# Found a new pedal builder in Toronto



## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Hey all,

I was browsing around and landed on this site for a new builder (seemingly, I'm actually not sure how long he's been around) here in the Toronto area.

Here's the site: http://rousetech.weebly.com/index.html

I've been itching for a good germanium fuzz, and I love supporting local guys, so I'm having him build me one.

He's been very accommodating, asking me if I had any special requests. I told him I like top mounted jacks, an LED indicator, and if possible power jack instead of battery. He was happy to do all that, and (for some extra cost) will use NPN transistors so I can have my power jack. Admittedly, I didn't know what those were until he explained it to me.

He also has some pics of a cool looking etched exterior on his site, and he said he'd be happy to do something like that with my pedal. 

So far, from a customer service standpoint, I'm completely impressed! 

The video demos he has up sound good, so I'm very excited to play the new fuzz!

I'll be sure to post back once I have the pedal.

:food-smiley-004: to Canadian builders!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Hey, I know Jeremy! He's a long-timer from the DIY Stompbox forum. Decent guy.


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Great! Good to see he's stepping up his own pedal business. There are so many great builders across Canada, but for some reason we seem to have very few right here in Toronto.

Cheers!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I think one of the reasons TO may have fewer than you think is because it is also far more likely to have a VERY big presence from all those boutique builders world-wide. When I walk into a place like Moog Music in Montreal, my first thought is how stupid and risky it would be to start up a pedal business given all that competition.

If I'm not mistaken, Jeremy frequently works in touring pit bands with musical productions, so this is a secondary revenue stream for him, not his main income.


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

mhammer said:


> I think one of the reasons TO may have fewer than you think is because it is also far more likely to have a VERY big presence from all those boutique builders world-wide. When I walk into a place like Moog Music in Montreal, my first thought is how stupid and risky it would be to start up a pedal business given all that competition.


Hmm, interesting!

I had always supposed (I have no real experience here) that builders would mainly be trying to reach a larger market via the internet. I never really considered how reliant a builder might be on immediately local customers.

Rethinking it though, it would make sense that at the beginning a builder might rely more heavily on locals to generate revenue, before really cracking the larger market.

Do you have any idea if some of the big Canadian players (Diamond, Empress, Dr. Scientist, etc.) sold mostly locally before hitting it big internationally? Do you have any idea if a significant portion of their current revenue comes from local sales?


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

The stomp box market is literally jammed with makers. It's a tough business to get into and sustain. I think where a lot of private builders make money is on big boards like tgp etc where if they get positive feedback from the members they will get orders


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I'm buddies with both Steve Bragg at Empress, and Tim Larwill of Retrosonic. Tim did start out moving some product through a few local stores that catered to more selective customers, but I think he ended up getting some international contracts through trade shows. One of the more humorous was a Japanese buyer who offered to buy a moderately-sized order of phasers from Tim if he'd call/legend them as the "Shattered" phaser, apparently in hommage to the Stones tune of the same name. I've never really discussed "corporate history" with Steve, but I do know that Empress was vaulted to notoriety as a result of some gushing reviews of their Tremolo pedal, some in foreign magazines.

Some makers really pound the pavement. Zachary Vex can tell you stories about living out of his car and driving from store to store, and state to state, leaving a few units here and there. It took him a number of years to get a foothold.

The ones that hang in there generally have something unique to offer. In Steve's case, their Tremolo, and soon after their Superdelay, offered some unique features or at least in unique configurations that players couldn't get elsewhwere. In the case of Retrosonic, it was a matter of delivering a product that was no longer available (the Boss CE-1) in an affordable, improved, and more compact format. I went with Tim to a soundcheck for Sheryl Crow where he was hoping to convert Crow's guitarist, Peter Stroud, to the Retrosonic chorus. That's another route. Get people with some degree of visibility to use your product. Guys walk over to check out the gear at shows, and are often impressedenough to seek out obscure or new products they see there.


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## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Thanks for the detailed reply mhammer, that was a very interesting read! 

I'm tempted to pose more questions just to try and squeeze more stories out of you!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Yes, report back when your pedal arrives CC.
He has some cool finishes, I like the Arbiter with the swirl paint. 8)

Another cool read, thanks mr hammer.
Please sir, may we have some more? 

We need the popcorn eating emoticon.


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