I hope it's clear that my opinions weren't born out of prejudice. Judging without due process (i.e. actually testing the pedals) is wrong. Even if your post is a sarcastic one, those factors that you mentioned give a lot of people enough reason to stick to products of companies that have more in-depth experience in the industry. More often than not, people will want to spend P7-8k on a pedal that sounds great, has great aftersales service and is built like a tank.
If.
More often than not, those factors are bonuses. Subliminally, they just fall into the hype, hook, line, and, sinker. And it's absurd. Even the guys with the capacity to afford it will note it as such. Absurdity. With a strong will, you can produce that locally with the same build quality if you really want to cut the cost, but people buy into the popular boutique justifications all the same. You notice when a builder introduced waitlists, other followed suit? Same when they introduce another reason why their products are priced higher, suddenly the catch-phrase is used by others. It may seem logical to a lot of people, but I prefer to take those with a grain of salt. Like I said, there are technologies that are still exclusive to them, but a lot are old analog tech. It's not that hard, so unless you're in the 50's, don't kid yourself that their soldering irons produce better products. It's still the same square waveforms. Always has been for decades now.
With so many builders just popping up nowadays, it's kinda hard to know which ones really know their craft. There may be DIY builders who don't exactly know everything that's happening in the circuits of the pedals that they build. "Just follow the schematics, use the right components as stated in the list of materials, and voila, instant product!" isn't a recipe for good aftersales. "Tweaking" a few components from existing circuits isn't as easy as it seems as if requires the builder to have a fair amount of knowledge on electronics and to perform lots of tests on his/her mods, but it sure is hella lot easier if you already have the schematics one click away.
Same would go for the boutique stuff. Kinda hard to sift to the innovative ones. A lot would go to the process you just described. Grab a schematic, make Kool-Aid. But the price tag, exclusivity, and perceived value makes it easy for those with money to proclaim it as the real deal.
Again, if local clones can match the quality of the builds of international companies (even durability/reliability; other users can attest to this one) without resorting to straight-up cloning, then they have all the right in the world to launch their own products not just here, but also internationally. I've tried a lot of local DIY builds and only a few really stood out in terms of sound and build quality, with the Shredhead being one of them. Yun nga lang, na-Madbean pala. If our local guys can come up with more original concepts and mods instead of just copying stuff from schematics online, then they'd do the whole Pinoy DIY community proud. There are a lot of ways to innovate and that means there are also a lot of interesting products that can be made.
I'm sure you believe your opinions aren't based on prejudice. But when you have more questions and doubts for local builders who also breadboard and bench test their builds, and still shell out for the boutique whenever you feel like it, I'd say you still buy based on what's trendy. You stated you know a fair bit about electronics, why don't you throw the local guys a bone with some ideas, and work with them for more innovative builds?
One may have heard more A/B tests with purchasing power, but that doesn't necessarily give 'em a fair and balanced view (I know you'll disagree). You can't simply conclude that the ones that didn't stand out as inferior. It's just part of the bigger signal chain. No doubt you've had pricier stuff though, and I don't want to undermine your experience, but someone has to voice out some sense from time to time in the GAS crazy gear-whoring public opinion.
Sorry 'if' my previous post seems sarcastic, but it's just a part of a few points I'm making. The gist of the main part on topic, is yes, you can sell anything you want. Even successful and respected builders you idolize started the same way. Nothing but a breadboard and a soldering iron. Sell a few. If you doubt it, shoot it down, and give it a cold shoulder before it even reaches international shores, how and why the hell would it ever flourish?
Sorry for the lengthy post. Like you, I've a lot to let off my chest. Just coming from a different place. If the discussion is civil enough, I've a good mind to step out once I've got that across. Good day.
