*BRAND NEW* FX8 Labelling System imminent!! Next gen KickTags launching in August!!

[ZenRigs Man]

Hello there my fellow Fractal Friends!!! Hope you're all fly and funky and getting ready for a splendid weekend.

You may have noticed I've been a little quiet for a while. As well as beavering away on orders for all the amazingly cool people that have ordered KickTags labels I make for Fractal gear (MFC-101, AX8, FX8), I've been beavering away in the background - probably for close to 6 months in my spare time - on the next logical evolution (for my use, anyway!) of my magnetic labelling system. For those of you that 'know' me, or have followed the evolution of my labels over the past 5 years or so - you'll know I'm always tinkering and am borderline obsessive. I'm happy with stuff for a while, and am then quickly thinking of ways to make it better. Well, I think I've come up with something better...

And, before you ask, no, it is not LED scribble strips

The latest gen of KickTags have been great - by far the best thing I've ever made and I'm proud and humbled to have people from around the globe digging and using them, including some of my all-time guitar heros. But there has been something that has bugged me a little about my system (true of any labelling system to be fair, not just mine), that I've tried various ways to minimise the impact of. So, I've tinkered and tinkered (been through 4 prototypes I've designed, had made, and then discarded) and now have something I've been using myself for a month and love, and have had road tested too (more on that below!).

It's still a magnetic glow in the dark system, using the same stealthy looking and solid as **** materials I've been using of late, still with Neo magnets to keep them firmly in place, but with a cool new way of doing things, as well as flexibility offering great new labelling options that I really hope you'll all like.

I wanted to make sure the new approach was going to work perfectly for live use and was robust enough to survive the rigours of the road, so I've been extremely grateful and fortunate that my most high-profile client, none other than Steve Vai, has the very first pre-production version of the new system on his MFC for the 25th Anniversary Passion and Warfare world tour. I'm pleased to say that Thomas Nordegg (Steve's legendary tech guru) has been telling me, from the road, that they're working out prefectly.

I'm going to be taking some photographs this weekend, which also include a brand new board and layout for me, and will share pics of everything over the coming week. All going to plan, the latest and greatest gen KickTags labels will be available for purchase in the first week of August.

Looking forward to sharing my latest ideas with you all!

Cheers, Sukh (www.kicktags.com)

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Heyvfolks

More details coming this week .... Everything is ready to show - just been a little busy with the (real) day job...

So here's a sneak peak of the newness to kick things off. Back soon

 

[ZenRigs Man]

New, car-shaped labels being shown tonight!!!

Sukh x

(p.s. not really car-shaped, before anyone asks for car-shaped labels)

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Hey folks! Right-o, here's the skinny on what I've been working on for a little while now, which is about to be the latest generation of KickTags labels. I've been incredibly fortunate to have had none other than Steve Vai using the new system on his Passion and Warfare 25th Anniversary world tour, and reports from the road are that the labels have been flawless.



The last generation of KickTags were a huge success. I released my modular system in October last year, featuring low-reflection laser-cut solid acrylic components and neodymium magnets for maximum adhesion to the board. I was really pleased to finally have worked out a viable and sturdy way to realise my 'modular' label design, which I first came up with in 2010.



They were sleek, were totally unobtrusive and were rock solid. I loved how they looked (I always design these for me and my needs first and foremost, and had really gravitated towards a cleaner looking board with stylish graphic and colour options that didn't detract from the pro look of the board). They worked great, looked great and were extremely popular, with batches selling out almost as fast as I could make them. I had lots of positive feedback and reviews from around the world and the glow-aspect of the labels were regarded as the best out there among pro musicians for live stage use. All good stuff!! So what was the problem?.....



(part 2 in a bit!)

 

[ZenRigs Man]

One word. 'Wonkers'!



As strong as the magnets were in the labels (the strongest in the market by far - with each magnet capable of lifting 0.6kg of vertical steel weight each), with use and in the heat of a gig, they'd get knocked about and would inevitably move. Although this wasn't the end of the world (I mean, just straighten them up again, right?), it used to wind me up to see pictures of boards with bent labels (sometimes even before they had been gigged, as some folks are thankfully a little less OCD than me and just throw them on!), and the straight line freak in me wanted to personally visit every one and straighten them up



So, using the same materials and mega-strong magnets in the previous gen of KickTags, I set about coming up with a design that would eliminate Wonky Label Syndrome, keep labels straight, keep them securely stuck to the board and keep everything looking awesome, no matter what....



And here's the result. I'm really excited to share with you the next gen of KickTags labels. They're still KickTags, but they no longer wonk

Introducing .... the Uni-Surround!

 

[ZenRigs Man]

All Uni-Surrounds feature spaces for Text Labels and Graphic Tiles. All Surrounds take the same Text Labels and Tiles as the previous generation (but there's a new option for AX8/FX8, which is detailed below) and are interchangeable between boards. This is great if you have an MFC as well as an AX8 or FX8 as you can share labels between boards!

The system is still modular, giving you the greatest flexibility to set your board up exactly as you want, and still feature the same great glow-in-the-dark labels. Basically, it's the same great system, with the added bonus that it's now even more secure on your board, and everything stays perfectly lined up all the time!!

MFC ones are identical in layout to the previous gen Dual Windows, but the AX8/FX8 ones are an entirely new design that provide the most flexibility of any labels I've ever made.

I'll post more pics of the MFC ones on a controller later, but here are some details of the AX8 ones...

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Here are the AX8/FX8 uni-surrounds on a board...

You'll notice the nice big window available for labels against each switch. This is awesome for a few reasons.... Firstly, you can put a text label in it....

In fact, you can put TWO text labels in it...

With blank labels to separate things, this gives you the flexibility to easily label multi-function switches.

And if you're feeling really saucy, you can actually put THREE text labels into it!

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Now, with all that lovely space available, it would be rude not to have designed some great new Tiles to add some graphic and colour association for switch functions. Tiles worked GREAT on the previous generation of KickTags, and I've now updated the designs to take advantage of the new AX8/FX8 Big Tile. Here's a peek at how they look!

 

[ZenRigs Man]

And when you start to put it all together, it starts to look pretty funky, yet is totally designed for practicality, and (importantly) never goes out of line! More pics and details tomorrow, as it's late here now, but here are a couple of shots to give you an idea for now...

Bed time folks... back tomorrow with more info, videos and details!!

Sukh

 

[ZenRigs Man]

And here another piece of the new modular system that works with the AX8/FX8 Uni-Surrounds.

Any guesses as to what it is? Radical new pick? Pre-gig nose picker? Mid-gig butt scratcher? Beer bottle opener?

Out of time this evening (real job has me working late) so will reveal its purpose tomorrow!!

 

[rich_b]

And here another piece of the new modular system that works with the AX8/FX8 Uni-Surrounds.

Any guesses as to what it is? Radical new pick? Pre-gig nose picker? Mid-gig butt scratcher? Beer bottle opener?

Out of time this evening (real job has me working late) so will reveal its purpose tomorrow!!

 

[rich_b]

looking forward to ordering..i have OCD as well...lol
Nice work man.
Richb

 

[crankyrayhanky]

cool stuff going on here

 

[rich_b]

When will the new FX8 labels be ready for order??
Richb

 

[Jalevinemd]

Sukh's getting to be like Apple...

Amazing products. But soon after you get yours, something even better comes along.

 

[ZenRigs Man]

When will the new FX8 labels be ready for order??
Richb

Hey mate! I have everything here and being prepped - just taking a little longer than I had hoped due to some unexpected pressures from the day job. Will post an update here asap, but will be this month for definite.

Thanks so much for your interest!
Sukh

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Hey folks - I'm back! Apologies for the delay in updates - been extremely manic at the day job - but finally getting ready to release the new AX8/FX8 KickTags labelling system.

Here are some more pics and details, from a session last weekend taking pictures for the website update. Excited to share them with you, and can't wait to get these out

Pics and details in the following posts!

Sukh

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Loving the new Uni-Surrounds and options for KickTags - the AX8/FX8 labels are the most flexible designs I've ever made. In this pic, bottom row are scenes in normal print and top row are effects in reverse print....

Dirty crunchy kebab, anyone?....

Coming along swimmingly

The greatest thing about the KickTags system? Ultimate flexibility - label your board how YOU want - anything else is a compromise!!

 

[ZenRigs Man]

A cool new approach to X/Y labelling...

Mix things up however you like... A simple layout here with scenes on the bottom row and effects on the top - two of which have X/Y states and two based on some pretty well known effects

Keeping it simple...

 

[ZenRigs Man]

Labelled to loop!

Mix it up however u like!!