"boutique" builder using MBP boards

[movinginslomo]

Someone in the Tone Mob facebook group was bummed he opened a "boutique" flanger pedal and found an MPB board in it. I believe (based on his pics) it was a current lover board. Is this still a problem? From his complaint this was not a "one off" or "selling this pedal I made"  and for his credit the seller did have some self etched boards in his other pedals. I suggested he complain here as, correct me if I'm wrong, this isn't kosher. Obviously you can't police this kind of thing but what a bummer. I'd have been bummed. 

[benny_profane]

I think Brian is already aware of that seller and they've started making their own boards for the flanger. All of that is second-hand knowledge, though, so who knows.

[madbean]

There's no problem using mbp boards for one off or small run builds for sale. This has always been the case. Sounds more like miscommunication between the builder and customer. At the same time, all mbp boards are as good or in many cases better than some production run boards you see from smaller boutique shops. I can say that with some confidence

I don't sell big quantities of boards to individuals. I'm very up front in this regard - if someone comes to me with a request for a large quantity (eg in the range of 10-20) I explain the benefit and cost savings of designing their own PCB and often give a list of names who do contract design work if that's what is needed and even suggest manufacturers. In a few cases I've taken on that work myself (and not branded as madbeanpedals) but not too often anymore. Not sure who we are talking about but if this is the person I'm thinking of it came about exactly as I described above an he would likely confirm that. I might have sold him 20 or so CL boards over a period of several months but I don't remember exactly.

[matmosphere]

I think Brian is already aware of that seller and they've started making their own boards for the flanger. All of that is second-hand knowledge, though, so who knows.

Pretty sure I saw him in the Buy, Sell, Trade forum a while back looking for boards.

From a quality standpoint, I've fixed a decent amount of pedals for friends and the only one that had a board that was as good as one of Brian's was a Moogerfooger.

[movinginslomo]

At the same time, all mbp boards are as good or in many cases better than some production run boards you see from smaller boutique shops. I can say that with some confidence

I can attest they are fantastic and my weener wah still kills it. Best board I've ever had the pleasure of soldering to. I would just be bummed if I paid a lot of money to a "boutique" builder to find out all he really did is assemble and upcharge. Kind of like a "builder" who really just assembles bolt on guitar parts. I can do that myself! 

[gordo]

Eh, at the same time we're really not the target audience for these sellers and knowing the quality of the boards I'd be pretty confident recommending anything built on the platform.  Would be cooler if the builder was doing their own thing but sometimes in limited runs it just doesn't make sense to reinvent the wheel.

In terms of board quality, these are some of the finest boards I've buggered up and had to re-order :-)