I’ve learned the “npd” colloquialism through my haunting of the ILoveFuzz discussion boards. Community members will often create a new post when they get a pedal in the mail—complete with pictures—in order to let other members know that it’s another happy day in gear-land. Not so much a taunt, nor an objective accounting, but more of a shout-out saying, “Hey look! Let’s celebrate the arrival together….”
I’m using NPD somewhat in the same way here, but also as a way into looking at “new” pedals from a builder I’ve been following in the “fuzz folk” research project: Eric Edvalson of Mellowtone . Here’s an NPD thread from the iLoveFuzz online community that serves as a model of sorts—you’ll see the initial post (about a Mellowtone Mini Wolf CPU), and the follow-up posts that weave in and out of a discussion about the pedal itself.
The Mini Wolf CPU fuzz and New Hi-Five boost
Eric has recently revamped his pedal line, and now makes basically two production pedals: the Hi-Five boost and the Mini Wolf CPU fuzz. Each of these pedals existed before the product adjustments Eric made, and it is these adjustments that I’d like to focus on in elaborating the “new pedal” concept. He’s referring to the new line of pedals collectively as the “Party Favor” line, referencing both their standard box size (commonly known as “MXR-size” in reference to a standard small-footprint box used by commercial music equipment company, MXR) and the visual aesthetic of the graphics.
As seen in the photo above, the pedals bear the same graphic differentiated only through color scheme. Lack of a name anywhere on the pedal other than the company name makes it difficult to tell what you have in front of you—unless, of course, you are already familiar with Mellowtone and the color schemes prior versions of these pedals used. The Hi-Five sported greens and yellows (across the three or so size versions Eric released), and the Wolf Computer initially dressed in a light blue (see photo below). Several hand-painted versions of the Wolf Computer roam the planet, but I’ll stick to the “standard” version here for sake of the argument.
The older, larger Wolf Computer and it's newer, smaller offspring: the Mini Wolf CPU
The newness of these pedals is initially visual or physical, discernible by comparing the previous and current models. I’ve spoken with Eric about his graphics choices for his pedals (he does the design and layout), and he indicated that he wanted to have a visually-unified look across the pedals. Our conversation occurred before he refined the Mellowtone line, and I think that the current Party Favor graphics demonstrate this desire rather vividly.
With both pedals in the Party Favor line, newness also extends into the boxes themselves, at the level of the circuit. As with many builders I’ve spoken to for the fuzz folk project, Eric often revisits and redesigns circuits. Whether the primary motivation is catering to customer/user feedback and tastes or streamlining build-time, a small builder like Eric will actively evolve his circuits over time; this is one of the benefits and byproducts/epiphenomenon of the hand-built or boutique object. I want to develop this idea in another post or two (or even an article), so will leave it aside for now, only noting that I’m thinking there is a relationship between improvisation, creativity, and the intimacy of hand-building at a small scale that deserves exploration—any comments are appreciated!
Newness, then, is physical and conceptual, related to both the production and consumption of these objects within the “fuzz folk” community. Builders create entirely ‘new’ pedals for their lines or revise/refine existing pedals with different packaging or guts; users buy or trade for new pedals, expanding their pedal boards and the visual/sonic textures of their music-making. As such, the materiality of the “new” extends into social relationships cultivated online (via the ILF boards, for example), as well as economic processes embedded in boutique production. Additionally, the “new” is an element of the creative output of builders, pushing the techno-aesthetic process of pedal building in directions determined as much by their own interests (sonic, visual, economic, cultural) as those expressed by members of the larger community within which they work.
P.S. Should anyone be interested in what one of the Party Favors sounds like, here is a video demo of the Mini Wolf CPU (not done by me…):
Click here to view the embedded video.