A couple of weeks in

It’s been a couple of weeks since the release of the Faded Embers then the Faded Twin.

Releasing something new always comes with a bit of exposure. After spending a long time designing, troubleshooting, refining, making and tweaking, then it leaves the bench and becomes something people can use. I find that shift is pretty uncomfortable, even when I’m really happy with where they’ve landed.

I imagine most people reading this, being musicians and creatives, will recognise that feeling in some form. Making something and putting it out there always carries a question of whether it will actually resonate. 

Why the Faded pedals

The Faded pedals started as a practical exercise really.

I wanted to see what the minimum version of these ideas could be without losing the parts that actually matter. Smaller enclosures, fewer controls, simpler builds, and a price that makes them easier to pick up without needing to overthink it. There’s also a reality to it in that selling more pedals at a lower price might be more viable than making a small number of expensive ones, so I wanted to explore that properly really.

With the Embers, that still centres around a low-gain, bias-y fuzz circuit that can move up into full fuzz, but most of what I find I actually use sits in that lower range or stacked with overdrives. With the Twin, it’s still two gain stages that can run in series or parallel, just reduced to the essentials which make it such a versatile, dynamic gain-staging pedal.

Where I’m coming from

I’m not particularly interested in the component side of things beyond what’s necessary to get the result - NOS never really interested me, nor did fancy laid out wiring (other than the fact it’s cool to look at). 

I’ve always liked good guitar tones and what I’m doing is just trying to get closer to the kinds of sounds I actually enjoy hearing and using, to make pedals that hold up in that context, and which feel like something I (and those musicians I look up to) would want to play.

Why Hamilton Effects

Hamilton Effects started during a time where I needed something to get stuck into. It gave me something practical to work on and something that felt like it was moving somewhere. It’s still that, but now it’s a bit simpler - I want to keep making things that are worth using, and I want it to grow enough that I can spend more time doing it and push further in my creativity.

A small note

There are still a few of the Faded pedals available and if they go I’ll restock them.

Thanks everyone,

James
Hamilton Effects