Local Builds Guitar, Bass Effects Pedals for Area Musicians

Musicians around town would be interested to know about local business owner Blake Corder of CabinFever Effects. Corder builds high quality guitar and bass effects pedals right out of Shreveport and sells them for modest prices. Learn more about the entrepreneur and his business below.

When did you start CabinFever Effects? 
I first started selling pedals around August 2012.

What was the first guitar pedal you ever built? 
The first pedal I built was a clone of the old germanium Fuzz Face. That was in probably January or February of 2012.

How did you start building pedals, and did you ever think it would turn into a business? 
I was something of an effects pedal junkie throughout 2011. I was buying, selling and trading mostly boutique brand pedals, which got to be a costly hobby pretty quickly. One day, while I was trying to find a pedal that had only been produced in limited quantities, somebody on a gear forum informed me that I could build one for less and forego the difficulty of tracking one down, so I ordered parts and tried my hand at soldering. The first attempts were quite sad to be honest. Basically, I started building them to save money that I was blowing on pedals. It wasn’t long before friends began asking me to build effects for them. That slowly turned into CabinFever Effects.

Do you hand paint the pedals yourself? 
I have hand painted some of them, but most of my builds are spray painted and then stamped with ink for the control labels and so on.

Did you have a background working with electrical equipment? 
No. In fact, I’d always been a bit scared of working on my own gear until late 2011. Everything I’ve learned has been more or less trial and error. Admittedly, I’m no electrical engineer.

Are you a musician? 
Yes. I’ve played guitar since I was 14 (I’m 28 now) and have messed around with various instruments throughout the years. Oddly enough, I’m most into playing and writing folk music these days, which seems to throw people for a loop since that stuff is mostly acoustic-driven and I build pedals.

What is your most popular pedal at the moment? 
Without a doubt, the Klon Centaur clones I build, also known as Klones. I generally don’t do many clones of existing pedals, but the Klon is an exception. That overdrive circuit has so much lore and mystique built around it that the original units often go for upwards of $1,000 on eBay. I’m able to offer them at a fraction of that, so the musicians who put them to use can afford them.

Do you create custom pedals according to a customer’s tone needs? 
At first I offered custom work, but it is very time consuming and expensive. I really don’t like to gouge people with prices, and the custom work required significantly increased costs on my end in terms of time and special parts, so I have since stuck with more basic production type work. I do still offer little modifications here and there, but I wouldn’t be able to do this for long if I went back to custom stuff.

How long does it take you to build a pedal? 
It depends on the pedal. On average, it takes about 5-6 hours to populate a circuit and wire it up. Pedals with less knobs and parts are quicker, obviously. Painting and dry times are what often takes longer. As for when an order is placed, the average lead time is 1 week. Sometimes I have to wait for parts, but most stuff I use regularly stays pretty well-stocked to prevent delays.

What classic pedals have you recreated so far? 
In addition to the Klone clone, I have a pedal called the “Breaker 1-9” that is a modified version of the old Marshall BluesBreaker overdrives, which features a 3-way clipping switch and additional hi-end control. I also build a “Big Bear Muff,” which is built to the specs of the old Electro Harmonix Green Russian Big Muffs (bass players love them). Here and there, I’ve done vintage fuzzes like Fuzz Faces and Tone Bender MkII’s, as well as a few RangeMaster germanium treble boosters. Oh, and highly modified Tube Screamers.

What do you hope the future will hold for CabinFever Effects?
Honestly, I like keeping it relatively small and mostly local. I’m currently working on a number of original designs that I hope to release down the road, which I’m excited about. Overall, I don’t have any big dreams of taking over the boutique pedal market or starting some stompbox revolution. CabinFever Effects will probably stay a one-man operation for the foreseeable future, and I’ll do this for as long as I enjoy doing it, really. I’m just pleased to be able to do it and get to know local musicians by being the nerd that I am.

If you are interested in some of Corder’s hand-wired guitar and bass effects, you can find him at facebook.com/CabinFeverFx or cabinfevereffects.com. He will be more than happy to help you build up your pedal board.