I saw someone mention in another thread that Pedal Parts Plus was under new management. Their site only mentions moving to Hammond, LA but nothing about any organizational changes (and of course their Facebook page and forum haven't had any action in a couple of years). Anyone know the story? Is Connie still involved?
It's all news to me. Wouldn't mind hearing the details if someone knows.
Jacob
Quote from: aion on June 14, 2016, 07:13:06 PM
Anyone know the story? Is Connie still involved?
I hope she is, She was awesome and super nice!
I know that they moved and heard from several others (here) that they were under management. but that's all I know.
I've been wondering about this too. I was just about to order some stuff but held off in case they end up with some kind huge backlog, etc. Hope Connie is still there as well! But Anacoco and Hammond are not close to each other, so it could be a new ownership scenario...
FWIW I've ordered enclosures from them recently & gotten them pretty quickly. Didn't know this was going on, but it didn't seem to affect delivery.
T
Quote from: Bursarboy on June 15, 2016, 08:42:21 PM
FWIW I've ordered enclosures from them recently & gotten them pretty quickly. Didn't know this was going on, but it didn't seem to affect delivery.
T
Same here. Mayb a few days s slower. Connie's name wasn't on the tracking info...
Connie sold the company. The guy I've been dealing with is Ashten Landry and all dealings so far have been very positive. The enclosure I ordered was a custom color and UV printing for the L5 Lab Series Preamp from Aion. Will let everyone know how it turns out.
But most importantly, will the new guy still include Jolly Ranchers?
Didn't realize these guys were so close to home. I've never ordered from them, but now I know who to order from if I need something quicker. Guess I would have to pay tax though
I recently got a batch of UV printing done there and they were great and faster than expected. Jolly ranchers still included (which is most important)
Josh
I'm curious if there will be any change in color consistency.
I really like PPP but that was one of the biggest issues we dealt with when buying larger batches of enclosures for FFX. Within the same batch, the same color could vary wildly. Not just a Pantone shade or two.
Wow, I did not realize about the color inconsistency since I've only placed such small orders with them. That sounds like a pain. Glad to hear about the Jolly Ranchers, though!
Orbis_Ignis...I also find it funny they're now in Hammond, LA. That is where I started college (SLU) way back in 1993 before I moved up north.
Did you guys switch to a different company for FFX or are you still planning to use PPP in the future?
For me their drilling was always an issue. It was hassle enough to specify the measurements, but then they didn't guarantee accuracy for PCB mounting unless you mailed them a test-fit PCB. Even then, only the PCB mounted components were always accurate - I had positional variations of up to 1/4" in the side mounted components. Their powdercoating and printing was always top notch, but I began just adding the drill marks to the artwork and drilling everything myself. Not scalable, but the past couple years I've only needed <10 at a time from them so it was fine.
Mammoth has much better PDF templates for drilling, and they measure from the center point rather than the outer edges, which is the only way to really guarantee accuracy as far as I know. But their delivery time is awful, far worse than PPP ever was. I've been waiting 6 weeks now for just a physical proof of the Lab Series L5 enclosure. And the only reason I needed a physical proof ($40 extra) was because I've heard so many bad reports about their finish quality and didn't want to commit to a large order without making sure they could pull it off first.
Quote from: aion on June 16, 2016, 03:54:51 PM
Did you guys switch to a different company for FFX or are you still planning to use PPP in the future?
For me their drilling was always an issue. It was hassle enough to specify the measurements, but then they didn't guarantee accuracy for PCB mounting unless you mailed them a test-fit PCB. Even then, only the PCB mounted components were always accurate - I had positional variations of up to 1/4" in the side mounted components. Their powdercoating and printing was always top notch, but I began just adding the drill marks to the artwork and drilling everything myself. Not scalable, but the past couple years I've only needed <10 at a time from them so it was fine.
Mammoth has much better PDF templates for drilling, and they measure from the center point rather than the outer edges, which is the only way to really guarantee accuracy as far as I know. But their delivery time is awful, far worse than PPP ever was. I've been waiting 6 weeks now for just a physical proof of the Lab Series L5 enclosure. And the only reason I needed a physical proof ($40 extra) was because I've heard so many bad reports about their finish quality and didn't want to commit to a large order without making sure they could pull it off first.
I'm certainly willing to give PPP's new management a shot. Hopefully the color consistency improves.
Ordering pre-drilled enclosures isn't viable for us since we have them laser etched. I'm 100% certain that they cannot hold the required drilling tolerances that would allow us to etch after drilling.
Here's the test shop of my L5 box. The shot is clear film over the powdercoated box (aqua sparkle over black). Think it's going to look pretty cool with the Aion Lab Series plate.
(http://www.gordomusic.com/Madbean/L5TS.jpg)
Now I have to find knobs...
NICE! Love the sparkle! Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Quote from: gordo on June 18, 2016, 04:21:22 PM
Here's the test shop of my L5 box. The shot is clear film over the powdercoated box (aqua sparkle over black). Think it's going to look pretty cool with the Aion Lab Series plate.
(http://www.gordomusic.com/Madbean/L5TS.jpg)
Now I have to find knobs...
Wow! That's nice! 8)
The sparkle sure sets it off.
I haven't started my L5 yet.
Still waiting/hoping there will be a group buy on the enclosure.
After seeing this I might need another one!
Last I heard its in the works. I'm really looking forward to using the pedal and wanted to see how the UV process looks so this was a win/win.
I'm also looking forward to Aion's Dimension-C board.
Quote from: galaxiex on June 18, 2016, 06:36:06 PM
I haven't started my L5 yet.
Still waiting/hoping there will be a group buy on the enclosure.
Yes, Mammoth is not being super fast right now (placed the order 6 weeks ago). I should have the proof enclosure the middle of this coming week, so I'll do the "all call" very soon.
Quote from: aion on June 18, 2016, 07:24:08 PM
Yes, Mammoth is not being super fast right now (placed the order 6 weeks ago). I should have the proof enclosure the middle of this coming week, so I'll do the "all call" very soon.
Awesome! Thanks for the reply. :)
No rush, I am patient.
I just got the test print for my most recent order yesterday. I ordered these the day of the big move, it took about 3 weeks but I got a courtesy email explaining that the move had set them back.
This will be a relatively large batch so I should be able to comment on color consistency in a few days.
(http://pedalphilia.com/images/testprint.jpg)
That looks stellar!
Not the best pic for a color reference, but the color consistency was spot on across the entire batch of enclosures.
These are transparent blue starlight and turned out perfect.
The new PPP staff is doing a great job. ;D
(http://www.pedalphilia.com/images/Infinity1024.jpg)
Wow, you've been busy this past week! :) Those look great!
Has anyone noticed the change in PPP powder coat pricing. From what I can see, pricing for just the painting starts at $8.99 per box. It does scale in quantity, but it takes a bunch of boxes to get to where it was before.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Has anyone noticed the change in PPP powder coat pricing. From what I can see, pricing for just the painting starts at $8.99 per box. It does scale in quantity, but it takes a bunch of boxes to get to where it was before.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I just noticed this yesterday too. I was thinking about grabbing some plain white 1590B's for a project my daughter and I want to get started on.
I think I'll probably just end up getting some from Smallbear or Mammoth. I've been happy with their enclosures in the past.
I don't build in large enough quantities to get the price back down with PPP.
Probably won't be ordering anything unless I really need a color/finish I can't find elsewhere.
Bummer........
The new owner visited DIYSB recently - perhaps the thread the OP referred to? - and gave some justification for price increases, etc.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=115050.0
Those blues look great as do the screenprints on them.
Well, at least the drilling charges aren't going up too. However, this more or less guarantees I won't be ordering any premium or custom colors again.
It is kind of expensive, but a nicely finished enclosure with custom artwork for ~$40 is pretty solid IMO.
Let's face it, this hobby is not really about the value - It makes more sense financially to have someone else do the building for you. This hobby is about doing it your own way, and having the pedal reflect your priorities.
Just my .02
I don't have a problem spending a few extra bucks for a quality product.
I was just bummed because all I wanted was to save the hassle of prepping and painting a few white boxes to put decals on. It's getting pretty humid and the temperatures are dropping here in MI which makes it harder to do my own painting. Just clear coating over the decals will be enough of a PITA.
A paint charge of $8.95 for a white box is a tough pill to swallow.
If it were "cosmic swirly translucent sparkle burst" or something like that I wouldn't even flinch.
The last plain white 1590BB i ordered from them had a couple of rough spots in it. When I very lightly tried to sand it smooth, I went right down to the metal pretty quick. Who knows what kind of prep work was done (sanding/cleaning) before it was coated, if any. And the finish was VERY thin.
I will say that that one came from them BEFORE the change of ownership. Maybe they're doing a bit better now.
All I know is that there's no way I'm gonna want to pay $8.95 for another white enclosure of that quality.
I'm not trying to hate on PPP or anything. Don't get me wrong, I've been very happy with most of the stuff I've gotten from them. I'm sure I'll end up giving them another try eventually.
I'll still totally order "standard" color drilled enclosures from them. Also, I didn't notice the premium is only a dollar more than the standard, so that'll still be an option, especially given the once or twice a year I actually box something. Still beats buying a bunch of different paint colors on my own, so I see your point. I have gotten one standard color (candy teal translucent) from them since the change of ownership and it's still the great quality I've gotten before. One other thing I liked a lot--their new CNC machinist is really on the ball and will contact you if he foresees any problems with your drill template (which mine almost always have!). He even took the time to walk me through doing a template with measurements from the center lines, rather than the outer edges like I used to do.
The premium finishes would be hard for me to justify given the quality of my building, but who knows, for a special project it may be worth it still.
Quote from: desmondtencents on September 28, 2016, 03:18:07 PM
I don't have a problem spending a few extra bucks for a quality product.
...
A paint charge of $8.95 for a white box is a tough pill to swallow.
If it were "cosmic swirly translucent sparkle burst" or something like that I wouldn't even flinch.
...
The last ... i ordered from them had a couple of rough spots in it. When I very lightly tried to sand it smooth, I went right down to the metal pretty quick. Who knows what kind of prep work was done (sanding/cleaning) before it was coated, if any. And the finish was VERY thin.
This is my experience/view too. Bummed re: pricing, especially now that finishing quality seems to have gone down.
Worse yet, now I can't find painted enclosures on the new Mammoth website. Did I miss an announcement that Mammoth are getting out of finishing? My last batch of painted enclosures from them is still in the mail!
Quote from: brucer on September 28, 2016, 11:45:17 PM
Worse yet, now I can't find painted enclosures on the new Mammoth website. Did I miss an announcement that Mammoth are getting out of finishing? My last batch of painted enclosures from them is still in the mail!
Update (and a relief):
QuoteSorry, we're having problems with the site right now. If you're ready to order now, you can just buy bare enclosures and then email me to let me know the order number and what color you want them to be. Sorry about the site issue!
Thanks,
Alan Hatcher
Customer Service
Mammoth Electronics
3203 Broce Dr.
Suite B
Norman, OK 73072
405-310-0520
sales@mammothelectronics.com
Got an email from the new owners of PPP. I like the direction they're heading in. I'll continue to support them.
Jacob