Guitarists love their gadgets. A quick look at most pedalboards will show the time that they put into fine-tuning their sound to get the coveted perfect tone. As a drummer that does nothing more than hit things, I don’t understand what most pedals do, outside of distortion, tuner, and wah-wah pedals; but I’m always impressed when watching a guitarist navigate their pedals throughout a song. Unlike me, On The Road Effects understands what guitarists are looking for and knows how to make them sound good.
“I started by building pedals as a hobby around 2009,” says founder and musician Eric Barao (and Motif video producer). “I bought a kit from the now defunct BuildYourOwnClone.com website, and learned by asking a ton of questions in online forums. Prior to that, I only had a little bit of soldering experience, mostly from fixing guitars, building patch bays, and repairing recording studio gear. It quickly turned into an obsession.”
Barao realized that he had a knack for building roadworthy analog effects pedals and started making them for recording studio engineers and touring musicians. He will dabble in digital pedals, but analog is his forte. He built a reputation and a following, which helped turn his obsession into a business. Understanding the wear and tear the road can leave on equipment, he uses quality components and hardware to make sure that the pedals are durable in addition to sounding great.
“Finding a unique tone is a constant quest for most musicians, so having a direct connection to a pedal builder allows you to do a lot of customization,” Barao says. “I can build most any kind of pedal: overdrive, fuzz, delays, phasers, tremolos, envelope filters, etc. I can add mods, alter the sound or even fully customize the colors or graphics on the outside of the pedal, which I do for a lot of my customers. I can put names, band logos, album covers, favorite cartoon characters or musical heroes on the outside of a pedal to make it uniquely their own.”
Barao says, “Pedals are the thing that can make you sound like Jimi Hendrix, Slayer or Bootsy Collins. They can also lead to creating a sound that we haven’t heard yet.”
On The Road Effects offers seven different production pedals, various accessories and even an adult coloring book full of classic guitar effects pedals. They also make pedals for bassists, keyboardists and vocalists.
“The DIY circuit board is an exciting new venture,” Barao exclaims. “I’m now offering circuit boards with Build Guides to allow adventurous musicians to get into the DIY effects hobby, which is how I got my start. This year, I ran a Maker Faire booth during PVDFest and was encouraged to see musicians taking the plunge and buying my boards!”
On The Road Effects aims to reduce environmental impact by working to eliminate batteries in their pedals. The heavy metals of batteries are environmental hazards, especially when they’re improperly thrown away. To prevent this, the pedals don’t include “battery snaps.” Instead, they take a “Green Tone” approach by using a DC jack to power the pedal.
“In landfills, heavy metals have the potential to leach slowly into soil, groundwater, or surface water,” their website states. “Dry cell batteries contribute about 88 percent of the total mercury and 50 percent of the cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream. In the past, batteries accounted for nearly half of the mercury used in the United States and over half of the mercury and cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream. When burned, some heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead may vaporize and escape into the air.”
On The Road Effects also makes customized pedals, which make for a unique gift. They modify pedals and can make a hard-to-find analog pedal. The contact form gives the opportunity for someone to list their ideas. From there, they communicate and flesh out the best way to create the pedal a person has in mind. Custom jobs usually take a week or two, but can be longer depending on the research and parts needed.
“It depends on the work involved,” Barao explains when asked about production time. “Some of my pedals are ready-made and available in my online shops, but custom jobs can take 1-2 weeks, or even 4-6 weeks for highly specialized stuff involving lots of research and special sourcing of parts.”
On The Road Effects takes the time to produce quality products, whether they be off the shelf or custom. They stand by their products (and step on them), guaranteeing them free from defects for a year and offering to fix or replace a pedal if something goes wrong during that time. They offer a 7-day money back guarantee if the customer isn’t satisfied. The fact that blues legends Buddy Guy and Duke Robillard have On The Road Effects pedals in their arsenals speaks to the legit quality.
“It’s both a highly creative and tedious industrial job all in one,” Barao says of the work. “I’m often simultaneously working on PCB design, graphic design, R&D, prototyping, drilling, soldering, assembly, testing and quality control. But working with an artist to find their unique sound is the most fun part, and makes it all worthwhile.”
With the holidays upon us, now is a good time to consider the guitarist, bassist, keyboardist or even vocalist in your life. An effect pedal will enhance their sound and has the potential to bring forth a new sense of creativity and musicianship.
“I think most musicians would equate getting a new pedal to the feeling of getting that beloved new toy on Christmas morning,” Barao says. “It’s something you don’t put down for a couple of hours when you first get it. Now is the perfect time to think about that gift for your musician friend… or even yourself.”