An open invitation to music industry manufacturers...
http://www.frantone.com/
Join Team FranLab!!!! Become a patron and help support my YouTube Channel on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/frantone
#Frantone #Pedal #FranLab
- Music by Fran Blanche -
Fran's Science Blog - http://www.frantone.com/designwritings/design_writings.html
FranArt Website - http://www.contourcorsets.com
http://www.frantone.com/
Join Team FranLab!!!! Become a patron and help support my YouTube Channel on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/frantone
#Frantone #Pedal #FranLab
- Music by Fran Blanche -
Fran's Science Blog - http://www.frantone.com/designwritings/design_writings.html
FranArt Website - http://www.contourcorsets.com
I'd really like to see those pedals in a Boss format… I like to play barefoot and their pedals are easier on the old feet 🙂
Hello from finland… Regards Lasse From finland.
Frankly Fran, I must be a looser of biblical proportions.
Its such a shame I only discovered your channel a year or two ago. I've lived in and around Philly my entire 28 year life, I would've loved to buy one of these back when I played religiously. Had I found a Frantone pedal at George's Music in delco back in 2012 who knows what could've happened. You rock Fran!
Have you ever spoken to Yorkville Sound in Toronto? The maker of Traynor amps.
Hopefully not an inflation mirage
If you have the licenses, lease it out. Tell them about it, even though they know about it. Make them a fair offer & stay not-broke.
I think Frantone would be cool coming back and maybe even could collab with people like Rick Beato, etc.
YESS !! BRING IT ON!!! 😎
while i have no use for your pedals I think it would be a great idea.
I would so like to be able to afford a Peach!
Bring them back and get your revenge!
can you show musicians who use the Frantone?
To keep the Frantone prestige, you really need a high-end company with a great reputation AND a leg in the music business. Ideally, an offshore Asian company desiring a higher US profile. I'd avoid China for now, in case they follow Russia's example and go rogue. Perhaps Japan, Korea or Taiwan?
The problem with US folks picking up your brand is that they may see it as diluting their own brand. An Asian company with global presence would seem to be the way to go.
Perhaps something like "Frantone by Yamaha"?
Near as I can estimate, based on desired quality and market size, a large manufacturer couldn't much beat the costs you had. The economy of scale for labor efficiency would only feasibly be a few dollars per unit. The highest cost components like switches and connectors are likely to be too low quantities for bulk discounts to make much difference. A cheaply made clone, with lower quality components couldn't be competitively priced except using overseas reduced labor costs. Anything made in less than 600 units per month has very few ways to economize. But, it's possible a manufacturer could justify a boutique product that's priced at ten times the cheapest, barely functional alternative. I wish it were easier. But any manufacturer is always going to make tradeoffs that might not be acceptable for you to allow yourself to be associated with.
BTW, I don't know about the ethics of this, but with these products commanding such high prices, wouldn't it be profitable for you to make a few and slip them out there? 😉
I wonder if EveAnna Manley at Manley Labs might be interested.
This is a weird time for any small-scale manufacturing, though, even reasonably significant producers. I'm a fan of Eurorack products, that I use in my studio, and it's absolutely amazing how in that market, most current products made by manufacturers are out of stock because of supply chain issues. They're missing key parts needed to finish assembling units and ship them. Also, finding labor must also be tough in the current job market (although it's good that employment levels are so high).
Given how many of the major pedal and synth manufacturers keep on bringing back modern retreads of their old standby products, it sure seems like this is the sort of thing that someone would be really interested in doing.
Maybe you could flip the script and approach one of the Chinese manufacturers to do the actual manufacturing for your pedals? I know there are manufacturing services out there that can get you most of the way to a finished product for not a lot of money per unit cost, and at usually pretty decent quality too. It won't be "made in the USA" though, and I know that's an important consideration for a lot of people.