Over 100 Builds and Still Going

If we could get in a time machine and go back in time, first I would like to stop somewhere in 2009 and tell myself to do things just a bit differently. After that we would reach our destination of 2020 and I would ask myself if I thought I would have built over 100 circuits. I believe the answer would be "No! Why? Do I? Really? Wow.", or something along those lines. Earlier this year I was just shy of 100 builds and I added a few small projects to boost (get it? because most of them were treble boosters) those numbers to bring me to 100 builds in total. The ideas kept coming though, and I've surpassed that to currently be on 121 builds in total.

If you're an avid reader you'll also know I swore I wasn't going to build 45 circuits like I did last year. I'm wrong. Admitting when you're wrong costs you nothing. I'm currently at 41 total builds for 2024, and I still have six kits to build, four partially put together kits that I need to order parts for, and an additional five planned circuits that also need me to order parts. If I accomplish building all of those that will bring 2024 to a total of fifty-six builds. When does this go from a hobby to a career? You tell me. I've had offers to support this going full-time, but I just don't want the stress of it becoming a business to ruin the fun of it being a hobby.

My ultimate goals are as follows: to build lots of pedals for myself and have a tool for nearly any eventuality that may arise while writing and recording my own music. I also want to build some one-off pedals for friends as a keepsake. I realize I'm not going to live forever, so I want all of my pedals to become a legacy. Will "Firebeard FX" ever become a brand? Doubtful, but at the very least it's a moniker to give my circuits a life after I'm gone. Something that ties them together, rather than just being some insane amount of random DIY pedals out there floating around. Maybe, just maybe tomorrow's guitar God will get ahold of one of my pedals, say in the year 2112. Maybe there will still be rig rundown videos online, during which they will explain how my pedal helped shape their whole outlook on playing and tone. It's a big dream, but not impossible.

I don't know if, or when this hobby will ever see an end, apart from my own eventual end. I honestly daydream of sitting at my workspace on a small balcony off the side of my little home somewhere in Mexico, building pedals to trade to the local music store. Maybe then I could finally afford the Gibson Les Paul of my dreams. Maybe then it would become a business. A lot of maybes become involved. One thing is for sure, we never know what the future holds. No plans to turn pro, no plans on giving up. We'll just have to see where this crazy ride ends up taking us.