Why I publish my circuits schematics (and why you should do the same!)

When I made my first commercially available pedals, I chose to publish the circuit schematic online. Transparency always has been a missing thing in the guitar pedal marketing world, so it was a very natural move for me.

However, when I spoke about it with friends or colleagues, they all said to me: "why would you do this? You undermine your business by publishing everything!"

So here are my answers about why I think being transparent is a must when making guitar pedals, and why I think you should do the same if you build guitar pedals.

If people (really) want to copy your design, they will

Let's face it: most guitar pedals are not rocket science circuits. Retro-engineering a guitar effect is not difficult and a lot of folks are doing so on freestompboxes.org for instance.

There is almost no possible patenting on guitar effects circuits because they are so simple. There are some American patents about guitar pedals (ex: BK Butler Tube Driver), but they have a limited time validity. Moreover, to patent a circuit you must prove its novelty and uniqueness, which is almost never the case for guitar pedasl!

Most patents today are more about the shape and/or mechanical features of a new guitar pedal system. Finally, even if you have a patent, it is very difficult to use it because trials are generally long and very costly...

So there are almost no restrictions on retro-engineering and producing an existing guitar pedal. So if people want to do it, they can! Moreover, it is fairly easy to trace a circuit schematic, especially if you use through-hole parts and an analogue circuit.

Most circuits are also inspired by public schematics

Most guitar pedals circuits are indeed inspired by other pedal or amps circuits.
My Black Hole pedal is heavily inspired by the preamp section of the Sunn Model T circuit. And it is no big deal!

Mostly the opposite: people love to know where your inspiration came from so they can also get an idea of what your pedal sounds like. You are also very honest with them and they know that you are not selling the 9999th Tubescreamer-with-a-different-name clone.

So publishing your circuits is also a way to give back what you took from other manufacturers. It is also a way to be completely honest with your customers.

DIY enthusiasts are not your usual guitar pedal customers

Actually, people making pedals themselves usually do not buy that much pedals: they prefer to make it themselves! (at least I do)

So when publishing your circuits and selling your PCB, you actually address a different market with new customers. You should not see it as "undermining" your business, but rather expanding it!

I think it is also very satisfying to see other people building successfully your circuits with other designs, modding it or even adding new features to it!
Here here a cool pedal built with a Black Hole PCB:

Awesome, isn't it?

Being transparent is a way to show your expertise

When you publish your schematic, people with a bit of electronic knowledge can realize easily how much work and electronic knowledge went into it.

If your work is legit, people will know that "you know what you're doing" and that you not a 9999th guy selling veroboard clones.

Look at this Strymon gutshot for instance:

People will KNOW that you are not joking around 😎 Always publish gutshots!

If you publish your schematic, people will know that you are the creator of the circuit and not people making it as well in a different form. It will put you in a very legitimate position to sell your effects. 



What do you think? Did I make the wrong choice?
Answer in the comments!

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