Fat Boost developments

[amz-fx]

I few days ago I received an email from Mike Fuller. He was writing to apologize over the Fat Boost incident and to begin paying me a commission on the design.  Furthermore, he also generously agreed to pay royalties all the way back to the first pedal sold.  

I plan to donate a portion of the back royalties to the Children's Miracle Network - http://www.cmn.org/

It was admirable of Mike to make this unsolicited overture. I am a person who believes in forgiveness and you should too.

http://www.fulltone.com/FB.asp

Best regards, Jack

[gez]

Excellent news!  

[petemoore]

Excellent !!! ...as it should be.
 Fulltone is known for producing quality products    !

[Melanhead]

Wow! That's great news ... and also a great charity ... that's very big of Mike to finally give you credit ... I just built one ( my first ever build ... ) and it sounds great ...

[dosmun]

Cool.  I think that can only help Mike's biz and reputation.

A HUGE thumbs up to both of you.   Donating to the charity is very cool.

[Clipped]

That's great news Jack! You are very deserving of this and I'm glad that you're getting the proper recognition.

The information on your web page and the help you give here have been awesome - I really appreciate it.

Congrats,
Ron

[Doug_H]

Congratulations, Jack.

That must feel real good.

Doug

[MartyMart]

That's fantastic news Jack !! :shock:
Well done Mike and thats a very nice gesture Jack, good for you  

Consider him "forgiven"

Marty.

[cd]

Cool.  I think that can only help Mike's biz and reputation.

You know, I hate to be a cynic, but c'mon.  There has to be more behind this.  Is Fulltone going to start paying Ibanez?  Or Mike Battle (Echoplex)?  Or Demeter?  Or whoever owns the Dallas-Arbiter name?

[Fret Wire]

Kudo's to both of you! Jack, in return, were you asked to remove the schematic from your site? As well as the link to the article disecting the fat boost, and comparing it to yours? That's a fair business arrangement. Sounds like all parties made out well. Even the consumers do ok, Fuller's build quality is consistant, unlike some of the "clones of the week" that are out there. And by finally deflating the myth surrounding the booster, and more importantly, the source of it's design, Fuller has basically put a bullet into anyone selling a more expensive version. Smart business move.

Maybe the other's who sell booster clones will donate something to charity. :idea:

[Ry]

Jack, that is great news!  Thanks for sharing it with the community.  It certainly changes my view of him and the way that he does business.

Ry

[RobertKeeley]

Jack!  That is incredible and very inspiring!  In fact, I'd like to do the same now that I think about it.  I know a couple years ago I had mentioned to you and David Szabados that I wanted to pay for your help in the TMB Modern Side.  And, one of the things you mentioned with the compressor is really going to work.  I just have to get a custom potentiometer made. So... I'd like to start paying you or the charity, up to you, for each sale of the TMB and the improved comp when it comes out.
Thanks to Mike Fuller for taking a great step and providing such wonderful motivation!
robert keeley

[80k]

major props to Jack and Mike.  excellent news

[EdJ]

Great news!
good to hear things can be done correctly.
Ed

[wampcat1]

That's very big of Mike -- glad to see it!! For so long he has HATED the diy'ers...

While fulltone does copy the basic designs of many pedals, that's just the way it works!! Very few are designing their own circuits. I don't see anything wrong in it personally -- as long as you call it what it is ( based off of dist. +, tubescreamer, etc). I don't think it has legal implications because many of these circuits ARE public domain now, and are simply modified versions of preexisting olders circuits.

IMO, its more of a moral issue, and I'm glad to see Fuller coming clean...my opinion (not that it's worth much! :p  ) of Mike definately went up.

Take care,
Brian

[Ed Rembold]

Jack,

I can't hardly believe it!
My hat's off to you and Mike Fuller.
congrats!

Ed R.

[amz-fx]

Thanks to all who responded in a positive manner to this announcement!

Let's be perfectly clear about this.  It is not about copyrights or intellectual properties at all. It is a business arrangement betewen people in the pedal business.  As another example, you've seen in this very message thread how I recently suggested some mods to Robert Keeley for his compressor pedal and he has offered to pay me for that design assistance...  there is no difference in the two deals.

I have always been honest about the cookbook source that I used to develop as the starting point to develop the finished pedal and I was equally as forthcoming with Mike when he wrote to me. I left it entirely up to him whether he thought the improvements, changes, and finished design rated the commission and he obviously thought so. We made an agreement, and no one on this board knows what other items or design details may have been included in our deal.

Sadly, I had expected there would be cynics and pessimists in response to this news.

I feel good about it and so does Mike so what else matters except that some benefit will come of it for a worthy charity.

Thanks again.

regards, Jack

[amz-fx]

-double post-  :?

[troubledtom]

phucking awsome jack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
        let me tell you guys..... not only is jack smart as @@#$%^&
he's is as cool as they come.
        a toast to jack :wink:
                  - tom pollock

[zenpeace69]

Whoa, that's really cool.  It's even cooler that you are sending some of it to a charity.