Since 2015, I operated EAE more or less alone across various spare bedrooms. After transitioning to full time starting last summer, my increasingly cramped quarters and ever-expanding workload became unsustainable. I knew I needed space for others to come help, and I always admired the camaraderie of a small workshop. It was time to make it happen.
During New England’s brief springtime plague respite, I was lucky enough to find commercial space practically down the street from my house: a few hundred square feet of my own where I could sprawl out without having to worry about dog hair in the packing tape, or partial assemblies covering the D&D table (some people call it a kitchen table right?). No longer would I have to shuttle parts to my friends’ improvised home workspaces either.
While I am disinterested in growth for its own sake, this year we were able to ramp up our operation enough to turn this company from an “I” into a “we”. Even with serious parts shortages it was our most successful year to date, because we could actually make a unified effort to meet demand and work with retailers. To that end: special thanks to our friends at MAS Distro for helping us navigate the wholesale space, and to the retailers who have taken us on this year.
Not only that, but I just have to say: I’m damn proud of this team we’ve put together. I feel very lucky to have such competent, kind, and funny people here in the shop with me, and I take great joy in the vibrant and collaborative space we have cultivated. So huge thanks to Brad, Cam, Miranda, and Zach for being integral parts of EAE.
Now for more operative details: at the time of this post, we have about five years’ worth of pedal designs available in their most optimized forms possible. Everything we make is either regularly stocked, or about to be. For the first time, pedals that were limited to sporadic drops are now abundantly available! Some older models have been retired as open source designs, which is has been a goal of mine for years now.
Admittedly I have done less engineering work this year than I hoped—2021 often felt more like stumbling through business school than like working as an engineer. Sorting out all the legal, financial, and tax stuff did not come naturally, so I will be glad to worry less about that side of things in 2022.
So what do we have to look forward to next year? More actually new products, for one. We have enjoyed making an array of drive and preamp pedals that fill unique niches in the market, and some old favorites will return in 2022, but I want to expand our horizons! I have made great progress on Sending V2. The analog side is basically complete (and sounds fantastic) but many obstacles remain. Our biggest challenge will be the development of a robust library of embedded control code and finding a processor that we can actually buy in production quantities.
This excitement comes with a caveat though: parts shortages are severe and are likely going to get worse before they get better. I’m not trying to scare people or introduce FOMO or anything like that. It’s just the reality of the world right now. Some of our favorite ICs have lead times of 6 months or longer, and other parts are so far behind that they aren’t even on manufacturer schedules. I fully expect to have to change some of our circuit boards around to accommodate these part changes and keep things moving while maintaining our standards of quality.
No way forward but to embrace the challenge. Given the state of the world, sometimes making pedals feels like fiddling on the deck of the Titanic. But we really appreciate the opportunity to make tools for musicians to create their best music, and to enjoy the creative process ourselves.
Thanks for all your support and we’ll see you in 2022.
-John