BRAND NEW! - KickTags glow labelling system updates, EV-1 GloRiser, pedalboard lights and more!

ZenRigs Man

Fractal Fanatic
Vendor
Hi folks! Hope you're all fine and dandy and enjoying the smell of BBQ wherever you are.

As some of you know (and thanks to all those that PM'd to chat!) - I've been working on some changes to KickTags for a bit now (hence the 'RIP KickTags' avatar for a bit), and I'm glad to say I can now share what I've been up to with you all. For those that don't know, I'm Sukh Ryatt, the guy that designed the KickTags glow-in-the-dark magnetic labelling system for the Fractal MFC-101, AX8 and FX8. I used to go by the forum name of 'KickTags Man', and 'toadfish' before that...

Anyway, I'm excited to now be able to tell you that KickTags has a new home... my new project, and company, is called ZenRigs! (www.zenrigs.com)

Lots to share with you....

BUT... before the jibber jabber, here's a little sneak peek video of what's coming and a fun little thing I've designed for the EV-1 expression pedal that I personally have been really geeking out over (as have hundreds of people over on facebook where I posted this 2 days ago!)...



Saturday night and I'm out with the kids - will be back with more details later!

Sukh (ZenRigs)
 
Hi folks,

apologies as I ran out of time today to put up more details as I had intended to do ( it was a sunny day and ended up playing with the kids and dog and having a BBQ!) - will post more details during the week... but in the meantime, a pic of my board from today - really excited with how this has turned out!

EV1%20and%20Glo%20Riser%20pic%201_zps9mstetci.jpg
 
Looking forward to when the new site is up and running - I'd jumped on to try and get some kicktags only to see the "coming soon" page :p
 
Really nice vibe going on with the new brand!

Will the Gloriser also be available for the AX8?

Thanks man! It'll just be for expression pedals buddy - more details on it soon, but it's a really simple idea that solves some specific problems- i.e. being able to identify expression pedal uses on multi-pedal setups, being able to see pedals on dark stages instead of covering them with tape and, importantly, just because it looks bloody cool!

Although the idea could be extended to the AX8, I don't have plans for that right now. Would be a large riser, difficult to ship and not really serve a purpose as the AX8 is lit anyway.

Anyway, more details shortly. Cheers dude!!
Sukh
 
Thanks man! It'll just be for expression pedals buddy - more details on it soon, but it's a really simple idea that solves some specific problems- i.e. being able to identify expression pedal uses on multi-pedal setups, being able to see pedals on dark stages instead of covering them with tape and, importantly, just because it looks bloody cool!

Although the idea could be extended to the AX8, I don't have plans for that right now. Would be a large riser, difficult to ship and not really serve a purpose as the AX8 is lit anyway.

Anyway, more details shortly. Cheers dude!!
Sukh

Great! Thanks.
 
Hey folks! I'm back with some more updates... first a little history... long post alert, and I'll break it up into bits, but you might want to get a cuppa...

For those that don't know - I used to go by the forum name of 'KickTags Man' (and Toadfish before that), as I'm the guy that designed KickTags Labels for the Fractal MFC-101, AX8 and FX8. Last year, I designed something called the 'UniSurround'; a solid 'strip' that acts as a container for the modular magnetic labels that make up the KickTags labelling system. The system itself consists of 3 main bits;

  1. UniSurrounds - the container into which 'stuff' goes (see 2 and 3 below). UniSurrounds cover an entire row of switches.
  2. Text Labels - these are custom printed text labels that glow in the dark
  3. Graphic Tiles - these allow you to add some graphic identity to switches, either through the use of graphics, colours or even simple numbers. Available in 'Big Tile' and 'Mini Tile' versions.
Each piece of the system is made of 4mm thick laser-cut acrylic, and utilises strong Neodymium magnets to make sure you get the best possible adhesion to your board. The UniSurround was designed to eliminate one of the biggest issues with magnetic labels; "Wonking". Yes, Wonking. Labels could spin and move on a board in use, resulting in wonky looking labels (i.e not in line), which isn't cool, so the UniSurround keeps everything locked in a straight line. No more wonking!

Here's what the bits look like. Please note - these first few shots are of my AX8 (and apply to the FX8 as well), but, as the system is the same and because you can use the modules between different boards, I'll be talking about the solution for MFC and GCP in this thread too.

UniSurrounds
IMG_8853_zpspegquhqz.jpg


Tiles (these are the 'Big Tile' versions - there are smaller square 'mini tiles' available too)
IMG_8863_zpscoqvp7ee.jpg


and some text labels glowing nicely in a darkened room:

4B86EB6A-7B57-49AD-A6B7-02ABBF7A8E9E_zpsde5bvsf6.jpg



And putting them together, you get this kind of thing:

image_zpswotbyikm.jpeg



And you can mix things up however you like, and can even put up to 3 text labels against each switch:

IMG_8861_zpsudhllbd2.jpg


Separate Surrounds were available for the F-Switches, with pre-defined texts that could be used there to label Function Switch settings.

The whole idea behind the system was to make rock solid, tour-proof labels that offered ultimate flexibility and didn't take away from the look of the controller, keeping your expensive gear looking professional and slick :)

So... this is what things looked like... and here are the changes, and reasons for them!
 
WHAT'S NEW...

The UniSurround design has worked really well, with several high-profile touring artists using them on major tours and reporting back that, night after night, the labels have stayed exactly where they were put. No wonking! Now, I know this isn't the biggest headache for a touring artists, but it's just one more thing they need to do (i.e. straighten stuff out) that they really don't need to, so it's been great to get this feedback.

However... I had some great (and very persistent!) feedback from members of our forum here, that it would be cool if the UniSurrounds could be made longer to fully extend to the Function Switches of the AX8/FX8 and the Control Switches of the MFC. While this sounded straightforward, there were reasons it wasn't.... not important for here, but take my word for it!

Anyway, I'm pleased to say that this is exactly what has happened now, and that a new UniSurround design has been created to achieve just that!

  • AX8 / FX8 UniSurrounds now extend to the F-Switches on the bottom 2 rows, so that NOTHING can move at all. This does not force you to label the F-Switches if you don't want to because, as you can see from the pic below, the cutout for those switches still shows the factory silk-screen print for the switches.
IMG_1063_zpsfaywvybh.jpg


With a few simple labels in - everything is nice and straight :)

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There's also now a redesigned F3 Surround, which is wider and butts up against the bezel, so that can't move either.

IMG_1070_zps1j896s5a.jpg
 
NEXT UP! The lovely MFC-101


This is where the biggest changes have happened! As well as extending the UniSurrounds to extend across to cover the Control Switches, rather than having separate Control Switch labels (same principle, done to eliminate wonking), the redesign had a cool side-effect in that I worked out a way to allow the use of BIG TILES for the MFC as well.

This is really cool, as it was the one thing I was asked for more than anything by MFC users that wanted the lovely big graphic tiles previously only available for the AX8/FX8. Here's how they look. I think these have turned out really cool :)

IMG_7385_zpsefwafjc5.jpg


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And, because of the options available, you can keep things as colourful or as simple as you like. The great thing is that if you have more than one board, the tiles and text labels will work in any UniSurround for AX8, FX8 or MFC.

IMG_9605_zpsqbmmxizs.jpg


I'll be back with more updates later tonight, including 'Why ZenRigs?' and details of other bits, including the GloRiser :)
 
Hey folks, apologies for the delay in further updates... I'm waiting on the production versions of the GloRisers to come in, which have been slightly delayed, so I can show those properly and share details of how I've lit mine up.

I'll be back really soon! In the meantime, another fun little thing I'm going to make available is a handy little pedal-board friendly torch. I've had a torch attached to my board for ages - very very handy for gigs for setup, checking round the back of the rack etc (when I had one) on dimly lit stages. I wanted something that took up minimal space on the board, was easy to attach and hold. Here it is:

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When is the web site going LIVE? Would love to get some Kick tags for my AX8.

Hi mate! All going well, it'll be this weekend - but next week at the latest. I'm a little behind on the website due to other 'stuff' and the production GloRisers only turned up yesterday, so I still have to do all the photography etc for those. I'll share more details on that over the next day.

If you'd like a heads-up on the opening of the site, please drop me an email to sukh@zenrigs.com and I'll keep you posted.
Cheers!
Sukh
 
Ladies and gents... I'm really proud to be able to show you the first product video from ZenRigs and very excited to be able to finally give you details of the GloRiser!


GloRiser is a brand new concept: a specially designed platform that you can put an expression pedal into, without removing the feet, (it's sized for Fractal EV-1 and also Dunlop/Mission style expression pedals) that has a centre channel into which you can put an RGB LED Strip light. The Riser has excellent light-beaming characteristics and it results in the entire platform 'glowing'.


Now, this is very cool! Firstly, it solves a little problem I've seen some touring artists tackle with glow tape: it means you can always see your expression pedal on dark stages. Secondly, it gives a method by which you can identify expression pedals in multi-pedal setups, but having different lights on different pedals. Thirdly, well, it just looks bloody awesome and still keeps things looking slick and professional!

Check out the video for full details. I hope you dig it.


MAJOR shout out to the incredibly talented Vince Genella who wrote and recorded the intro music, which I am extremely EXTREMELY proud to have as the ZenRigs jingle. Vince brother, I have no words. You freaking rock my friend.


GloRiser will be available at zenrigs.com when the store opens... soon!

 
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