Hello, I think it is autumn now. Or maybe it’s still the tail end of summer. I swear it used to be cold in October. Anyway, it’s the start of hockey season which is the main thing, let’s go Flyers!
I’ve been wanting to check in with yous lot for a wee bit, so here’s me doing that.
But before I start on all my guff, I just want to say I hope you’re doing well. Getting by the last few years has felt like a rather full on and near constant challenge and I hope you’re faring okay.
It’s an election year in the US and the political attack ads are ramping up their vitriol on the daily. If, like me, you’re one of the millions in America below a certain income level it feels like the belt tightening is unending. World events add another weight too. The stress of uncertainty and instability are very real, so I hope you’re dealing with it well and I hope you have your escapes.
As you’re here reading this, one of those joyful escapes is almost certainly music, probably guitar and whatever your instrument definitely a love of exploring sounds through gear and seeing where it takes you.
During the pandemic music gear saw a real boom. There was an explosion of new companies and gear to keep up with. New communities popped up, word spread, small brands like mine got more attention, and some of the bigger small companies became middle tier companies. It was very exciting!
In the last couple years we’ve lost a few small pedal companies, builders and demo artists to being squeezed out of the market or burnout. It feels like we’re entering a new phase in the gear world. Things are still settling and correcting post-pandemic.
There was a good amount of gear collecting, exploring, learning, sharing, FOMOing and subsequently burnouting over the last few years. I think we all went through it to some extent at some point and I hope you haven’t lost the joy of creating music through all that craziness.
Gear is great. It can help you craft and discover new sounds and ideas, but it should always be a joy. It shouldn’t feel like something you have to constantly keep up with. If you’re genuinely enthused about what’s going on that’s great, but it’s not a race and sometimes just taking a break from it all is the best way forwards.
I recently decided to leave all the guitar gear subreddits. The endless hot takes, requests for pedalboard roasts, metalzone and miku jokes, groupthink, overly keen but ultimately uninformed people spreading misinformation and the like was draining.
I finally allowed myself to be free of it all and I feel way better for it. I didn’t want these silly people and their silly internet opinions in my own silly life any more. I don’t think we need them, boo to them, hooray to us. Just to be clear, this isn’t an attack, there are plenty of good and well informed pedal people about online, but it just got tiring sifting through all that gumpf every day. Ultimately the joy music brings is both personal and the only thing that really matters and I know for me a bit of a reset has been good.
I also happened upon the following relevant Marcus Aurelius quote recently, ironically it was also on Reddit.
“You are not compelled to form any opinion about this matter before you, nor to disturb your peace of mind at all. Things in themselves have no power to extort a verdict from you.”
All of which is to say, be well! Enjoy the things you enjoy! I hope you’re able to shed whatever doesn’t serve you in your musical journey. If that means less gear, so be it. Take a break from the online gear mania if you need it, play less if you need time away, play direct to amp more if you feel like the pedal arms race is getting out of control. If your pockets are hurting, try doing a deeper dive on the pedals you have hidden away or see about trading with a friend. As your musical creativity progresses, so does your ear and sometimes you can pull sounds out of combinations that you didn’t know were possible.
Which is also to say I appreciate you being here, cos you don’t have to be. so thank you!
With all that out of the way, I really wanted to give an open and honest account of where I am with everything Champion Leccy. This year there’s been a lot of re-evaluating, growth and probably a third thing that eludes me at present.
health stuff
The good news is through diet and exercise I’ve managed to drop about 40lbs since March. I’m no longer obese and my cholesterol and diabetes numbers are way down.
Prioritising my health over the last 6 months has meant a lot of time away from Champion Leccy though. Like most people I’m not rich and my ability to stay alive and have things depends entirely on how much I work. I don’t make the rules, and I haven’t found a way to live outside of them that involves retaining sanity and electricity, so work I must to some extent.
Since late August I’ve been trying to move to more realistic work balance to keep Champion Leccy afloat, which has meant reducing time spent on physical therapy for my back. Unfortunately that hasn’t gone well.
About three weeks ago it felt like I was having a small blip, then the blip didn’t end, then last Monday my right leg went weak and I couldn’t walk for a bit. Being a human with limbs I’m sure you will know that when one of the limbs that is meant to help keep you upright doesn’t do that, that something may be ‘wrong’ or ‘suboptimal’.
What does that mean for the future of Champion Leccy?
The short and scary answer is, I have no idea!
It’s pretty obvious at this point that I don’t have much say in the recovery timeline. The pace of everything is going to be dictated by my progress over the coming weeks and months. I am not as far along as I’d thought or wanted. Whether I can do enough to keep the business going remains to be seen. I’ll likely have to make that decision at some point next year.
I’ve been writing this article, and rewriting it, for more than a week wrestling through a couple of ups and downs, planning and replanning. On Monday at physical therapy things were promising, but yesterday I was in pain again and so being hopeful is a challenge. It’s been so much work to get here and I feel like I just landed on a snake and I’m all the way back to square one, which is where I assume that saying comes from.
I’m going to need to take at least a week away from Champion Leccy to focus and getting stuff working properly again, so short term there’s going to be some knock on effects and recalibration before I can work out the plan for the longer term.
So firstly…
The Kilter V2
On Friday (Oct 4th) I opened up a limited number of preorder slots for the V2 Kilter. I’m hoping to have all units shipped in the next few weeks, but it might take a bit longer than I want.
If you’re waiting for a unit, it’ll be on its way as soon as possible, thank you for your patience! AND for your support!
For the proper release I was originally aiming for November 8th, but I think that might be a tad optimistic.
I really, really, really don’t want to repeat the mistakes I made with the Skitzy release by adhering religiously to a deadline that became increasingly impossible. I pushed myself too hard which led to more pain, which led to stress which led to burnout and a big ol’ mess and a big ol’ deflated soufflé of a pedal launch. It was deflating and painful and stressful and burnoutful.
So, I want to make sure that I have everything (demos, articles, manuals, video manuals, etc.) ready to go well in advance of setting any official dates.
Beyond that…
I think for the next few months I’m going to have to see what I can manage. In terms of stock listed in the store, I have everything more or less prepped and ready to throw into an enclosure, so orders should still be going out within a day or two from ordering depending on circumstances.
I have plenty of stock on hand for everything, and I won’t be listing things on the website that I don’t have and can’t build quickly. I don’t like that sort of thing.
OTHER NEWS AND UPDATES!
RoHS compliance and EU/UK sales
As you may have seen with Chase Bliss’s recent announcement, the RoHS exemption for audio equipment in the EU and UK expired recently. I don’t want to rehash everything from that post, but if you aren’t sure what any of that means, please check out the link above.
Like all the funnest pedal builders I also use those components (LDRs) that are no longer allowed in the EU/UK, which simply means that I cannot sell to that part of the world any more. It is something that I am thinking about and want to work on, but after the recent troubles with my back and the limits that will likely put on my time going forward, total redesigns of most of my pedals might just not be on the cards any time soon. Time will tell. I wish it was better news.
Upcoming Events!!!!!
Relic Music (Red Bank NJ) – Saturday, Oct 26th
I will be at the Relic Music 3rd birthday hoohar with a full board of pedals ready for you to mess around with and brain full of weirdness ready for whatever conversations you have time for.
CME (Chicago) – Saturday, Nov 9th
I will also be in Chicago at CME for their pedal bonanza with that same pedalboard full of stuff for you to try and that same brain full of weirdness, but this time probably fuelled by coffee-mania, for whatever conversations you have time for.
Philadelphia – December
Rumour has it that there will also be a Pedal Show in Philly in early December. More details on this as and when it is confirmed and announced. Pedalboard and brain almost certainly guaranteed to be in attendance.
Is the new stuff still coming?
Yes. Prototype PCBs and enclosures have arrived. I just need to order a couple of parts for them, so I can get them built and tested and I’ll start making some decisions from there.
I don’t know what’s going to need extra work and I haven’t started on any artwork yet, but The Evil Twin will most likely be the next in line, followed by the Hand Samwitch if things go to plan. I think I might shelve the Kosh for the time being, because I want to get working on other more exciting things.
If you made it this far, wahey! Thank you! And if you made it this far and have questions you can either email me or join us in the discord for a natter.
And as always thank you for you support and your patience, it is very much and sincerely appreciated.
Let’s go Flyers!