Strum Fix Plus 3 - update

SFP3 Status

I probably sound like a broken record, but it is getting close, very close. There are two versions of the SFP3 — the “standard version” that is just a strummer, and the “overdrive version” which has an additional feature for activating “overdrive” in Rock Band (“star power” in Guitar Hero).

For now I am just working to release the standard version. The overdrive version will only be compatible with certain guitars (mostly the RB1-RB3 Stratocasters and Beatles guitars) and will be available towards the end of this month (scroll down to the bottom for more).

The good news is the design of the Strum Fix Plus 3 is now frozen, the initial production build process is taking place and I’m working to get some inventory on the shelf.

I’m working on getting the web pages updated and should have something up in a day or so. I don’t expect to start taking orders until the end of this week or early next. The pricing is still being worked out, but I don’t think it will be much different than the current Strum Fix Plus 2 — the parts for the SFP3 cost more, but it’s easier to build so there’s less labor involved.

It’s quite a different thing to make things in quantity rather than one at a time. Doing a bit of touch-up, sanding, or filing etc might be ok in small quantities, but when you need to make 100 of something, even a 30-second touch up operation can add almost an hour to your build time, which has to be factored into the cost.

There are also lots of details like packaging and shipping materials, instructions, web pages, order processing and lot of other little things that add up to days of work to get done, and as a small, family-owned operation I don’t have a manufacturing department to do all this for me, so I appreciate everyone’s patience. I think it will be worth it!

SFP3 with Overdrive

I had the design for the overdrive activation working well but when I started to actually use it in Rock Band to try to improve my scores, I found that it was a little distracting and caused me to occasionally miss a note, so I went back to the drawing board and came up with a pretty simple modification to the design that immediately made it easier to use. The design is now finalized and I’m building a few pre-production prototypes, but have put that on the back-burner for a little while so I can finish getting the “standard” version (without the overdrive feature) done.

— Scott P

A few prototypes being worked on