Building my first pedal. It needs a name!

[hannaugh]

Okay so I'm gonna build my first pedal.  It is going to be a True Bypass, because that's super easy.  I went down to Orvac's Electrical Supply and bought an enclosure and some other stuff today to start with.  I'm going to paint it and name it after I get the holes drilled for the jacks and switch.  The question is... what do I name it? 

I plan on building more pedals, so I what I want to do is pick a theme because I like how Danelectro has the food theme going on.  I thought cartoons would be cool, but my husband says I should stick with something that isn't copyrighted.  So I came up with two ideas that I like: either famous authors or classic literary characters (we're English geeks).  I plan on doing artwork on the pedals, so I'm thinking that characters might be better because their images are more easily recognizable.  I love Nathaniel Hawthorne's work, but I couldn't pick him out of a lineup, you know?  But Hester Prynne with the A on her chest?  Pretty recognizable.  HP Lovecraft?  Not sure what he looks like.  Cthulu, though... he's a big tentacled monster!  But then on the other hand, the Kafka Distortion, Mark Twain Analog Delay, and Shakespeare Auto-Wah just sound cool. 

So my question is, which theme do you like better and which character or author do you think I should name this first pedal?

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

When you come to making a delay/reverb combo pedal with a gazillion switches and knobs, tap temo and exp. pedal input and delay time effect loop, call it Mr. Poe. Because it's hard to wrap your brain around it.

Well, i'd buy it.

 

[hannaugh]

If you think Poe is crazy, you should read some of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories.  They're just as creepy, but way weirder and more difficult to analyze.  Rapuccini's Daughter and The Minister's Black Veil are two of my favorites.  Young Goodman Brown is really good too, in a totally messed up, confusing kind of way.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Sounds like another headache....

But seriously though, make an awesome delay which is a combo digital/analogue beast with all the features of the EHX deluxe memory boy without the modulation and the delay trial feature of the seymour duncan de ja vu where the last delayed note you play when you turn the pedal of isn't cut off when you turn the pedal off.

Do it, you'll earn lots.

 

[Miskatonic]

If you think Poe is crazy, you should read some of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories.  They're just as creepy, but way weirder and more difficult to analyze.  Rapuccini's Daughter and The Minister's Black Veil are two of my favorites.  Young Goodman Brown is really good too, in a totally messed up, confusing kind of way.

+1 for Hawthorne.  :glasses10:

 

[Dan025]

im not good at naming things but can i ask what type of pedal you plan to start with?

 

[stubhead]

    * Dasher
    * Dancer
    * Prancer
    * Vixen
    * Comet
    * Cupid
    * Donner (originally Dunder, then Donder)
    * Blitzen (originally Blixem, then Blixen)
    * Rudolph (as used in the song Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer)

It's critically important that the name match the function of the pedal. And if you go over nine pedals you gotta bust into the elves, and everybody knows what that can lead to....

 

[erogenousjones17]

I really like the literary theme (I'm also a lit geek). You could probably combine the author's name with recognizable imagery and end up with something fantastic. I'd totally rock a Kafka Metamorphosis Pitch-Shifter (with cockroach graphics) or Herman Melville Queequeg Reverb (I'm seeing awesome artwork à la Mastodon's Leviathan on that one).

Another huge +1 for Hawthorne. I wrote a song about him. :laughing7:

 

[hannaugh]

im not good at naming things but can i ask what type of pedal you plan to start with?

True bypass.  The really easy pedal. Actually, I might go a little more complicated and make it a true bypass looper. 

I slept on it and I really want to do the characters so that when I make a shredder death-metal type pedal, it can be the Headless Horseman.  I made a list of names last night, and I was thinking of a Gregor Samsa pitch shifter.  That would be so perfect.  I loved The Metamorphosis, such a weird story (even though it was sad).  I have no idea how I would build that though, considering it's a digital pedal and there are no kits available, so maybe I would just make it an octave pedal.   

I think a fitting name for the true bypass is Jekyll & Hyde since it goes from clean to the effects loop. 

Some other ideas:  Cthulu Distortion, Wooster & Jeeves Analog Delay, Bartleby Envelope Filter, Moby Dick Slow Gear, Robin Hood 10 Band EQ, Cheshire Cat (or Aslan... haven't decided yet) Fuzz.  If I made a pedal that combined fuzz with something else, I would name it Aslan VS. The White Witch.  Now I just have to figure out a way to use Beowulf and Dorian Gray...

 

[NLD09]

Visual Sound already has as Jekyll and Hyde though.

 

[hannaugh]

I can live with that.  I've never even heard of Visual Sound.  I think it makes more sense as a bypass name anyways, and it's not like I'm going to sell it or anything. 

 

[Firebird211]

How about Chakka. :icon_biggrin:

 

[stubhead]

Well OK, girlie, so you shot down the reindeer - surely you can see the inevitability of THIS, though:

  1. Sneezy
  2. Sleepy
  3. Dopey
  4. Doc
  5. Happy
  6. Bashful
  7. Grumpy

 

[hannaugh]

Unfortunately those are specific to the Disney version of Snow White, which is copyrighted.  And we all know how rabid Disney is about copyright infringement.  I'm suprised they haven't sued any kindergartners for drawing pictures of Mickey Mouse to go on their mom's fridge. 

 

[mayfly]

im not good at naming things but can i ask what type of pedal you plan to start with?

True bypass.  The really easy pedal. Actually, I might go a little more complicated and make it a true bypass looper. 

I slept on it and I really want to do the characters so that when I make a shredder death-metal type pedal, it can be the Headless Horseman.  I made a list of names last night, and I was thinking of a Gregor Samsa pitch shifter.  That would be so perfect.  I loved The Metamorphosis, such a weird story (even though it was sad).  I have no idea how I would build that though, considering it's a digital pedal and there are no kits available, so maybe I would just make it an octave pedal.   

I think a fitting name for the true bypass is Jekyll & Hyde since it goes from clean to the effects loop. 

Some other ideas:  Cthulu Distortion, Wooster & Jeeves Analog Delay, Bartleby Envelope Filter, Moby Dick Slow Gear, Robin Hood 10 Band EQ, Cheshire Cat (or Aslan... haven't decided yet) Fuzz.  If I made a pedal that combined fuzz with something else, I would name it Aslan VS. The White Witch.  Now I just have to figure out a way to use Beowulf and Dorian Gray...

You know what, I think your strength is in creative marketing.  Boutique pedals are hot right now so I suggest that you contract out pedal design and manufacturing, brand them and sell them.  Would be a cool thing for a few years (until folks wised up and realized that Distortion is not actually worth $200.00 bucks  :headbang

 

[mayfly]

BTW, Beowulf sounds like a great classic OD pedal to me...

 

[hannaugh]

I know, right??? So badass.  I love Beowulf. 

I'm thinking I might actually make this bypass pedal Wooster & Jeeves after all.  I started thinking of characters in pairs, and there are actually a lot of different team-ups and opposite characters I could try.  I'll start drawing up some artwork and see what looks the best.  Then I just have to pick one and start learning the best way to get the artwork on the pedal in a way that looks professional. 

 

[hannaugh]

PS: I'm pretty sure this all came about just because I haven't designed anything in a while.  Gotta get rid of that itch somehow.

 

[bagman67]

im not good at naming things but can i ask what type of pedal you plan to start with?

True bypass.  The really easy pedal. Actually, I might go a little more complicated and make it a true bypass looper. 

I slept on it and I really want to do the characters so that when I make a shredder death-metal type pedal, it can be the Headless Horseman.  I made a list of names last night, and I was thinking of a Gregor Samsa pitch shifter.  That would be so perfect.  I loved The Metamorphosis, such a weird story (even though it was sad).  I have no idea how I would build that though, considering it's a digital pedal and there are no kits available, so maybe I would just make it an octave pedal.   

I think a fitting name for the true bypass is Jekyll & Hyde since it goes from clean to the effects loop. 

Some other ideas:  Cthulu Distortion, Wooster & Jeeves Analog Delay, Bartleby Envelope Filter, Moby Dick Slow Gear, Robin Hood 10 Band EQ, Cheshire Cat (or Aslan... haven't decided yet) Fuzz.  If I made a pedal that combined fuzz with something else, I would name it Aslan VS. The White Witch.  Now I just have to figure out a way to use Beowulf and Dorian Gray...

You forgot Ignatius Reilly.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

From A Clockwork Orange, since this is a true bypass pedal, call it, "No time for the old in-out."