The thought of building pedals for a living has crossed my mind. Then reality slapped me up side the head.
I just finished a build for a friend and that drove me nuts. I put all of the pressure on myself. He was in no hurry at all. I just had this sense of urgency to deliver.
I'm probably not making any money on the deal. Actually, I KNOW that I'm not if I were to pay my self a proper hourly wage.
I think I'm going to make $30 after materials.
I could get my costs down by sourcing materials instead of using a kit, but then there would a lot more work to do. Including designing my own board layout and fabricating the board. Drilling the enclosures is another job that I'm not really set up to do.
I could DO all of the things required at each step. I have done it all in the past. However, I'm not set up to do them in any kind of quantity to make it all cost efficient. Unless I outsource a bunch of stuff..... And isn't that kinda like buying a kit? Sure I could save a few bucks (the kit maker is making money off of me. So, there's that much for me to make if I cut them out) if I outsourced the PCB and enclosures to someone, but then I'd likely have to do a bulk purchase and carry that inventory...
The circuits themselves are not protected. The layout on the circuit board is. So, I'd have to come up with my own design and try to verify that it is unique before I can call it my own. That costs time and money.
Let's say I get that completed and what do I have? A pedal based on the same circuit that everyone else has used, can use, and will use.
That's makes for a tough market in which to differentiate yourself.
So, graphics could be a differentiator. I'm not too big on the looks of things but if I build it, I want to build something that appeals to me and might even stand out.
As you've seem with my builds, I have a certain aesthetic that pleases me. If others like it, I'd be happy to build one for cost and a few bucks, but I really can't wrap my head around doing it for a living as much as I think it would be cool..
