The Elements... *teaser pic July 5, page 16*

[Ryan]

Change the name to The Dungeon Master.

I like the way you think Connor! *rolls 20 sided dice* Sorry, I passed my saving throw vs changing the name so The Elements stays.

[Holy Schnikes]

Here we go again with the GAS! This place is killing my bank account.

[Blakemore]

Thanks guys! I'll do a demo vid as soon as there's an appropriate prototype!

Blake, your dibs are duly noted! *smile*

First of all,

The Elements does cover the same ground as the Cleanness, same range of boost, same ability to cut the volume down, you can use it just as an eq with no gain, it covers all those tricks and I think it might mean the end of the Cleanness too as I think I'd rather just make one pedal that covered all the bases rather than have a sort of redundant pedal in the line. Still pondering that one I spose..

The Elements will definitely be in the 125B box, my new favourite size. 6 knobs, 4 toggles, in/out/9vdc/exp is just too much to fit into a 1590B but I can stuff it nicely into the 125B.

If I could offer my opinion, you may want to keep offering The Cleanness. It already has a reputation as a great clean boost, and even if the Elements can do everything exactly the same, there are still going to be people who just want a straight clean boost without all the extra knobs and switches. There are always going to be people (like me sometimes) who want the simple pedals that will do what they need it to do, and some people might find all the extra features on The Elements intimidating, OR you may run into the problem where people don't know that The Elements covers the same ground as the Cleanness, so if you discontinue the Cleanness they may not think you make anything that can do a clean boost anymore, and they may go to a different manufacturer for their clean boost needs. Again, it's obviously your call, but if I were in your shoes, I'd probably keep making the Cleanness even if it is just a bit redundant, since it already has such a good reputation.

Plus, I'll own a Cleanness and The Elements, and I'll use them both on the same board, so obviously they aren't too redundant! Haha.

[Holy Schnikes]

Some very good points made above.

[Lonely Raven]

Here we go again with the GAS! This place is killing my bank account.

Ugh, don't get me started. I just bought a Woofer Wailer because I liked the artwork...I don't think I even want it on my board, I just dig cool pedals!

Some very good points made above.

I concur. There are some great points there.

While I can understand having too many current pedals might run Dr Scientist Sounds a bit thin as a manufacturer, I'm one of those people that would probably get a Cleanness simply because it is what it is.

I mean, if pedals weren't so simple, we'd all be running rack gear now.

[Ryan]

Good points for sure, Blake! I think that's gonna apply to all of our pedals and might be something I make available for everything, a complicated version and a simple version. I guess for me, Dr. Scientist means having a lot of controls... that's what I get excited about, so I want to deck these suckers out and not worry about the simpler versions.

I think it could be worth having a dual-line of pedals, one decked out and one much simpler, but our main goal is to keep on doing this as a two person team and it's easy to get spread too thin with the time and money. We need to make the right amount of pedals in the right way.. we're still figuring it out, it's a long process, but I don't love the idea of having to make a big line, especially just for simple versions of pedals... I don't know, it's a big issue to ponder!

Simple pedals aren't really my goal or long term plan with the business though, that style doesn't really float my goat, you know?

[hazelwould]

I agree! Elements sounds lovely.

[Gunner Recall]

Simple pedals aren't really my goal or long term plan with the business though, that style doesn't really float my goat, you know?

...and that's why I love Dr. Scientist

[Lonely Raven]

Simple pedals aren't really my goal or long term plan with the business though, that style doesn't really float my goat, you know?

Ryan, if you get the pedals up to the level of complexity and tweakiness of the Strymon, but keep your style...you'd take over both the artist and the geek markets IMHO.

Part of what makes me love your pedals so much is that you two shine through them (if that makes any sense)

[Blakemore]

Good points for sure, Blake! I think that's gonna apply to all of our pedals and might be something I make available for everything, a complicated version and a simple version. I guess for me, Dr. Scientist means having a lot of controls... that's what I get excited about, so I want to deck these suckers out and not worry about the simpler versions.

I think it could be worth having a dual-line of pedals, one decked out and one much simpler, but our main goal is to keep on doing this as a two person team and it's easy to get spread too thin with the time and money. We need to make the right amount of pedals in the right way.. we're still figuring it out, it's a long process, but I don't love the idea of having to make a big line, especially just for simple versions of pedals... I don't know, it's a big issue to ponder!

Simple pedals aren't really my goal or long term plan with the business though, that style doesn't really float my goat, you know?

I was just saying that if you drop some of the simpler pedals, you could lose some business from people that don't want complex stuff, but if your heart isn't in it, then you may want to take the hit (I don't know how big of a seller The Cleanness is). Lord knows there will still always be geeks like us who will buy your craziest/most complex pedal ideas.

[Ryan]

It's totally true, Blake, an important consideration for sure!

We've sold about 160 Cleannesses since 2006. Not very many hey! I expect to make more Elements than that by the end of this year.. so I do think the compromise of simple/complex will be ok. It's something we'll play by ear though, see how it goes over the next year kinda thing. I'll definitely make simple pedals available if it seems like they're wanted more but I think people are gonna embrace these new pedals that are quite powerful, quite compact, and quite available. I flippin hope so anyway! *smile*

[Companda]

Hey!

[Ryan]

Little update, I've built two prototype Elements pedals and they're just not quite 100% yet. I dropped the TubeScreamer treble control, that was more than a cheeky idea.. it was a bad one, haha.

Still tuning, tweaking, twiddling, the perfect values for the gain and the treble.. new pcb layout this weekend and 3rd prototype build the week after that!

[sylnau]

Wow... that's exactly what I'm looking for.
I will stop searching and wait for The Elements.

[Ryan]

Merci beau coup, Syl! *sourire*