Dr. Sci's 6 year anniversary (new article pic on page 4)
Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:48 pm
Right now, end-ish of August 2012, marks the 6th year that Tanya and I have been Dr. Scientist. We actually started Dr. Sci in the summer of 2005 but it took a year to get the designs, finishes, and website ready.
Right around now, end-ish of August 2006, we launched the website (remember the cool original one with all the flash animations?) and sold our first pedal, a Frazz to a gent in Calgary. Within a week or two, somehow, we started getting interest on HCFX and TGP, started getting orders, and by the end of the year we even had a couple stores placing orders.
Tanya and I consider it a really magical time in our lives, doing the business in our one bedroom apartment in downtown Edmonton. It was really exciting and it felt incredible to finally have a career path that was deeply important to me/us. I'd had a lot of jobs over the years, started working at 15 and mainly worked in the oilfield and gas plants, and never really felt like I was spending my life doing what I should. In 2003, at the age of 27, I decided to go school and take a 2 year electronics program, with the plan of maybe learning how to fix or make car/home audio gear. Tanya had been managing the campus restaurant at NAIT, and she did until the summer of 2007 when she quit to make pedals full time.
I'd played guitar for about 10 years at that point, just a hobby... about 2 weeks into the first semester of electronics we started learning about transistors and a teacher sparked my curiosity about simple amplifiers for guitar effects. I figured it would be a fun project to make a guitar pedal so I built Aron Nelson's beginner boost project... and my life hasn't been the same since. I've lived and breathed guitar related electronics ever since.
My dad died on April 1, 2006. I'm an only child, really small and close family, and dad was the biggest supporter of Dr. Scientist. He never got to see us sell a pedal but he always knew we'd make it, he never even questioned my crazy plan of being a guitar pedal maker.
So thank you mom and dad for helping Tanya and I be able to do this and thank you, so much, to everybody here for keeping us going through the years. We appreciate it more than I could ever say and we consider every day a really special treat. I hope to make better and better guitar pedals for the rest of my life and Tanya hopes to make them look cooler and cooler for the rest of hers and we'll love every single moment of it all.
*much gratitude and appreciation, thank you guys!*
Right around now, end-ish of August 2006, we launched the website (remember the cool original one with all the flash animations?) and sold our first pedal, a Frazz to a gent in Calgary. Within a week or two, somehow, we started getting interest on HCFX and TGP, started getting orders, and by the end of the year we even had a couple stores placing orders.
Tanya and I consider it a really magical time in our lives, doing the business in our one bedroom apartment in downtown Edmonton. It was really exciting and it felt incredible to finally have a career path that was deeply important to me/us. I'd had a lot of jobs over the years, started working at 15 and mainly worked in the oilfield and gas plants, and never really felt like I was spending my life doing what I should. In 2003, at the age of 27, I decided to go school and take a 2 year electronics program, with the plan of maybe learning how to fix or make car/home audio gear. Tanya had been managing the campus restaurant at NAIT, and she did until the summer of 2007 when she quit to make pedals full time.
I'd played guitar for about 10 years at that point, just a hobby... about 2 weeks into the first semester of electronics we started learning about transistors and a teacher sparked my curiosity about simple amplifiers for guitar effects. I figured it would be a fun project to make a guitar pedal so I built Aron Nelson's beginner boost project... and my life hasn't been the same since. I've lived and breathed guitar related electronics ever since.
My dad died on April 1, 2006. I'm an only child, really small and close family, and dad was the biggest supporter of Dr. Scientist. He never got to see us sell a pedal but he always knew we'd make it, he never even questioned my crazy plan of being a guitar pedal maker.
So thank you mom and dad for helping Tanya and I be able to do this and thank you, so much, to everybody here for keeping us going through the years. We appreciate it more than I could ever say and we consider every day a really special treat. I hope to make better and better guitar pedals for the rest of my life and Tanya hopes to make them look cooler and cooler for the rest of hers and we'll love every single moment of it all.
*much gratitude and appreciation, thank you guys!*
I've got maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad love for you both. 
)
