2018 Wrap-Up and 2019 Plans

[madbean]

Time to wrap up the year and let you guys know what is happening in the coming year.

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Personal notes (for anyone who cares):
2018 was a very hard year for my family. My wife's dad passed, I got really sick and couldn't work very much for almost two months, my daughter had a hard transition into a new school mid semester and I got really serious burnout at one point. But, everything kind of turned around in September. We got our bathroom remodeled and all the water damage repaired, I made a full recovery from my blood pressure issues, Justice got settled in her new school and has made many new friends and I got my mojo back. Seriously, I've been crazy creative over the last couple of months - the ideas come much faster than I can actually work them all out! Very happy about that.

MBP notes:
There is a pattern that has emerged over the last 2 or 3 years where mbp seems to get off to a really rough start for the first 6 months. Sales get sluggish, I get discouraged and think about giving it all up. But, then the switch flips: stuff gets released, sales pick up and I get very energized. 2018 was no exception. A lot of the VFE projects got out, some new mbp projects got released and I have a catalogue of ideas to work on. So, overall I'm happy with how mbp is developing. The forum is still strong although not as active as it was 5 or 6 years ago. Tastes change, and as new builders come on the scene they have different methods of community participation. And, forums are not a strong component of that. So, I am trying to be more active on social media and increase the "brand" (I hate that word) through other channels like Instagram, Facebook, etc.

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2019 - what's coming:
There are several areas I plan to develop in 2019.

1) The PLR campaign. This is the "Premium Limited Run" which will be an entire series of new and old projects developed in a specific format: highest quality PCB fabrication, soft touch switching and consistent form factor. This is the bridge between DIY and more production oriented designs to give members a chance to build projects that are very competitive with some of the best commercial pedals out there. The early part of 2019 will have a Kickstarter campaign to launch this series with different reward levels that will not disappoint

2) Greater integration of mbp with existing parts suppliers. Two compnies I am looking at (and have reached out to) are some component kits with smallbear and some pre-drilled enclosures with PedalPartsPlus. Not much to say on this yet other than it is something I will be working on.

3) Synth shit. I've caught the bug! There will be some guitar pedal oriented synth projects coming in 2019 as well as some stand-alone synth (non-guitar) projects in 2019. These might be really popular or DOA. I don't care. I've been spending quite a bit of time researching simple synth ideas that I can develop into projects I think people will like and I'm just going to dive in.

4) Digital projects: There will be between 2 and 4 additional FV-1 projects in 2019. One of these will be a full stereo pedal which I am close to wrapping up now. The next phase will be diving into some Arduino stuff which I am also very interested in doing. Don't have much to say on this yet other than it's something that will definitely be happening.

5) Tubes! There will be a least a few more tube projects in 2019. One for sure will be a sub-mini amp. There are a few other pedal projects that are being worked on so I'll have more to say about that in the coming months.

6) Store. I keep saying it but for sure in 2019 there will be a new store format that is not Paypal oriented. Payments will still be done through PP, but I really need to get with the times and get a proper store front. This will allow more flash sales, quantity discounts and bundles and overall be more professional than what I have now. I do really like the vibe of the store page right now so ideally I'd like to find a good middle ground between the stylistic mbp vibe and a modern store front.

7) YouTube: I will be stepping up my game in 2019. I'd like to do more on the YT page than just the occasional demo. And by that I mean in-depth tutorials and musings. I'm not about to put myself out there as some kind of YT personality (honestly, I don't even want to show my face on video) but I do want to get some more engaging content for people to utilize and enjoy.


Anyway, that's it for now. This is a very long laundry list but I hope it re-assures you all that mbp will continue to try and push the envelope within the DIY community. I do think 2019 will be a great year for all of us!

Brian


PS: here is a preview of an upcoming synth project: the ThunderCloud!

[jimilee]

Madbean! Madbean! Madbean!Madbean pedals, hooooo!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[alanp]

Brian, I'd be happy to send you some synth PCB's if you want, for research purposes

[flanagan0718]

Brian, you never cease to amaze me with all you do for us. Thank you and even though I haven't been building much any more I still check this forum daily and try to participate as much as possible. You have built an amazing place for all us. Thank you so much for all your hard work and efforts!!
-Mike-

[cooder]

Brian, you never cease to amaze me with all you do for us. Thank you and even though I haven't been building much any more I still check this forum daily and try to participate as much as possible. You have built an amazing place for all us. Thank you so much for all your hard work and efforts!!
-Mike-

Couldn't agree more! What an effort and energy in it! Top notch.

[m-Kresol]

Good to hear that 2018 was overall a success for you and your family. I think this is the most important take-home message here.
I wish you all the best for 2019 and it seems you have a decent workload laid out.

The one thing I can recommend, is to make a project plan for the next year with deadline dates (usually a month) for your main targets. It's a pain to work out and you need to plan accordingly with some buffers, but it will give you the kick in the butt we all need sometimes to get things done in time. Obviously, after 3 month into the new year, you've got new things coming up and some things not working or being uninteresting after all, so it's changeing dynamically. You're lucky since you don't have to report to higher ups why you didn't file for 2 patents and didn't sample 12 customers this year

Again, great work and I'm looking forward to 2019 projects!

[jjjimi84]

I am really happy that 2018 is closing on a positive note for you and your family!

I can say that I personally am so excited for the PLR releases and synth stuff, 2019 looks to be a great year for Madbean!

We have a similar goal with the youtube videos, I want to try and transistion audio demos to video demos and show how things are recorded with what settings and do a sort of build log with music thing. I have a camera and some blank vhs tapes, just gotta figure out how to work the damn thing.😜

[Marshall Arts]

Great plans, Brian. Also happy about the positive ending of 2018. I did some Arduino projects (a midi controller for moebius looper software, a pedal looper, a relay bypass switch, a pt2399 tap tempo ("taprecise"))... Let me know if you want any of these for a start...

[fair.child]

2019 and yet no mini amps plan....

[TGP39]

Having missed years of building and participating on this forum, I am so stoked for 2019.  I'm healthy again and I am so eager to get back into building and learn from some of the best minds around.  I have recently started posting on Instagram and I am amazed at how many 'home grown' builders there are out there and just how amazing their projects are.  It's been a fantastic eye opener and I feel welcomed there just like I have always felt here.  I miss this forum and all its members.   Cheers to a happy, healthy and productive 2019 for Madbean Pedals and all forum members. 
Steve.

[Yahoo67]

Sssssssynth stuuuuuuuff oh yeah !!!!

[madbean]

Thanks for all the nice words, guys! I am really excited for 2019.

Also, I will be adding a "synth building" area to the forum this week for anyone who is interested or working on their own projects and want to share. I just finished the design for the second project called the "Charm Stone" which has 4 oscillators in stereo plus and LDR controlled LPF on each channel. I'm getting the prototypes for these done pretty soon. I have one more project I want to design that uses pressure sensors but I'm still working that one out.

[madbean]

2019 and yet no mini amps plan....

Not true! I already have the prototype PCB for a sub-mini amp. I just haven't had time to build it yet. And, it uses a SMPS for about 80v!

[EBK]

2019 and yet no mini amps plan....

Not true! I already have the prototype PCB for a sub-mini amp. I just haven't had time to build it yet. And, it uses a SMPS for about 80v!

Attaboy! 

[madbean]

2019 and yet no mini amps plan....

Not true! I already have the prototype PCB for a sub-mini amp. I just haven't had time to build it yet. And, it uses a SMPS for about 80v!

Attaboy! 

I think I just need a couple parts for the SMPS board (which is a breakout - not shown here). Admittedly, I've had this PCB for months. I really need to get on it. I've got everything else I need...transformer, tubes, etc, to do the build.