Guest Post: The Art and Science of Gerald Good and Physics Punk Pedals…

The following is a guest post by David Anderson. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

In March of 2013 I contributed a piece “ The Birth of a Pedal Company“. It’s a new year and a lot has happened with Gerald Good and Physics Punk Pedals…here is an update!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to build a guitar effect pedal, but Gerald Good has shown us that it certainly doesn’t hurt! Good holds a PHD in physics from Washington University and has spent over a decade working at Boeing as an  engineer. After being disgruntled with the moral aspect of building weapons of mass destruction, Good left Boeing to start his effects company Physics Punk Pedals.

Good started out like many effects gurus by building clones from kits to get his feet wet, and was quickly moved by the soldering gods to try his hand at customizing and creating his own circuits. As a player on the St. Louis music scene with such bands as Midtown Thieves, Brain Regiment, and Aquitaine, Good has the ears and experience to hone in on what players want in an effects pedal.

Physics Punk Pedals started as a side project in March of 2013 and as a full time endeavor officially in November has been offering his own take on classic designs as well as creating custom pedals for local musicians. In a sea of guitar effects builders big and small, Good has carved a niche in the industry by his willingness to listen to musicians and taking their ideas to create boxes that make the sounds we are hearing in our heads. Lets take a look at some of the current custom pieces from Physics Punk Pedals.

On the overdrive and distortion side, Good offers the Fuzz Cat and Fuzz Rex, his take on the vintage Fuzz Face of the ’60s. One of the keys to making a good fuzz, especially one based on a design from decades ago is consistency of components. The problem with vintage effects has always been the fact that they don’t sound the same from unit to unit. Take it from me, there is nothing worse than plugging into a vintage Fuzz Face and playing my favorite Hendrix riff only to find that the sound coming out of the amp isn’t even close to hitting the mark. Of course, some of that is the fact that I am not, nor never will be Hendrix, but tonally the pedal isn’t hitting the mark due to deviance in components. Good takes the time to sort out the best possible parts and circuit design by doing a bit of research as well as trial and error to get the right tone and consistently out of his boxes.

Good also has the Angry Alpaca, a fuzz/ distortion box that pays homage to the Way Huge  Red Llama circuit ( a new favorite of mine!), the Synchrotron, Good’s take on the vintage Dallas Rangemaster (ideal for single coil players wanting to melt faces in the front row with a nice, thick, low-end distortion), and the Scream, Good’s own concoction of the vintage Tube Screamer. The Linac Boost ( the one stock pedal in the line currently )is a great EP style boost that goes from 0-100 with the twist of a knob. Perfect for boosting your volume with a bit of warm fullness added, with out compromising your tone (a permanent fixture on my board).

As with many hand made effects companies, the aesthetic  appointments of each effect (exception being the Linac Boost) are unique and hand painted by Good himself. And the prices of these effects are affordable! No trading guitars for boutique boxes…these pedals stay in the $100.00 to $150.00 range (for now, anyway). I myself pitched the idea for a limited Tritone Overdrive that is a sonic mix of some of my favorite ODs in my collection (including my prized Klon ). Good, didn’t hesitate to take on the challenge!

Physics Punk Pedals are based in south city St. Louis,  just a hop, skip, and a jump from the locally famous Cherokee District. Local players like Brandon Lee of the City of Takers, Brian McClelland of Middle Class Fashion, and Mike Tomko are current proud users of Good’s creations as well as others. If you want to find out more about Gerald Good and Physics Punk Pedals go to
https://squareup.com/market/physics-punk-pedals