Introducing Jet City Music

I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll mention it again, one of the biggest things I love about doing EffectsBay is having the opportunity to meet cool people. Darren from Jet City Music, is one of those people that make it fun to reach out. I talked with Darren a few times on the phone, and what a energetic and passionate guy when it comes to gear. He definitely wants to reach out to musicians and give them what they want – quality gear. Jet City Music focuses on quality boutique guitar/bass effects as well as accessories. They have an excellent selection of stompboxes available.

After talking to Darren on the phone a few times, I asked if I could send some questions his way.. a mini interview and he agreed.

– What sets Jet City Music apart from the others?
Our number one focus is customer service… basically just working as hard  as we can to fulfill our customer’s needs.  In practical terms, this  means great product selection, competitive pricing, excellent customer  support, in-depth product knowledge, great gear demos, ultra-fast  shipping, and a generous return policy.

We also feel we have more customer incentives than any of our competitors, such a weekly pedal giveaway, and a “Buy 7 pedals get 1 free” program for our repeat customers.  This is in addition to offering free online guitar lessons and artist profiles.

Finally, we definitely like to add a “Northwest” flair to our business since there is such a great artist community in Seattle, Portland, Eastern Washington and Idaho.  There is really a lot of exciting music going on here in all genres, and if we can spotlight that in some small way, then all the better!

– Where is Jet City Music located?
As you might guess with any name with “Jet City” in it, beautiful Seattle, Washington.

– How/why did Jet City Music start?
Obviously an interest in music gear in general and guitar effects in particular were big factors.  Another reason was that nobody else was doing this in Seattle… at least the way I envisioned it.

– What are the hottest boutique pedals moving out of the shop now?
JAM pedals, Skreddy, Wilson effects, Creepy Fingers, Earthquaker Devices, Mad Professor, Wampler, and Pigtronix.  Also we sell a lot of the bigger brands like Boss and Electro-Harmonix.

– Do you have a particular favorite pedal?
We have so many excellent brands that it changes frequently, but the ones that have floored me recently are the Skreddy Echo, JAM pedals Red Muck and Delay Llama, and the Creepy Fingers DoomiDrive.  Listen to these demos and you’ll know why:

JAM Red Muck:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=xczwio46iS8
JAM Delay Llama:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RywnUWo9bs
Creepy Fingers DoomiDrive:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4n7u2ScDng
Skreddy Pedals Echo:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxwSGMswFuk

– Any new builders that you’re excited about getting in the shop in the near future?
Really excited to be getting Dr. Scientist, FuzzHugger, Castledine, Tortuga, VFE.  There is also a local guy in a famous rock band that makes some incredible Fuzzes from what I’ve heard.  I’ve just missed catching him on a couple of occasions.  My goal is to to convince him to let us deal his stuff.  I can’t say his name because I know I’ll jinx it, but you’ll know it if it happens 🙂 I cannot find any dealers who carry his stuff, yet his effects are mentioned in the pedal forums.

– What are some of the new pedals you’re excited about getting in the shop?
Some of the great new pedals we are excited about are the Empress Effects MultiDrive, the Mad Professor Stone Grey Distortion, EH Neo Mistress Flanger, and the Malekko Ekko 919 Analog Delay.  Also looking forward to a couple of new pedals from Dr Scientist, the Tremolessence and the Elements.

– Tell me about Giveaway Thursday?
Every Thursday we give away a free pedal!  We try and add a little fun to it by having local artists run a random number generator and announce the winner via video on our Facebook page.   It’s a good way to spotlight some of the talent we have here in the Northwest and it also adds some transparency to the drawing so people trust that it is legit. No purchase is necessary, it is open worldwide, and you can sign up on our website, www.JetCityMusic.com.  The results are announced every Thursday around noon PST on our FB page.  Thanks and keep up the great work on Effects Bay!

If you’re looking for a new stompbox, give Jet City Music a look. Great customer service and variety available. You can reach them at their site, Facebook and on Twitter. Make sure you tell him EffectsBay sent ya. Yesterday I contacted Darren yesterday, and he’s offering a 10% off coupon code to EffectsBay.com readers for one week! Discount will end on 4/12. To take advantage of the discount, use the following coupon code at checkout:  EffectsBay10