Welcome to my little spot on the web for my designs. I’ve been repairing guitar amps and pedals for the last 20 years, from tube to solid state, vintage effects to modern SMD and digital. I have seen my fair share of circuits and attempts at capturing that elusive thing we all chase, “the sound of our guitar in our head.” Just a side note, if you are in the Wilmington, North Carolina area and need your gear serviced, feel free to reach out Upcycled Audio.
What’s with the name “Inspiring Devices”?
You know that moment in time where you sit down with your guitar or a band, the sound is just right, the feel of the music moves, and you inspired by what you are hearing? There really is something about once we find “that sound” or something close, that we feel inspired and the creativity just flows from the fingers. Is it the guitar? Is it the combination of gear? Who knows? The circuits that I design are built around those moments and sounds. I often will capture the sound on my phone, then go back and listen to what I am hearing to start to recreate it. That inspiring moment.
Coffee Themed Pedals?
Yup. I love coffee. No question about that. There is something simple about sitting down with a cup of coffee in the morning. Your mind is fresh, just before the craziness of the day. Your mind has a moment of freedom to create, be inspired by. So I figured why not incorporate that mindset of coffee into my love of creating circuits.
Circuit Designing
There are a lot of great circuits and builders out there in the world right now, doing amazing things. When it comes to designing, my goal is to be unique in the design, not basing or copying an existing circuit. Start from scratch. Start with the sound I hear, and dissect each little piece of it. What do I feel? How are the low notes sitting in the sound? Are there certain overtones and harmonics coming through when hitting big open chords? How would I use this in a live context? All these questions help pull together the bits of the circuit as I start to lay it out.
Clones or Custom versions of an existing circuit
I stay away from doing any kind of cloning when it comes to new builds. There are a ton of great builders out there that take a circuit and put their own spin on it. JHS does a wonderful job of taking in the history of a circuit and making it their own.