Hey Guys,
Many of you here know me in person, or by reputation (hopefully if the later, it's all good!), for those that don't and by way of brief introduction my name is Matt Allison.
I've been a gigging muso for over 10 years (guitarist/vocalist) and been able to make my way around the world playing music from my 3 records and been blessed to pick up distribution for them in territories outside of SA and 2 garnered SAMA nominations (hey they are no Grammy's, but for a struggling muso it is the best we have!).
For the past few years I've spent most of my time holed up on the otherside of the glass as producer/engineer here and abroad and currently run a commercial studio in Cape Town called Dockyard Studios (
http://www.dockyardstudios.com).
Along side that for the past 4 years I've been running Ashton Audio (
http://www.ashtonaudio.com), specializing in custom built pro audio/recording solutions and have clients as far a field as the US, refurbishing classic recording gear from the 50's-70's and building inspired 'clones' of hard to get pieces, a few of which can be seen here: www.ashtonaudio.com/gallery.html
For the past few months I've been playing with a few custom/boutique pedal designs and will be launching a new company later in the year with our first product, Fuzzsilla, a silicon based Fuzz box with the tones/warmth we have come to expect from Germanium's, without the instability problems and a few quirky aspects one has come to expect from guys like Zvex, Pigtronix etc.
I LOVE imparting knowledge and have lectured both at Damelin and now SAE running/moderating their 'Basic Audio Electronics' modules which I pioneered and had a thought about running a 2 day 'stomp box' workshop teaching the basic of audio electronics, covering components and their uses, basic electronic theory and basic soldering skills culminating in the building up a simple stomp box like a booster/fuzz pedal etc.
I've been lurking around the forum for some time and it seems there is a growing interest in DIY pedals and mods but many are lacking the confidence and skill sets and thought it might be a way of being able to 'give back'.
Added to the fact economic times are tough and if guys want to be able to have access to more of the boutique designs out there DIY is a sensible/practical option that not only provides a new skill set, but produces some great sonics fruits of ones labour.
Since I'll be launching the new line of pedals I'm buying bulk enclosures, switches, jacks, battery snaps and the like and am also thinking about making a basic kit available for the harder to get pieces as building blocks for pedal builders without the need to import expensive US/European parts once off.
There is no timeline on this right now, just really wanted to introduce myself and test the waters if this is something fellow players/builders would be interested in?
Cheers
Matt
