pedalpartsplus.com ceases "one off" enclosure services, alternatives?

[slowpogo]

Pedal Parts Plus now has a minimum order of 25 for enclosures, even blank ones.  They will not ship just one enclosure, nor will they print or paint just one.  This sucks as I had three pedal designs all planned out to do with them, was just spacing it out because it's expensive.

I've seen some other, smaller operations that will etch or print enclosures.  What are the current alternatives people are familiar with for these services?

[mth5044]

Wow, they are selling a lot their hardware at a minimum of 25 now - enclosures, jacks, knobs. Their switches, ic's and passives seem to still be in singles, by why would anyone shop there for those items? They've lost a lot of small time buyers, if they had them.

Which is too bad. Working with Connie back in the day was always a pleasure. Seems they've finally gone fully towards small time pedal businesses instead of hobbyists.

[glops]

I just noticed this yesterday, as well. I have been planning on getting 10 enclosures printed for the first time (I always etch but thought I would change it up), and was planning on using Mammoth then read the latest thread on them here so went back to check out PPP.

Such a bummer on both. Would love to know who else is out there for UV printing that people who recommend. I'm also going to try silkscreening and starting to buy some stuff for that but that will take me a little while longer to get going. Really need to take a break from etching though as that's all I've done since I started many years ago...

[davent]

i received an email update/spam from Mammoth this morning on price increases due to the China tariffs so there is some life, things happening around there.
dave

[glops]

Yesterday I reached out to Disaster Area Designs:

https://www.disasterareaamps.com/custom-drilling-and-printing

They already send me a price list which does look bad to my eyes. They supply the enclosures and here's a rough breakdown for a 1590BB:

enclosure:
$6.20

Drilling:
$3.00 for one side
additional $1 per additional side
$25 CNC setup fee (waived if scale drawing provided)

Powdercoat:
$4 single coat
add $2 for 2 coat finish
specialty (fade, sparkle, high gloss) add $1

UV printing:
$3 for face print
$1 per each additional face/side
$25 art setup fee (waived if vector format art is provided)

Haven't asked yet if there is a minimum but on their rate sheet a price break starts at 12 enclosures. Haven't compared those prices to mammoth or PPP and probably won't since don't think I will use either if I go through with it.

[Kevin Mitchell]

They already send me a price list which does look bad to my eyes. They supply the enclosures and here's a rough breakdown for a 1590BB:

Umm so long as you provide the appropriate files - $15 for a professional detailed enclosure is a killer deal IMO...

-KM

[vigilante397]

Umm so long as you provide the appropriate files - $15 for a professional detailed enclosure is a killer deal IMO...

Agreed, amazing deal. Hell, I probably spend more than $15 worth of my time doing them at home. Plus the cost of paint, wear and tear on drill bits, cost of baking in the oven to cure paint, etc. I have a pretty good setup and I get pretty good results, but at $15 a box I might try them out.

[glops]

I just hit them back up to double check on minimum order and will report back. A couple of guys at the Madbean forum said they were great to work with. I'm looking to do a run of ten so if there is a minimum I hope it's not more than that.

[Walto]

I've done several enclosure orders with Disaster Area, both small and large.

They are easy to work with and communicate well, as long as you keep initiating the communication. I have always used email with them, and when I need status on an order, I send an email and they get back within a day. I don't expect that you will get ghosted, like the reputation of some other shops.

The quality and accuracy is good. They are the same people as Alexander Pedals, by the way, and all Alexander pedals are made in the same shop.

When I have wanted to to proof/prototype orders of less than 10, they have worked with me on it. It probably helps if they expect you to place a larger order later. I definitely don't think they are in the business of one-offs. But they are flexible and reasonable, and you can always ask.

I have drop shipped bare enclosures (from Love My Switches) and they were easy to work with on that as well.

Personally I think the setup fees are more than fair if you're not going to provide proper design files. I always have, and didn't know what the setup fee would be until reading it just now.

[slowpogo]

Best potential alternative I've found so far:

https://customrubontransfers.com/

This assumes you don't need complex multi-color images on your pedal.  If you're just doing lettering and line art similar to JHS or EQD, the cost is reasonable ($35 for one color) and dry transfers look really pro if done right.  You can do multiple colors but not in the same element.

Haven't tried them yet, but I'm planning to for my deadendfx Lovetone Flanger build.  I've found other dry transfer places that do more complex multi-color stuff, but the cost goes up dramatically.

I've been looking into DIY enclosure art options like waterslide or vinyl decals...but it all looks like such a PITA