I built a clone for myself but now someone else wants another one. What do I do?

[kwijibo]

Praise & Worship. Seems quite popular with some guitar players in the US.

[chromesphere]

I just like to say something here thats probably outside the box of the general consensus in regards to 'cloning for sale'.

There are of course moral issues involved with ripping off someone elses work directly / stealing a copyright name etc which i dont encourage.  But...we are a talented bunch and it saddens me to think that we can't make money off our talent.  The time love and attention i see some people on this forum putting into there builds can leave me speechless...And then you see guitarists raving about JOYO pedals and how great they are.  They dont care about the quality of the parts used, additional mods, time spent building it, etc.  They are only concerned with 1) whether the pedal sounds like whats its cloned after and 2) how much it costs.  It just doesnt seem fair to me...

I'd say if you can build a pedal to sell and make money off it that is worth your while making it in the first place, go for it.  The thing is that most people that build to sell enjoy building them so much that the pitence of extra $$ they make goes towards more pedal parts or maybe a pedal for themselves?  Build 2 get one free.

Money aside, although i havent sold many, when i have built a pedal to sell, i've found it tests my build quality skills and knowledge and i end up a better builder then when i started.  Which for me is more important then the 20-30 dollars you 'might' make off the finished product.
Paul

[Strat68okc]

I say build and sell if you can. Just tell folks where you got the designs and give credit where its due. That way they are paying for the parts and the labor...

[ekamal]

Thanks all for chiming in, I'm taking it all in and have learned so much from your replies. More along the lines of what chromesphere said earlier, I've decided to build two and keep one for myself as a reward. I can always find use for it.

So the plan is:
- name the pedal with something different to the original but I will try to hint to the original pedal as per Mark Hammer's suggestion
- I will stick a piece of paper inside at the back of the bottom plate to give credit to the original work, including the original pedal builder and the PCB layout I'm using
- charge the guy parts + labour

It's always cool to have something I will have built on somebody else's board.

[Fender3D]

Good points in these 2 pages.

If I may add mine,
I seriously think we wouldn't have got rock music if Jim Marshall wouldn't copied a Fender amp with european parts...
He named it after his name, gave no credit at all and created a milestone for music.

If you give your customers something they can't find anywhere, then you're done

[puretube]

You could get in touch with the designer and offer to pay them a reasonable licensing fee for your clone, and/or could put a note on the bottom of the pedal or something "Original Circuit Design By _____", that would be the good people thing to do.

I know Electro Harmonix licensed the Mu-Tron III circuit from Mike Beigel, the inventor, for their Q-Tron, in spite of a few minor modifications.

Well, those modifications were done with a little help from M. B. himself... 

[Johan]

most people who build things and use them will sooner or later run into someone who want to pay you to build for them...I value my time more than what is reasonable to charge for the work I do( with one off's, there is no way you can compete with any comersial product if looks and build quality counts and you put a realistic price on the hours you spend), so I just tell them it is called DIY for a reason and all the info they need are out there for free on the web...
..DIY, ok?
J

[davent]

Good points in these 2 pages.

If I may add mine,
I seriously think we wouldn't have got rock music if Jim Marshall wouldn't copied a Fender amp with european parts...
He named it after his name, gave no credit at all and created a milestone for music.

If you give your customers something they can't find anywhere, then you're done

And to take it a step further, wasn't Mr. Fender pretty much just using circuits published in the tube manufacturer's literature, there to encourage people to use their tubes.

dave

[Electron Tornado]

And to take it a step further, wasn't Mr. Fender pretty much just using circuits published in the tube manufacturer's literature, there to encourage people to use their tubes.
dave

A case in point is the PT2399. The datasheet has schematics for both echo and surround/delay circuits.

[Fender3D]

A case in point is the PT2399. The datasheet has schematics for both echo and surround/delay circuits.

About this...
I'm seriously considering to issue a patent that will give me the sole right to apply power supply at pin 1....

[deadastronaut]

^ granted...

[Canucker]

This whole thing just seem silly to me. So many mass produced pedals are near copies of other mass produced pedals. How many places can you get a fuzz face with a bias pot? I got a Bozz HyperFuzz a little while ago and was kind of shocked read in the instruction booklet that mode one modles the Dallas_arbiter FUZZ FACE, mode two  the Maestro-FZ-1A, mode three the Octavia fuzz....they stated they're using different technology to do this but they actually claim to copy the brand and model. Did they cut a deal to be able to do this?

[Canucker]

IMHO and my 2 cents...

If you can find whatever it is that you are building (even if it is not customized as you are saying) on eBay, craigslist, etc. for a certain amount.... that is about what you will get! 

Example...

If you are building a Phase 90 with depth mod, script/block mod, etc. then it may take you XXX amount of hours and materials which adds up... in your mind... to $75

The same non-modded Phase 90 is available on eBay for $35 shipped. (hypothetical)

Guess what.... you can expect to be offered $35 

In this day and age of the internets, that is how it goes however, like the Colonel said, if you are making something that is rare or more in-depth or collectable, you may be rewarded 

At least that is what I have experienced! 

$35 shipped....I wish that existed in Canada....but if your being requested to do a modded version you add the going rate for the mod. Is the $35 ebay price for a new or a used pedal? Your not building a used pedal your building from new parts so you charge the price for a new pedal plus the price of the mod...then the customer can decide if its worth it to them....cus otherwise is it really worth your time? not really.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

$35 shipped....I wish that existed in Canada....but if your being requested to do a modded version you add the going rate for the mod. Is the $35 ebay price for a new or a used pedal? Your not building a used pedal your building from new parts so you charge the price for a new pedal plus the price of the mod...then the customer can decide if its worth it to them....cus otherwise is it really worth your time? not really.

The point I was trying to make is that you can indeed charge whatever price that you want for mods and/or pedals however, if the potential buyer can find the same "type" pedal on the flea-bay (modded or not... and varying conditions) then they buyer is only going to offer that much to you.

Sure... you can charge for the price of the new pedal, the price for the parts, and the price for your labor. Its not gonna matter if the buyer sees someone selling the same unmodded pedal for $40!!!! At this point, people dont care about your efforts and money invested. They only want the deal!!!

[Electron Tornado]

The point I was trying to make is that you can indeed charge whatever price that you want for mods and/or pedals however, if the potential buyer can find the same "type" pedal on the flea-bay (modded or not... and varying conditions) then they buyer is only going to offer that much to you.

Sure... you can charge for the price of the new pedal, the price for the parts, and the price for your labor. Its not gonna matter if the buyer sees someone selling the same unmodded pedal for $40!!!! At this point, people dont care about your efforts and money invested. They only want the deal!!!

This is true to a certain extent. It really depends on the particular pedal and what mods were done. There are other factors as well, such as how many others with the same mods are on the market, where you try to sell it, how good your advertising and marketing is. If someone wants to buy a pedal with the intent to mod it for re-sale, research the market for that pedal and be careful of how much you pay.

[Canucker]

$35 shipped....I wish that existed in Canada....but if your being requested to do a modded version you add the going rate for the mod. Is the $35 ebay price for a new or a used pedal? Your not building a used pedal your building from new parts so you charge the price for a new pedal plus the price of the mod...then the customer can decide if its worth it to them....cus otherwise is it really worth your time? not really.

The point I was trying to make is that you can indeed charge whatever price that you want for mods and/or pedals however, if the potential buyer can find the same "type" pedal on the flea-bay (modded or not... and varying conditions) then they buyer is only going to offer that much to you.

Sure... you can charge for the price of the new pedal, the price for the parts, and the price for your labor. Its not gonna matter if the buyer sees someone selling the same unmodded pedal for $40!!!! At this point, people dont care about your efforts and money invested. They only want the deal!!!

I understand what your saying about people wanting a deal. I ran my own business for 15 years (nothing to do with this stuff but also custom work)... but if someone isn't willing to pay your asking price then your free to turn down they're offer, they're free to buy where ever they choose. You don't have to price match especially for something that isn't identical. Its up to the buyer to judge what the modded version is worth to them compared to the original. Its insane how many people don't value professional custom work....even crazier how many think it should be less expensive then mass produced stuff.

[Jdansti]

even crazier how many think it should be less expensive then mass produced stuff.

+1