Something special… VoiceLive Rack customized

As a part of the Serj Tankian Facebook giveaway for August 2012, we’re building a custom housing for the main prize, a VoiceLive Rack signed by Serj.

The mastermind behind the exclusive casing is Florian Zeh, a young graphic designer and musician from Hamburg, Germany. We discovered Flo when happening upon his custom pedal-making business, Jupiter Effects, and looking at the designs he’d done for guitar and bass effects we knew we had to get him onboard for a special project for vocalists.

So here it is! Or rather, here it begins! Until the end of August we will update this blog post several times a week with the designs, drawings, concepts, and videos as they come in from Flo. So, check back often.

Follow Florian online:
Jupiter Effects on the Web
Jupiter Effects on Facebook

August 13, 2012

First up is a quick overview of the initial concept drawings and some research on the material for the box. The unit itself poses a few challenging design choices, since it demands easy access to both the panel on the front and the connections on the back, so do we do a regular box, or just a frame – or is there a third way?

August 15, 2012

Concept locked down – more or less. Here’s the first rendering of the direction we’re going in. Making the transition to the physical unit might still lead to changes and re-thinking, but for now this is it. Oh yeah, the gizmo in the right-hand corner is a small hi-fi reverb unit from the seventies, which Flo built a tiny guitar amp into.

August 21, 2012

Yesterday Florian met up with professional carpenter Dennis Hamann to decide on wood types and shape. For the frame they picked birch, but Dennis will add a stripe of mahogany to run through it, which will match the artwork (to be revealed – an applied – later). Classy!

August 24, 2012

Some updates to the concept before the actual build begins. Also, artwork for the door is revealed. A plexiglass door will hold the Serj Tankian graphics, providing a semi-transparent view of the VoiceLive Rack behind it. Note how the dark mahogany stripe on the white birch matches the stripes of the artwork. What do you think of this project? Leave your comments in the “Reply” field below!

September 1, 2012

Cutting, assembling, fitting, gluing, drying – it’s been a busy weekend for Florian and Dennis. The mahogani stripe has been replaced with walnut, and the casing now sits drying overnight. What is left is to finish the sides, cutting the slit and grip-groove for the door and cutting the door itself. In other words, to be concluded…

September 10, 2012

Finally, here it is! Resting for a brief moment in the office before being shipped off to the lucky winner of the Serj Tankian giveaway. We personally swung by Hamburg to hang out with Flo and bring (t)his baby back! Thanks to Florian and Dennis for their beautiful work – and thanks to everyone following the build. More special projects to come!

• September 10, 2012 at 10:41 am by Jes
• Posted in Amusing, Artists, Team Blog, VoiceLive Rack
• 4 comments