cold well before the fingers did! ? guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/10122/read-op-amps It was stickied here in the coffee shop for a while.  (Read newey’s post at the end.) He said his bare feet got cold well before his fingers did. That’s why I feel he wasn’t wearing some kind of foot gear. |
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Post by sumgai on Aug 11, 2023 19:00:07 GMT -5
sumgai, did you not read this thread: Nope, sorry, I definitely missed that one. I just checked, and sure enough, I participated at the beginning, then fell off the back end. Hope I didn't hurt my head....  Damn I hate getting old. I wonder how many other statements I've made, and didn't follow-up on. Or even worse, how many promises have I made, and then completely forgotten to deliver on...... sumgai |
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Post by newey on Aug 12, 2023 8:11:35 GMT -5
Yes, the feet were indeed bare at the time. But IIRC I worked my way through all of "Pipeline" before I started losing feeling . . .
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