Danelectro Fab cheap pedals

[Shoeman]

I just got one of those new el cheapo Fab series pedals, the Overdrive, and it works pretty damn well for the little money it costs. The local guitar shop has 'em for $16.99. I use it straight into my EMU1820 box. Thought I'd spread the news.

 

[bongolation]

I'm assuming that these are some of the latest-generation stomps that are entirely machine-made, on-PCB-board, micro-surface-mount tech.

It's been a long time coming, but there's no reason why any stomp should be more than about $20 with this construction.

Very efficient, very cheap, low-labor. It's what DigiTech is using on their new line of stomps and I think it's almost certainly what Behringer has on that new line of theirs coming up.

Danelectro used this tech with their top-end "Wasabi" effects that were gigantically complex circuits.

 

[Shoeman]

I agree. With the price of IC's now pedals should be less expensive than they are. Sure, some types are a bit more complicated mechanically, but the basic on/off switch, two or three dials, two jack types like all the typical chorus/flange/dist/you name it kind oughta be way cheaper than they are. I know R&D has to be paid for, but many of these are re-inventions of the same old wheel and don't require a lot of thought to make cheaper at retail.

 

[bongolation]

The problem is not component prices - which have actually gone down in many cases - but labor cost.

Look at the insides of an original TS-808 (which was an extremely primitive circuit) and then look at the innards of, say, a DigiTech "Bad Monkey."

It's very clear where the money went.

The latter is an immensely more rational design. No rat's nest of flying leads, inconsistent components, etc., etc.

The machine-made PCB drops in and is held there by internal bosses, the floorplate and the two jack nuts. The only wires are to the battery. Assembly can't possibly take more than a minute per unit.

Actual hand labor is so minimal that the stomp can be "Made in USA" and still be cheap.

 

[Shoeman]

I don't have a collection of pedals to look at, but I assume that 90% of then are now made in China ,yes? Can't get any cheaper labor than that. Hell, the freight to sail them over here must cost as much or more than the assembly labor does. Things like computers and VCR's and DVD players have seen radical drops in retail prices in the last decade or two. Seems that pedals have not done the same. Even adjusted for inflation I bet they've just stayed even over the last 20 years, which was what I'd call the" industrial revolution of the electronics industry". These things as a whole are dying to have done to them what Danelectro has done. I hope we see a lot more of it. Imagine, a whole boards worth of stompboxes for under $100.

 

[bongolation]

I don't have a collection of pedals to look at, but I assume that 90% of then are now made in China ,yes? Can't get any cheaper labor than that. Hell, the freight to sail them over here must cost as much or more than the assembly labor does.

That's a good point. There is no labor any more on these designs, other than a guy going around loading component tape into machines and checking solder levels, etc. As a production manager at Fender told me, "in terms of quality, it makes no difference what country the wave-soldering machine is in."

Original stomps were completely hand-made. Current ones are often so complex and miniaturized that they cannot be hand built even if you wanted to.

So, I'm figuring DigiTech is getting a break on import duties by assembling these things here.