Poker anyone? Click to enlarge.
Poker chips? Pickup selector ring? Switch washer plates? I’ve seen these descriptions and a good dozen variations and I’m still not sure what they are called officially. In fact I’m not sure just which official would be tasked with naming these officially. No matter as this didn’t stop me from designing a few of my own.
In general, I have a bit of a beef when it comes to guitar accessories. Lots of poorly designed and cheaply made stuff. Some of it sitting on very expensive guitars for no other reason than that’s how it was done 50 years ago. I could never understand why most truss rod covers were and are made from the cheapest materials and some of the worst design esthetics I’ve ever seen. That lack of understanding led me to design a few which have become quite a hit these past few months. Seems that quite a few other people feel the same way I do.
So I recently turned my thinking to the above mentioned switch washers and came up with three designs which I’ll put into production, probably later this week. Same materials as the truss rod covers albeit thinner to keep the weight down and to fit with the usual hardware.
Will people get into these too? It will be interesting to see what the reaction will be. I’ll do a short (and affordable) run and throw them out there and see if anything flies. I certainly like them anyway. If no one buys them perhaps I’ll have to buy a few hundred guitars to fit them on. Don’t want to be wasteful…
I just call them switch plates…but I may be considered boring. ?Very cool design. If I had a guitar with that type of switch, I’d buy one!
My beloved one(hehehe!) is a star version of switch ring )) Great Job Michael!
another excellent product idea….are you planning on offering stock in the company?
: )
Hey, Old Nod…
Well, I think if we did, our IPO would be highly affordable. 😉
Actually I see accessories as a very important part of the business. The more accessories we can sell the more control we can have on our guitar pricing. Ideally, it will give us more flexibility than just relying on guitars alone. That’s the business reason. Personally, I love doing this kind of thing. It’s like cheap thrills compared to developing guitar models which is considerably more expensive and time consuming. With accessories I can go from design to finished product in about 2 weeks or so. Both are very satisfying but accessories are more immediately gratifying and if something should go wrong or not sell, the ramifications are minimal.
Sometimes I have a serious wonders about how do you have time to do all the things )))) Do you eat good, sleep well and have time for relax? ))))))))))))))
1). Do you eat good?
Usually.
2). Sleep well?
Never.
3). Have time for relax?
Actually when I’m designing I am quite relaxed. Also when I’m playing guitar. Otherwise I work most every day usually from morning until early morning.
I did have a relaxing 3 days off in early January. My father-in-law went up to Northern Japan in the snowy mountains to a hotsprings inn. Nothing to do but take baths and eat good food. No computer, no work. It was the first time in maybe 8 years. I must say, I enjoyed it immensely!
I took off my hat in front of such a diligence. Wish I find deal of my dream as you did, to live same way!
Correct me if I wrong, but i thing that the Japan is a right place for that lifestile? I am realy excited by this country for all my life. I hope you find some time to tell me about life in Japan, and will be very appreciate if you write an e-mail about it to me )
make sense… and if you’re enjoying it, why the ‘hell’ not…? keep ’em coming…
Another great item. I’m getting some and some pup caps. You’re right about the truss rod covers and what they are lacking.