What's new at Area 51?
July 2008
We'll be releasing the fuzz very soon. The boards are here, and we are starting production. I'm working on a few mp3 samples now. We're building an initial run of 100 pedals which will be offered to those on our mailing list FIRST. Only those on our mailing list will be offered these very first units, so if you are not on the list, send me an email and I'll take care of you.
I get many emails each week asking about these, so thanks to all of you for waiting so patiently - I'm confident they will be worth the wait!
May 2008
I'm pleased to announce the addition of 2 new dealers now carrying Area 51 Drop-in Wah Kits:
Ninevolt - Hanamaki, Iwate - Japan
Musician's Boutique, USA
Work continues on the Area 51 Fuzz, Buffer, and Tube Trem pedals. These new products will be made available to our dealers. Customers may also purchase them directly from us here at Area 51, as always.
April 2008
Funk Off™ String Cleaning Wipes are now available. If you'd rather spend more time playing, and less time changing strings - you may want to give these a try.
January 2008
A number of new projects happening for 2008 here at Area 51. First of all, I've decided to discontinue the BMT60 add-on tremolo unit. That's the bad news: The good news is that I've been working on a replacement. The replacement is in the form of an all-tube tremolo pedal, which is based on the legendary 3-tube tremolo found in some of the brownface Fender amps of the early/mid 60's.. Fact is, the first time I played through the prototype of the pedal, it was a pretty easy decision to discontinue the old tremolo. This one just simply has it beat. Even our non-musical friends and family who visited us over the holidays were going "ooh" and "wow" when they heard it. If you would like to be informed of the latest developments regarding the release of this new pedal, click here to let us know.
We're also putting the finishing touches on our newest product - Funk-Off ™ string wipes. Look for that in the very near future.
I'm also finishing up the development of a new fuzz pedal. Yeah - just what the world needs: another fuzz. Right? Well, this one's a little different. It's silicon powered, but with the character and tone of a really great germanium fuzz. Not possible, you say? That's what I thought too......
Another item of interest: Last year, my inductor manufacturer informed me that they could/would no longer be able to wind my inductors to the tolerance that I required. So, I started looking at alternatives. What happened next was a truly great thing (although it didn't seem that way at the time!): First, I designed and built a coil winder so that we could make them here. Then, I began to experiment with inductor designs. I tried a multitude of cores, wire types/gauges, and winding/assembly techniques. The end result: We have a new inductor that takes what the old one did - and goes beyond it. Improved resonance and harmonics are the result. These inductors are only available in our Area 51 wah, wah kits, and wah boards. (they have a different footprint and pinout, and are not a drop-in replacement for any other type) I've been using these with all kits and wahs for the past few months now.
Thanks for stopping by....,
Dan Albrecht
Owner
Area 51 Tube Audio Designs