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Monday, May 12, 2008
It's Hip To Be SquareOne of the critiques that we had in the Gizmodo article about the Guitar Stand was that the center post on the Guitar Stand was round, and that made it difficult to screw the screws
in straight. So we went back to the drawing board to see what we could come up with.
Before, we were using
a 1 1/4 inch wooden dowel to serve as the center post. We experimented with a number of alternatives, but finally
settled on taking a wooden stud (the same kind that houses are made from) and cutting it down to the correct size.
We then round off the corners so it's pleasing to the touch, and paint it. So now each post has 4 flat sides
into which the screws are screwed, removing the problem all together.
As an added bonus, the wood we're
using is far more sturdy than the dowel we were using before, and while it takes a little longer for us to cut and prep it,
we're way more satisfied with the result.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Little Dudes Are Dudes Too!We got to talking with one of our coworkers recently about some wooden products that he makes and sells. After having
lunch and kicking around some ideas, we're proud to be the exclusive online retailer for his products. We're
standing up a new section of the side, "Little Dudes" for products aimed at dudes under the age of 12.
Charles is a gifted woodworker who has been crafting some pretty impressive pieces for the past couple of decades.
Over the next few weeks, you'll see more and more of his products in the Little Dudes section. We hope you're
as impressed as we are with his work!
9:41 am est
Monday, May 5, 2008
Drum Stand UpdateWe built another drum stand prototype this weekend out of better wood and with a new set of drawings. We learned a few
things, both positive and negative:
Positive: The stand looks really great!
Negative: Putting
this thing together with screws and L-brackets isn't going to be a good long-term solution, since we're not in the
business of pissing off our customers. For that reason, we've ordered some dowels and cams to use in construction
of the next prototype. Assuming all goes well with that, we'll be rolling out production models by June.
10:24 am est
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
E Is For Everyone!First things first - we didn't get a review from Wired. It turns out one of our customers had her wires crossed
(pun intended). By the end of this weekend, we're going to have completed Phase B prototyping of the Drum Stand.
What does that mean? It means that we're going to build the Drum Stand 4 times to learn how to do it right, develop
the step by step instructions, and proof our shipping solution. We think we'll have a formal launch and general
availability for the Rock Band Drum Stand by 18 May.
Exciting!
Oh, more to the point of the title
of this post - we've decided to go to "E For Everyone" (formerly known as E3) in Los Angeles in October.
We've got a corner booth (#841) directly across from Target, who will be having a Rock Band competition throughout the
show. So if you end up there, be sure to drop by and say hello (oh, and buy a stand while you're at it)!
2:31 pm est
Monday, April 28, 2008
We're even MORE famous!We got a little more digital ink today from Kotaku, and rumor has it that Wired reviewed our product, though we were totally unaware of that fact. If you have a
link to the Wired article, please send it to us using the FAQ form, or the email address listed below.
We
should also see a review of the Guitar Stand in next month's Game Informer.
Oh, by the way, we temporarily
took down the pictures of the drum stand until we got our patent application in. We realized that there's nobody
out there anywhere who is producing anything like the drum stand, so we figure it might be a good idea to protect our idea
before revealing it to the world.
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