ABOUT

I'm an artist, printmaker, musician, and tinkerer. I'm pretty sure I'm on a spectrum because...R E A S O N S. Is building pedals this decade's special interest? Keep reading.

The "New" in New Sound Machines should not considered a suggestion of any "new" circuits, techniques, etc. This whole project is about me, N. Shane Martin, and my process of self education. Any proceeds from the sale of things made in my education process go into more parts and continuing educating. I try to charge a fair price, to cover materials and time, and pay myself about minimum wage.

Backstory

In 2025 I left the screen printing and graphic design world to start a new career in UV printing for a contract pedal builder.

I left mostly because of the amount of AI generated slop art I was receiving was going from one submission every couple of months to every other day. The artwork submitted usually required print techniques that we were not well versed in, and management was actively disinterested in learning and providing, or the artwork required such extensive reworking that it was no longer in their budget for me to fix it.

And I was burnt out.

Somehow I left print/design and ended up right back in print/design. Turns out, a lot of the print skills of designing for screen print apply to UV print, mostly the color separations part. In printing pedals there are a lot of different sizes, print faces, etc. Just like screen printing sleeves, pockets, full fronts, they all have jigs. I had a little CAD and 3 print background so I'm using that. So I'm not just making art for, and printing it on pedals, I'm also building manufacturing tooling.

I recently found a Facebook post I made 16 years ago. At that time I wanted to "make boutique pedals for unemployment budgets." In that sixteen years I built ONE pedal, and it was for myself. And upon inspection, knowing what I know now, it's a wonder it works.

another eeyorespin

What I Make

In the year following the discovery of that post I've made at least 28 pedals, with my own hands (by the time you read this that number will likely have grown). Some from commercially available PCBs, some from acid etched copper boards, and some from schematics I traced with KiCAD, laid out, and hand manufactured.

I mostly build discontinued pedals from defunct brands, or attempt to get as close to those high dollar used pedals as I can, on a budget. I try to make cool art and print it on the enclosures.

I hate tiny pedals. Almost everything I make will end up in a 125B or larger enclosure. I recently got a small stash of 1590BS enclosures and those will be the smallest I use on purpose. I will occasionally use a 1590B if you force me. I try to make everything with top jacks. I really like oversized knobs and will use the biggest knobs on a build that I can fit.

I can do custom jobs. If you want a weird fuzz in an enclosure with a doodle of your dog, I can probably make it happen. Hit that contact button and we'll figure out something. Turnaround time will be SLOW. I work a full time job and have an art gig on the side. I do this for continuing education and fun so I don't doomscroll.