By Alex Kantarelis

Guitarists are very picky when it comes to gear.  They always want the highest quality and best gear they can find ~ which is precisely why Joe Grein wanted to create a type of guitar pedal like no other.  Grein helped build Celestial Effects, a new company that manufactures boutique style guitar pedals to the absolute highest specifications.

When major manufacturers make pedals, assembling them somewhere in China, they use cheap materials that drastically alter the sound that comes out.  Ask any guitarist and he or she’ll tell you that custom pedals are the way to go.  But custom pedals are typically built by guitar players who have an electronics hobby.  The Celestial Effects crew are guitar players who happen to be electronics professionals.  Their other company, Thermalogic, designs circuit boards and temperature control units with precision and attention to detail; they are used by companies including Amtrak, Pizza Hut, and even the US Army.  Celestial Effects’ quality is likewise unmatched in the world of guitar pedals and effects ~ they are built to the highest standards and military specifications, making perfection almost seem like an understatement.

For many years, Domenic Mancini has been designing and modifying custom pedals and tube amps for musicians.  He was the one who realized the potential in making pedals at Thermalogic, and approached fellow musician and coworker Joe Grein about it.  Since the company was already manufacturing thousands of circuit boards a month, and had all the technology readily available, it was a no-brainer to start Celestial Effects.  “A lot of people make pedals, but [Domenic] was the one who came up with the idea for us to do it,” Grein said.  Mancini does all the design work and is the “tone guru,” as Grein put it.    Grein, who now serves as the Vice President and oversees all sales and marketing, is no stranger to the music world, having played keyboard in several bands over the years.

The company has rolled out their first 4 pedals this month, all part of the zodiac series which will ultimately have 12 parts, with each pedal representing a zodiac sign.  The Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn, and Scorpio were the first to be released, with the next four coming out in the summer.  “Most pedals on the market take your sound and completely change it, but we’re not altering any sound, we’re only enhancing it,” Grein said.

They must be doing something right because many of the pedals are already being used by successful guitarists including Matt Sullivan of the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra, Worcester native Chris Reddy, and International rock/blues star Lydia Warren, all of whom swear by the company.

Check them out at www.celestialeffects.com.

Photo by Rebecca Gauchman, Courtesy of Music Drives Us – Scarlett and Joe Grein from Celestial Effects at the 2010 Boston Music Awards