I just took a tour of the Electro-Harmonix factory in Queens, New York and came away with an interesting bit of information. Their lead web guy, Scott Matthews, has created a number of systems to connect musicians and EHX products in ways that I’ve never seen on other conventional music supply sites.
EHX is famous. They’ve been making pedals and effects since 1968 and the sounds their pedals produce have been heard in countless recordings in the last few decades. But how is the average Joe supposed to share his experiences with the pedals? Or, more importantly, how does the professional or amateur guitarist supposed to know how to use the pedals and which pedals to buy?
To tackle this problem, Scott created a media sharing system that allows folks to submit videos of their own performances using the devices. More importantly, he has also introduced Effectology, an abundantly cool series created with musician Bill Ruppert who recreates classics sounds – synths, harmonicas, harpsichords – just with the pedals.
Scott even built up a forum for the series complete with feedback from Bill himself. The are also reaching out to web-savvy artists like Jack Conte who creates amazing mixes using EHX pedals and acoustic instruments.
So why is this so special? Pop over to any other music equipment site and you get a picture and a description. Some folks like Diamond are trying this tact as well, with mixed results. But for a small company like EHX to embrace the techniques of e-marketing with a passion adds value for everyone. EHX gets sales from folks who might want to try to make their guitars sound like a chorus of angels while folks get to hear – and understand – the vague and murky world of pedal acoustics. Win-win, people. Win-win. Instead of trying to create buzz with Twitter and Facebooking their board meetings, EHX is creating content to share with the world and, because of their niche audience, they can be appreciated and see real return.