The Problem

I love the what the Attack Decay by Electro-Harmonix does… it provides a wide range of unique sounds and effects, from slowly-building auto-swells, to tight pizzicato-like sounds, to glitchy synth-like stutters… plus a nice harmonic fuzz! All at a very reasonable price.

However, I don’t love the way it looks! The austere, industrial orange-and-black look is a throwback to its original retro look from 1980 (though, like most early-80s stuff, decidedly more late-70s in appearance. I know this aesthetic well… it was the time period in which I entered into existence!) The orange color and industrial look would be great for fuzz or drive, but doesn’t accurately reflect the ambient, smooth, and futuristic sounds this box can conjure. As such, I found it very jarring every time I looked down at it and saw something different than the sounds I planned to make. 

Furthermore, I wanted to use this on my Dream Factory pedalboard I have assembled specifically for dreampop and shoegaze… and the pedal stood out like a sore thumb! So it stayed off the board and in a drawer… until now! I decided I needed to get it on my board, and to do that I needed to give it a makeover!

The Process

 I originally intended to completely rehouse this pedal in a brand-new, custom drilled enclosure with screen printing! While that would have looked great, I quickly realized the complexity of this pedal would make accurate drilling difficult, if not impossible. So I decided to update the graphics on the original enclosure, using these steps:

1. Found a good tutorial on YouTube (see below!) and bought the required materials (you can use affiliate links below to purchase):
   1. Medium-grit sandpaper (I used a soft block)
   2. All-purpose spray paint (navy color for bottom coat)
   3. White water slide decal paper (laser jet works best, because ink jet can run/bleed when wet)  
   4. Glossy clear spray paint (for top layer)
   5. Four shiny new aluminum knobs 
2. Opened pedal and removed all components. Note: There are two PCBs inside, mounted in a double-decker formation! A clever way to cram so much awesomeness into a small space, but it also means you have to unscrew the mounting bracket to remove each board in turn!
3. Sanded off the existing graphics on the enclosure, until it was smooth and the original paint was barely visible.
4. Rinsed/cleaned the enclosure and let it dry.
5. Spray painted base coat of the navy primer/paint (allowed to try to touch, about 30 minutes, before applying again, and repeating this process 2-3 times) Let dry for 48 hours.
6. Meanwhile, I designed the label I wanted in Photoshop (you can download it here!), using the following steps:
   1. Found a “synthwave” style graphic for the background. I wanted this style to stay true to a “retro 80s” vibe, while better reflecting the sounds this pedal produces (and also to match the colors already on my pedalboard, which are cool blues, greens, and purple!)
   2. Modified the sun slightly in Illustrator (since it is a vector graphic, to allow scaling without losing resolution) to better fit the text I wanted.
   3. Took a photo of the original pedal to use as a template layer for placement of text labels in the correct location.
   4. Chose some suitable fonts and placed labels where desired, then printed the label onto water slide decal paper (using laserjet, because inkjet can bleed/run when wet)
7. Cut the outline of the decal, and once the paint was dry on the enclosure, I soaked the decal and applied into place! Let this dry for 24 hours.
8. Used a hobby knife to cut the holes for the knobs and LED lights. I carefully trimmed, but still had some white edges showing, so decided to darken these with a permanent marker (black Sharpie was less noticeable than the white edges!)
9. Finally, I sprayed 2-3 clear glossy coats, using the same procedure as the base paint layer. Let dry for 48 hours.
10. Inserted the components back in, and screwed the nuts back into place to finish the pedal!