Yeah nice that he knows. But I couldn't help notice that none of his employes smiled. They just looked at him like they didn't really know eachother. But who knows, maybe they where just very focused about their work.
I worked at Electro-Harmonix on college vacations in the early ‘70’s. I started sweeping the floors and wound up traveling for them, demonstrating their guitar products (Big Muff, Small Stone Phase Shifter,etc) to store buyers. Mike Matthews was and is a visionary businessman, a nice guy, and a great mentor who treated his workers very well and was a terrific blues piano player!
Gotta say, Manny Silverstein certainly seems to be a lot of the passion behind a lot of their great pedals. Mike Matthews runs the business-end, and he's been really smart to surround himself with a very passionate group of engineers and developers.
I never realized EH was such a small business. Pretty cool! Amazing they’re able to crank out as many pedals as they do. Good for them for keeping that mom and pop vibe while being one of the biggest companies in the pedal game.
Guitar equipment is actually a relatively niche market, relative to world population. Hence why there's only 3 tube amp factories in existence. Honestly, that seems like a lot. Wouldn't be surprised if that goes down to 2 here pretty soon.
We have the greatest designer David who works out of the UK..... and this over here is Ryan. 😂😂😂😂 Ryan doesn't look at the camera in case you see him shed a little tear. 😂 Great grass roots company. Always happy to buy their products!
Electro Harmonix used here since 1977, still working, still rolling thru the rock. Thank You Mike Matthews...you are a true underground cultural icon. Thanks Sweetwater,...both great companies
I'm definitely turning to EHX for my pedalboard, after this factory tour. The company's intangible assets developed by Mike's entrepreneurship is enormous but unfortunately undervalued. I wish more people define fun with music, guitar, and ANALOG pedals. Market is good, but digital effects are growing. And by the way, Mike's hair and beard really looks like Marx, so once he told Mitch about Soviet's economic collapse, I reread the history of Soviet dissolution. Rock and roll, Mike!
Love how EHX always pushes the envelope. There are many pedals that aren't for me but loads of cool stuff I enjoy using. Bad Stone, Green Muff, Tone Corset and Oceans 11.
I had an issue with a Tri Parallel Mixer... Contacted ehx directly, they immediately sent me a shipping label. Updated the firmware and sent it back good as new. Great company.
I have 12 different ehx pedals, ranging from od, distortion and fuzz, phaser, chorus and reverb. my favourite pedal, not just ehx, all of my pedals is the oceans 11. Thank you for all you have done, Mike!
what a character Mike Matthews is I used to talk to him personally back in the late 1980s when he first started his importing of Russian tubes 5881s were the only new reliable output tubes for us designers
awesome, I just bought my first two digital pedals from sweetwater. Both were EHX: A Mel-9 and a Grand Canyon. Then what's the first pedal they show in the factory?..how bout dat..then what's the second pedal they show?....how bout dat haha
Mike Mathews is a living legend. He goes right back to the start of everything, because amps didn't even have that second volume which makes overdrive yet, in 1968. He gave rock n roll overdrive! and started making all kinds of effects when they were still being invented. Great interview, Mitch, Sweetwater. Loved it. (I collect pedal company tours. You know who else is interesting? Look for a few Earthquaker Devices company tours, on youtube. The guy who runs that provides the best coffee and free pot to all his employees (really! it's in the kitchen, in a jar near the coffee O_o **starts making plans to apply for a job..**
@A Rando No they didn't. The only Overdrive came from the power tubes of a loud, cooking amp (Marshall). The Fuzz was the first drive pedal. Then boosting pedals came out to overdrive the amps like the LPB-1 and Rangemaster. Amps and pedals kept evolving from there.
Shout out to Dave Cockrell, the British genius who designed the VCS3, Akai S900 sampler and the unique pitch-to-MIDI software EHX's new synth pedals use.
the 'SOUL FOOD' Pedal is a GREAT PEDAL, for $75 its a good BOOST Pedal and can also be a STRAIGHT UP OVER-DRIVE Pedal, Stacked before and 'OCD' Pedal it really shines !
When he came back into the pedal business, he first made the Russian Big Muffs, originally called the "Red Army" pedal. The dealer price was $19 each; so I ordered six!! I wish I still had mine, they sounded great and are very collectible now...
I paid around $35 for mine, and I think the Civil War was at $65 in '94. I also bought quite a few. Love the Civil War muff and the wooden box was quite useful as well.
EHX pedals are fascinating. I love the branding, the artwork, the aesthetic. They are the most unique pedals. My only complaint is they seem to add a bit of noise to the chain that other manufacturers avoid. Overall, my favorite. QTron, Bad Stone, Canyon and now Pitchfork - all within a year. I'm hooked! Thanks for the tour.
7:35 I can't wait for that Oceans 12 pedal that should hopefully be released soon! It had better have stereo inputs though (at least through a TRS splitter). I don't know why they didn't add them on the Grand Canyon.
You're lucky. My 2014 Cathedral stopped working last week... First it stopped caring about presets and now it just does nothing except light up the leds. Life sucks without reverb
Whoa this video was AMAZING! This is the perfect format. Please make some more of other manufacturers. On top of everything EHX has a crazy interesting story. What a character Mike Matthews is! I really hope he will publish a memoir. Right now I’m going to sweet water to get a Memory Man...
Does anyone remember the EHX phone number you could call in the late 70’s? Pressor dial 1 to hear the Small Stone...etc. I also remember the EXH shop on 48th street. Great memories!
Watched this after spending an hour playing my fresh-out-of-the-box-Christmas-gift Op-Amp Big Muff Pi. Sounds excellent. Thanks, Sweetwater, for putting this factory tour video together.
Outstanding video. As a musician, an Engineer, and an EH user from back in the 70’s, this was great insight. What an impressive character and class act too.
Fantastic tour of the greatest company . but i have a question. The company is not in new york it looks like its in new Jersey. ? I might be wrong . sweet water is another FANTASTIC company helping and treating musicians with respect all the time I've brought many products from sweetwater. Great × great ÷ 4 = FANTASTIC.
You can see the buildings on close to the shore of the East River (in fact, you can see the facade of the United Nations building). The factory has to be in Long Island City (Queens).
Love how creative Electro-Harmonix pedals are, and the diverse amount of uses you can find with them. I have a Canyon and Freeze pedal from them. The only other company, in my opinion, that competes with them in terms of being both simultaneously practical and creative is TC Electronic (especially with their Toneprint features). Both are favourites for me in terms of pedal experimentation.
and the very-first thing I see in the warehouse says: ``Made-In-China``. I don`t know about you guys, but that clarifies a whole-Lotta ``STUFF`` about this particular company, and I am sure that I now know why I never bought a single EHX product over the last 42-years of my 50 on this earth, playing Electric-Guitar !!
I had one of the old Guild Foxey Lady distortion pedals made by EH that I bought second hand in the early 70's. It was the same as the original Big Muff. It was my go-to distortion matched up with my Carvin X-100 amp during my playing days. Thanks for the tour.
After you watch, give this video a thumbs up and subscribe! 😎🤘
Small detail but the fact that he knows all the employees by name and what exactly they do was pretty nice to see :)
Arshad Ahamed well... he could just ask them before the camera starts recording.. but I hope he really knows them by name
Yeah nice that he knows. But I couldn't help notice that none of his employes smiled. They just looked at him like they didn't really know eachother. But who knows, maybe they where just very focused about their work.
Idk why but I'm laughing my ass off right now imagining that he's just making up their names as he goes on but really believes that's their name
Not very difficult to remember your employees, especially if they're from Mexico
I really hope they get more than a simple living wage
I think its not a small detail, it means a lot
More factory tours please! This was fascinating
Yes, I agree, few years ago I was in Manhatten, if I knew the factory was there I would try to visit them.....would be a magic for me......
💯
I worked at Electro-Harmonix on college vacations in the early ‘70’s. I started sweeping the floors and wound up traveling for them, demonstrating their guitar products (Big Muff, Small Stone Phase Shifter,etc) to store buyers. Mike Matthews was and is a visionary businessman, a nice guy, and a great mentor who treated his workers very well and was a terrific blues piano player!
Mike Matthews is hero of the pedal community, and a great entrepreneur! Fantastic businessman!
Gotta say, Manny Silverstein certainly seems to be a lot of the passion behind a lot of their great pedals. Mike Matthews runs the business-end, and he's been really smart to surround himself with a very passionate group of engineers and developers.
No wonder EHX pedals sound so magical. They're made by a wizard.
I never realized EH was such a small business. Pretty cool! Amazing they’re able to crank out as many pedals as they do. Good for them for keeping that mom and pop vibe while being one of the biggest companies in the pedal game.
Guitar equipment is actually a relatively niche market, relative to world population. Hence why there's only 3 tube amp factories in existence. Honestly, that seems like a lot. Wouldn't be surprised if that goes down to 2 here pretty soon.
Only 3 tube amp factories in the world? What are you talking about?
Any have boutique quality pedals at reasonable prices.. Other than a paisley drive and full tone trem I think all my pedals are ehx..
Electro harmonix is owned by a bigger company NewSensor along with sovtek and tungsol who also produce tubes.
@@xsatn2082 Yes, but Mike owns all those companies, so there is no hidden overlord.
Mike Mathews and Electro harmonix are legendary nothing out there like Electro harmonix..
I can't stop thinking about Mel Brooks as the two thousand year old man
HOLY HELL - SPOT ON!!!!!!!!!
haha yes! I looked away from my t.v. to read this and couldnt agree more
😂😂😂
We have the greatest designer David who works out of the UK..... and this over here is Ryan. 😂😂😂😂
Ryan doesn't look at the camera in case you see him shed a little tear. 😂
Great grass roots company. Always happy to buy their products!
Legend
I like the fact that he knows all of his staff members name.
Yea you can tell he is a pretty humble guy.
EHX was definitely my gateway drug into pedals. Still have one on my board. Always stop and talk to him at Summer NAMM. Great guy.
Electro Harmonix used here since 1977, still working, still rolling thru the rock. Thank You Mike Matthews...you are a true underground cultural icon. Thanks Sweetwater,...both great companies
One more thing.....rock 'n roll! Thank you Mike!
I've watched multiple interviews of Mike and EVERY time he tells the history, he is very consistent
Incredible. Love EH stuff. Own five of em.
I'm definitely turning to EHX for my pedalboard, after this factory tour. The company's intangible assets developed by Mike's entrepreneurship is enormous but unfortunately undervalued. I wish more people define fun with music, guitar, and ANALOG pedals. Market is good, but digital effects are growing. And by the way, Mike's hair and beard really looks like Marx, so once he told Mitch about Soviet's economic collapse, I reread the history of Soviet dissolution. Rock and roll, Mike!
"Rock N' Roll!!" 😂
I love this guy and his company. Great Pedals.
14:19 Perfect Al Bundy pose.
Loved this video tour. Makes me appreciate my hex pedals a lot more, now I know where they come from...
Legendary..I love this man Mike Matthews!
I'd buy one of his pedals just because of how nice he is.
My very first pedal was a EHX Soul Food! I think Ms. Helen 5:13 assembled the same exact pedal I own!
You know a business is doing it right when the owner is hands on with the company and he's employees
I WANT A PEDAL THAT MAKES MY GUITAR SOUND LIKE MITCH GALLAGHER! SILKY SMOOTH
Viva Sweetwater! ~ Viva Electro-Harmoinix!
The owner of this multimillion-dollar company knows the names of every factory worker. Bravo! A class act!
Wonderful documentary and comeback story of one, Mike Matthews.
Love how EHX always pushes the envelope. There are many pedals that aren't for me but loads of cool stuff I enjoy using. Bad Stone, Green Muff, Tone Corset and Oceans 11.
This is far and away one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen on TH-cam.
santa does exist
I had an issue with a Tri Parallel Mixer... Contacted ehx directly, they immediately sent me a shipping label. Updated the firmware and sent it back good as new. Great company.
I have 12 different ehx pedals, ranging from od, distortion and fuzz, phaser, chorus and reverb. my favourite pedal, not just ehx, all of my pedals is the oceans 11. Thank you for all you have done, Mike!
what a character Mike Matthews is I used to talk to him personally back in the late 1980s when he first started his importing of Russian tubes 5881s were the only new reliable output tubes for us designers
awesome, I just bought my first two digital pedals from sweetwater. Both were EHX: A Mel-9 and a Grand Canyon. Then what's the first pedal they show in the factory?..how bout dat..then what's the second pedal they show?....how bout dat haha
When he started his mum thought it was just a phase
His future was fuzzy
Once he got a boost he was set.
Nyaaah, as long as ya fuzz ya mutha!
The echoes in his mind would sustain
....flanger.
Not many living legends left, quite like Mike Matthews. Such a character.
Loved the factory tour vid, I really hope you guys do more!
What an amazing story!
This is mind blowing.
Cool video! Great story and educational! Thanks for sharing brother's! Happy New Year to All!
This company is amazing. An American icon. Still made in the USA, affordable, quality pedals and gear. I am a fan for life.
He seems like a genuine guy who runs a genuine company. I need me some more EHX pedals!
Mike Mathews is a living legend. He goes right back to the start of everything, because amps didn't even have that second volume which makes overdrive yet, in 1968. He gave rock n roll overdrive! and started making all kinds of effects when they were still being invented. Great interview, Mitch, Sweetwater. Loved it. (I collect pedal company tours. You know who else is interesting? Look for a few Earthquaker Devices company tours, on youtube. The guy who runs that provides the best coffee and free pot to all his employees (really! it's in the kitchen, in a jar near the coffee O_o **starts making plans to apply for a job..**
charlie fiftywatts overdrive peals existed way before then
@@arando4359 Actually only the Rangemaster was around at that time.
@A Rando No they didn't. The only Overdrive came from the power tubes of a loud, cooking amp (Marshall). The Fuzz was the first drive pedal. Then boosting pedals came out to overdrive the amps like the LPB-1 and Rangemaster. Amps and pedals kept evolving from there.
I love the way He says: "R'n'R"
Thanks for this, I have the Mel9, Synth9 and Canyon - fantastic pedals!
Yes , he is the cat! I love Mike Matthews and play all the time 2 old LPB-2 Booster...........the amps are blowin' away That's "ROCK'n'ROLL"
Shout out to Dave Cockrell, the British genius who designed the VCS3, Akai S900 sampler and the unique pitch-to-MIDI software EHX's new synth pedals use.
I absolutely loved this! Of the 11 pedals I own, 9 are Electro Harmonix. Thank you sir for some amazing and mind blowing products!
Wow, that was great. 3,000 Big Muffs a month? Where are they all going? Crazy!
Tony Fletcher I know right, it seems like you can finds 4,000 on Craigslist
One can never have too much muff.
Love EHX!! Especially the Wailer Wah...same range as a Crybaby, lighter weight and better battery location!
Mitch, I really enjoyed the factory tour, history and especially Mike's personality!
the 'SOUL FOOD' Pedal is a GREAT PEDAL, for $75 its a good BOOST Pedal and can also be a STRAIGHT UP OVER-DRIVE Pedal, Stacked before and 'OCD' Pedal it really shines !
When he came back into the pedal business, he first made the Russian Big Muffs, originally called the "Red Army" pedal. The dealer price was $19 each; so I ordered six!! I wish I still had mine, they sounded great and are very collectible now...
I paid around $35 for mine, and I think the Civil War was at $65 in '94. I also bought quite a few. Love the Civil War muff and the wooden box was quite useful as well.
This is the home of real pedals ( Santa's workshop ) \m/
As opposed to all the millions of fake ones?
loved it, thanks! And thanks for the great products Mike!!! Nice to see things US made/tested MAGA!!
Great interview! Mike seems to be one of those guys, with a million stories. Amazing. Excellent tour.
EHX pedals are fascinating. I love the branding, the artwork, the aesthetic. They are the most unique pedals. My only complaint is they seem to add a bit of noise to the chain that other manufacturers avoid. Overall, my favorite. QTron, Bad Stone, Canyon and now Pitchfork - all within a year. I'm hooked! Thanks for the tour.
7:35 I can't wait for that Oceans 12 pedal that should hopefully be released soon! It had better have stereo inputs though (at least through a TRS splitter). I don't know why they didn't add them on the Grand Canyon.
I still have my original little big muff from 1978 still working!
i still have a working 1970 Triangle Big Muff Pi!
You're lucky. My 2014 Cathedral stopped working last week... First it stopped caring about presets and now it just does nothing except light up the leds. Life sucks without reverb
This was awesome. More factory tour videos please!
Mike is a real character! This was a fun video.
Sooo cool to see this behind the scenes !! Also Sweetwater > Guitar Center :P
Whoa this video was AMAZING! This is the perfect format. Please make some more of other manufacturers.
On top of everything EHX has a crazy interesting story. What a character Mike Matthews is! I really hope he will publish a memoir.
Right now I’m going to sweet water to get a Memory Man...
I love the Mel 9 and eh Super ego,,,,, so many pedals I love
Go Mike! Love my new Overlord pedal which I am using with my Keyboards!!❤️
I love his vacuum tubes.
This guy is a living legend. Hats off to you dear sir
Great interview
I have the English Muff'n. I use it through a Traynor YBA-2B. Absolutely killer!
Awesome. Sweetwater’s best video to date. Well done Mitch.
Loved it!!
Sleep's Dopesmoker Right On!
Pretty Impressive all pedals are tested by guitar before leaving the warehouse!
Does anyone remember the EHX phone number you could call in the late 70’s? Pressor dial 1 to hear the Small Stone...etc. I also remember the EXH shop on 48th street. Great memories!
Fascinating!
Watched this after spending an hour playing my fresh-out-of-the-box-Christmas-gift Op-Amp Big Muff Pi. Sounds excellent. Thanks, Sweetwater, for putting this factory tour video together.
Freakin LOVE Electro-Harmonix!! Great pedals. Great prices. Great history. The original H.O.G. is still one of my favorite pedals!
great video mitch, thanks for the tour. This is a real great view into entrepreneurial vision.
down to earth genious a real succes story,,,,smarter than any dr I dealt with,,,,,,,,, my point a business success bought happinesss to many,,,,,,,,
This made me more likely to buy more ehx pedals. I'm happy with the two I have atm.
Outstanding video. As a musician, an Engineer, and an EH user from back in the 70’s, this was great insight. What an impressive character and class act too.
LEGEND. Really enjoyed this!
i LOVE my Canyon, can't wait for the Grand!!!
Love EHX, Mike Matthews is awesome.
Santa gave me a new pedal for Xmas. No wait, it was not Santa, it was Mike Matthews.
just got my grand canyon, love it, still have a lot to learn about it.
I just bought the oceans 11...dammm... I bet they’re working on a deluxe version...damm damm
Glad I watched this. My gut was right... (I find EH pedals noisy and cheap, so for the price very average)
Fantastic tour of the greatest company . but i have a question. The company is not in new york it looks like its in new Jersey. ? I might be wrong . sweet water is another FANTASTIC company helping and treating musicians with respect all the time I've brought many products from sweetwater. Great × great ÷ 4 = FANTASTIC.
You can see the buildings on close to the shore of the East River (in fact, you can see the facade of the United Nations building). The factory has to be in Long Island City (Queens).
I wish they would reissue the Big Box Memory Man:(
I love my EHX 44 Magnum and English Muffin!
Mike's a legend and gave two shout-outs to another legend Dave Cockerell, a sadly neglected genius.
We had our own old man in russia - Yerasov, but he passed away in 2020... God bless you Michael, take care.
Love how creative Electro-Harmonix pedals are, and the diverse amount of uses you can find with them. I have a Canyon and Freeze pedal from them. The only other company, in my opinion, that competes with them in terms of being both simultaneously practical and creative is TC Electronic (especially with their Toneprint features).
Both are favourites for me in terms of pedal experimentation.
and the very-first thing I see in the warehouse says: ``Made-In-China``. I don`t know about you guys, but that clarifies a whole-Lotta ``STUFF`` about this particular company, and I am sure that I now know why I never bought a single EHX product over the last 42-years of my 50 on this earth, playing Electric-Guitar !!
Great video -- much respect for Mike and his determination to keep moving forward. A great example of the "never quit" attitude.
Just an absolute pleasure that was ...fogedaboudit' Thanks for all you do and big up to the Electro~Harmonix Crew!
I had one of the old Guild Foxey Lady distortion pedals made by EH that I bought second hand in the early 70's. It was the same as the original Big Muff. It was my go-to distortion matched up with my Carvin X-100 amp during my playing days. Thanks for the tour.