Considering offering laser etching service for enclosures, what say you?

[jimmybjj]

I know your vote will depend on the cost, assume for the sake of the poll the cost will be in your desired price range.

At this stage it is only a idea (one that is in serious consideration) because of start cost involved and the xfactor of how much demand there might be.

If you have any comments please write them below. Tell me if you think it's a good idea or if I'm a complete idiot. How much you would pay for the service. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

My intentions would be to offer my own powdercoated enclosure as well as offer the etching service alone.

[DutchMF]

Hey Jim,

Great idea! I think I would only use this service occasionally, but thats mainly because of the time/costs that are involved with shipping overseas. If I were to build a pedal that would most likely become a mainstay on my board, then I most certainly would........

Paul

[croquet hoop]

Not voted yet; I would have chosen "on occasion" (say, one or two per month), but that would also depend on the shipping cost (I live in Europe).

If you also offer powdercoated enclosures, and if the price of the enclosures + shipping (without the price of engraving) is competitive with PPP, yeah, I would certainly choose you over them.

[haveyouseenhim]

That would be awesome. I was having my enclosures done locally, but they thought it would be a good idea to change the price on me from $5 to $25 without warning. And they didn't tell me until after they did an enclosure. Needless to say I just walked out without paying.

[jimmybjj]

My enclosure prices and powdercoating would be on par or better than PPP. I won't have the selection of enclosures, just the standard sizes.

International shipping is still something I have to figure out.

[Droogie]

Since I'm not set up to do much in the way of finishing boxes, this would be awesome. I'm totally ignorant as to how involved etching enclosures is though so I don't quite know how to price it out.

[pk1802]

If you had various color options, common box sizes, and non-etched enclosure pricing comperable to PPP or Mammoth, I would be in to order some.

The main question I have is, what of us guys who suck at designing graphics? If you could supply some templates we could work with, I feel that would take most of the guess work out of it for me. I can handle copy and pasting into a template.

[pickdropper]

I think this is a great idea.  There would be a bit of a learning curve for purchasers in figuring out what would look good as an etch and what wouldn't, but I think a guide could be put together to help people figure that out.  I'd probably be willing to help, depending on my available free time.

I think the real benefit is offering enclosure + powder coating pricing.  That will bring it down to the cost of just the engraving instead of people having to pay to send in their box.

[selfdestroyer]

I'm in the "on occasion" category. Price is obviously a factor. I really like that look but I would not do it for every pedal at this point.

[jubal81]

I think this is a great idea.  There would be a bit of a learning curve for purchasers in figuring out what would look good as an etch and what wouldn't, but I think a guide could be put together to help people figure that out.  I'd probably be willing to help, depending on my available free time.

I think the real benefit is offering enclosure + powder coating pricing.  That will bring it down to the cost of just the engraving instead of people having to pay to send in their box.

I agree. It'd be the double (triple?) shipping that would hurt. I'd love to see this work.

[jimmybjj]

If you had various color options, common box sizes, and non-etched enclosure pricing comperable to PPP or Mammoth, I would be in to order some.

The main question I have is, what of us guys who suck at designing graphics? If you could supply some templates we could work with, I feel that would take most of the guess work out of it for me. I can handle copy and pasting into a template.

I think a basic template would be a requirement. I could probably do some basic formatted designs for people that just wanted a ready to go enclosure. As far as actual design, that is something i cannot help out with, my artistic skills are limited and surely aren't broad enough to help others.

I think this is a great idea.  There would be a bit of a learning curve for purchasers in figuring out what would look good as an etch and what wouldn't, but I think a guide could be put together to help people figure that out.  I'd probably be willing to help, depending on my available free time.

That would be awesome.

[gtr2]

While I feel it would be a great service to the community, you'd need to figure out if the potential headaches outweigh the profitability. 

Josh

[patrickbrose]

Even just a few layouts (2 knob, 3 knob, 4 knob 125B) where we could add text to text boxes for each knob and then a place to put a graphic in the open space on the top. An Adobe file (fill in the blank style would be great). Simply type in your text, choose a font, drag and drop a graphic and then email the file to you. That would be sweet. As for cost, If it is as easy as taking a file and sending to the engraver, then charge $10 on top of the cost of the enclosure.
So:
125B Powdercoated: $11 (cost for most expensive option at mammoth)
Engraving: $10
Shipping: $4
Call it $25 per box shipped. I could see that. Much more and it would be too costly for me.
-P

[gordo]

I'm in.  I'd love to have access to a Versa lazer but this would be a second best option. 

[culturejam]

If you had some basic layouts ready to go so that people could just indicate what label they want on each control and maybe a pedal name, that would work. Getting really custom could be a nightmare. There is reason that screenprinters and promotional items companies charge a setup fee (it's a headache dealing with people who know nothing about graphic design and file formats).

Maybe if you targeted some layouts to match Brian's existing products, that would give some traction.