# Ottawa Citizen article on local pedal manufacturers



## Option1 (May 26, 2012)

Good article on local pedal manufacturers: http://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/music/pedalling-as-fast-as-they-can-with-video

Admittedly, like many newspaper articles it tends to be aimed at the lowest common denominator. However, I have to confess that I did not know that Empress Effects were local.

Neil


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I was just about to post that link!

Yep, both Empress and Retro-Sonic are in Stittsville. Dave Arguin lives in Westboro, and I think Guillaume Fairfield is based in Gatineau, though I might be wrong about that. Steve Bragg and Tim Larwill have both been over to the house a few times, and Dave and I have shared a display table several times at the gear shows that crop up in Ottawa once or twice a year.

There's a surprisingly booming pedal industry here in the capitol!


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I was actually going to mention that they forgot to put you in Mark.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

As much as I appreciate that, I don't actually have a business. I know all the guys mentioned, have provided advice and reading materials to them in past, and sold a bunch of pedals to folks here, but that's as far as it goes. If it was an article about pedals, per se, maybe. But it was about pedal _businesses, _not cost-recovery hobbies, so that rules me out.

Maybe one day.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

mhammer said:


> As much as I appreciate that, I don't actually have a business. I know all the guys mentioned, have provided advice and reading materials to them in past, and sold a bunch of pedals to folks here, but that's as far as it goes. If it was an article about pedals, per se, maybe. But it was about pedal _businesses, _not cost-recovery hobbies, so that rules me out.
> 
> Maybe one day.


Might be a nice retirement vehicle. Your reputation seems pretty solid and guitarists will pay $$$ for the tiniest incremental improvement in tone.

Sadly, what often happens is that we take something we love, add business concerns, and it becomes another task we have to complete.

Finding ways to prevent filthy lucre from tainting a labour of love is the challenge.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Pedal-making is the sort of business that takes very little investment to get into, and so attracts probably more people to it than ought to be in it. I regularly find myself reminding kids that "You won't get rich making fuzzboxes. You _might_ make a living if you're a good businessperson who just _happens _to make fuzzboxes."

I *know* I'm not a good business person. I don't look at my pay stubs, don't keep receipts for things, don't have any investments, don't really earn interest or collect "points" of any kind, and find money to be one of the singularly most boring things on earth. My dad went bankrupt, even though he was probably owed more by customers than he was in debt for. So, I come by my bait-shyness of business honestly.

But I have nothing but good wishes for folks who do embark on that path. Steve, Tim and Guillaume turn out a solid product, that deserves all the respect and reputation it garners. Dave and Cal aim a little lower, but they enjoy it, and as far as I know it isn't hurting them. Happy to be a booster for all of them.

RG Keen and I had plans to write a sort of "distortion bible" some years back, covering everything you'd want to know about the topic, history, psychoacoustic and evolutionary aspects, variants, design, role, controls, etc., and had worked out a bit of a chapter sequence and introduction, but it fizzled. There's still a market/niche for such a book though, sincer no one seems to have filled it yet. Perhaps one day I'll take a trip down to Austin, and we'll woodshed it for a month.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

mhammer said:


> Pedal-making is the sort of business that takes very little investment to get into, and so attracts probably more people to it than ought to be in it. I regularly find myself reminding kids that "You won't get rich making fuzzboxes. You _might_ make a living if you're a good businessperson who just _happens _to make fuzzboxes."
> 
> I *know* I'm not a good business person. I don't look at my pay stubs, don't keep receipts for things, don't have any investments, don't really earn interest or collect "points" of any kind, and find money to be one of the singularly most boring things on earth. My dad went bankrupt, even though he was probably owed more by customers than he was in debt for. So, I come by my bait-shyness of business honestly.
> 
> ...



We seem to be seeing bisiness very similar perspectives. 

I handle millions, and in fact am responsible for more than $100,000,000. in annual sales.

And I find money completely uninteresting. I have RRSPs but I never look at them.

I love having money, but I'm seldom willing to do what would be required to be rich.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Rich is good, I suppose. But even below the level of "rich", I suspect there are many who go into business for themselves in the hopes of living off something they enjoy doing.

That's all well and good, but I suspect that world ends up being divided into people who say "Yeeeaaaahhh.....I didn't really consider/think about that" a whole lot, and those who are still in business several years down the line. It doesn't necessarily take an MBA to be in the 2nd category and successfully avoid the first. Indeed, I'd venture to say there are plenty of MBAs in the first category. But it does take a certain head to know what questions one has to ask, and what factors one needs to consider, to keep a business afloat; especially one where the "fun" could easily distract from the business side of things. 

On top of that, some folks are good at recognizing practicalities, and others not so much. Tim and I have discussed the practical decisions he has to make from time to time, and Guillaume's use of "punched" lettering on a bare Hammond box is a great example of identifying a practicality. It means he can use the bare boxes (which are cheaper than powder-coated or arranging for graphics), plus the aesthetic of punched legending gives him an identifiable "brand" with very little cost or trouble, and the legending never wears out. Zachary Vex has/had his boxes custom-painted for him by Jason Myrold, but as much as it gave them a very distinctive and desirable look, it added significantly to the production costs and time. He once detailed the multiple steps involved in producing a durable finish on his pedals, and its the sort of thing I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Eventually, he retreated to his "Vexter" format of simple polished boxes with a few silk-screened graphics. Fairfield beat everyone to the punch by using one. That's what I mean by recognizing the practicalities.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

i knew about Empress...but not the others...would've been nice to either have a bigger write up on all of the companies...or a video that encompassed more...


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Each one have a known product. Diamond is known for their Memory Lane as well as their Compressor, Fairfield Circuitry for their Barbershop Overdrive, Retrosonic with their Chorus. They all now have a whole set of different pedals.


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## Luke (Jul 31, 2014)

Chito said:


> I was actually going to mention that they forgot to put you in Mark.


off topic...sorry, but

Are you the same "Chito" guy/guitarist that played a couple tunes on the night of Sept. 24/2010 featuring Anders Drerup and Friends @ NAC 4th stage?


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

There's a fella who builds clones in wild looking enclosures that consigns his stuff to Spaceman in Ottawa. I've played his Ram's Head Muff and it's quite good. Shane who was (could still be?) the pedal guy at Spaceman loved his builds and had a few custom zero through flangers etc from him.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

HaMMeR Pedals - name is begging to be stepped on.

Do a small run. 

Over price them from your perspective. They will likely be fair value from ours.

I'll buy one. No deals or discounts. But it better make me sound better


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

jimmythegeek said:


> There's a fella who builds clones in wild looking enclosures that consigns his stuff to Spaceman in Ottawa. I've played his Ram's Head Muff and it's quite good. Shane who was (could still be?) the pedal guy at Spaceman loved his builds and had a few custom zero through flangers etc from him.


That's Dave Arquin. He likes outlandish stuff, and building FX into oddball enclosures. Nice guy.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

adcandour said:


> HaMMeR Pedals - name is begging to be stepped on.
> 
> Do a small run.
> 
> ...


"Better" is subjective.

If I ever decided to make things for money, I would likely follow John Lyons' style. He has Basic Audio. I'd have Sensible Sound or something like that.

I don't know if you ever read the interviews with pedal makers at the effectsdatabase site, but I was blushing when I read that both Marcus Ahlfs (Skreddy) and Nicholas Harris (Catalinbread) mentioned me by name as an early inspiration. I just putter. Those guys are _really_ doing it.


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## toby2 (Dec 2, 2006)

Have not tried any of the Retro pedals . I am sure they are great . Currently own a few Fairfield pedals and an Empress Superdelay - top notch stuff . Diamond is another company I highly recommend .


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Mark, you are right, Guillaume Fairfield lives in Gatineau. He and my son are good friends. He is also a very multi talented musician. I hope someday that you can start a little business of your own. I really enjoyed going over to your house a few years ago and spending some time. By the way, I still have that little boost pedal you sold me.
Still works 100% and it came with a lifetime warranty .LOL


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Guillaume's brother Olivier is also a very capable musician. I think we sold him a rack of PAiA synth modules that my late friend Peter Snow had built.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Guillaume's brother Olivier is also a very capable musician. I think we sold him a rack of PAiA synth modules that my late friend Peter Snow had built.


Olivier is another bright young musician that also plays with my son. The father is also a musician and recording studio owner (Charles Fairfield)


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Given that they are obviously a francophone family, was the family name Beauchamp once upon a time?


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2015)

Chito said:


> I was actually going to mention that they forgot to put you in Mark.


That was the article's biggest oversight IMO!

I don't much non-Fractal gear any more but I did keep all my mhammer pedals and my empress pedals.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You're too kind, Ian.

I'm still waiting for Steve and co. to come up with a filter pedal. They've got the phaser, and the Nebulus, but still nothing in the filter domain.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

mhammer said:


> "Better" is subjective.
> 
> If I ever decided to make things for money, I would likely follow John Lyons' style. He has Basic Audio. I'd have Sensible Sound or something like that.
> 
> I don't know if you ever read the interviews with pedal makers at the effectsdatabase site, but I was blushing when I read that both Marcus Ahlfs (Skreddy) and Nicholas Harris (Catalinbread) mentioned me by name as an early inspiration. I just putter. Those guys are _really_ doing it.


What? Nooooo, man. Not "sensible".... ANYTHING but sensible. Nonsense in a box is rock 'n roll.

Joking aside, I don't know much about pedals, but after reading a lot of your posts, it doesn't surprise me that you're referenced. 

Now, _not joking_ aside, I thought about you just the other day when trying to figure out how to properly use Keeley's new GC-2 limiting compressor. I was grinding my teeth through the whole experience while your words "lot's of people don't know how to use compressor's properly" rang in my ears. I was quite bitter 

PS - the compressor has sold, so don't you dare tell me where I likely messed up. I'm never buying a compressor again (unless - you make it - and it's idiot proof)


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Hey, listen, if it serves no purpose for you at the moment, then why hang onto it?

The GC-2 is a limiter. Is that different than a compressor? Slightly, or fundamentally, depending on your application. But in a lot of contexts most folks would not be able to hear the difference.

If you read the blurb, you'll see the phrase "feed-forward" used. What's that mean? Compressors, limiters, noise-gates, and auto-wahs all use what is referred to as a "sidechain". That is, a separate subcircuit, not in the audio path itself, that detects the level of the input signal and then _does_ something with the DC voltage that corresponds to the level of the input signal. The something it "does" could involve turning the gain down when the signal is higher or lower than some designated value, making a filter sweep in a way that corresponds to the level, or whatever.

Sidechains vary in their complexity and ability to provide a smooth change in DC that corresponds to what you hear in the input signal, as opposed to moment-to-moment fluctuations in the course of an otherwise increasing or decreasing level. The GC-2 uses one of the more advanced chips in the biz (though non-proprietary; anybody can buy just one if they want) to provide a very good sidechain.

Okay, now for the forward/backward stuff.

The sidechain in a limiter is used in a feed-forward manner to turn the gain down in response to detected peaks. The ratio or "transfer function" dictates how much more the signal level will be allowed to increase beyond that threshold. If it's, say, 4:1, then it would require 8 times the input signal level to result in a doubling of output level. If it was "infinite" then nothing is allowed to be any higher at all than the threshold setting. Some limiters have a fixed ratio, while others will give you a few choices via buttons, and still others will make it a continuously variable control, so that you can dial in very subtle limiting/compression. If what you call a "peak" is noticeably lower than the tippy-top of the signal level, then there won't be much dynamic change in the level of what you hear because big variations in the actual input signal level will be transformed into the same constant output level, until the signal falls below threshold.

This describes what happens when the sidechain is used in feed-forward mode. In a compressor, it is used in a feed-*back* fashion. Remember, in feed-forward mode, I do my signal-level detection right at the beginning and apply the gain reduction nearer the exit point of the circuit. If I detect the signal level after the point in the circuit where I am doing the gain control, something magical happens. The sidechain turns the gain down in response to a peak. But since the sidechain is now detecting the level coming out of the part of the circuit where the gain has been reduced, then the signal is now lower, right? And since it is lower, then the gain is turned back up again. But since the gain is turned back up, what the sidechain is now detecting is higher, leading it to once again turn the gain down. And so on.

In short, where feed-forward limiting results only in peaks being pushed down, feed-back compression results in both peaks being squished down, and quiet parts being boosted. In theory, a compressor provides a more constant overall level. IN practice, limiters can be used in very subtle ways, such that all the dynamics appear to be preserved but you never step over the red line on the VU meter. However, as noted earlier, if you set the threshold where the limiting is imposed low enough, and if the ratio is severe enough, it is nigh impossible for the average listener to tell the difference between limiting and compression.

One of the audible differences between limiting and compression, though, is in the area of noise. Since a compressor ends up boosting a low-level signal, and it can't tell the difference between soft passages and mere background hiss, it will crank up the incoming hiss under the presumption that it needs help. This results in what gets referred to as "breathing"; a steady increase in hiss level after a peak followed by a silent period, that sounds like someone inhaling. Limiters are much quieter in operation because they don't crank anything up; they just turn things down.

Make sense?


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