ABOUT GREMLIN

Started by Paul Faulk in 2014 doing simple mods and repairs of stompboxes for local Austin, Texas guitarists, the idea of GREMLIN MACHINE SHOP was then thrust into existence.  

"My love for heavy metal and electric guitars especially started in 1983-84 when my Mom bought me IRON MAIDEN 'Piece of Mind' on cassette...I was only 4 years old.  Hitting PLAY on that tape was one of the most profound and impactful experiences of my life that I will never forget.  I must have listened to Flight of Icarus a thousand times or more; it's a wonder that stretch of tape never broke.  

I was totally awestruck by the heaviness of those tones and rhythms, and could not understand how the guitars (and drums!) sounded that way. It was totally beyond belief, and with nobody around that small East Texas town to really explain it to me, much less how to play hard rock guitar, haha!  It took many years to grasp how to "effect" guitars in that way.

Naturally, I gravitated towards playing electric guitar by the time I was 10 or 11, and within a few years actually wrote some decent heavy riffs and songs (I still remember them!). After learning to solder in an Electronics course at school in 1997, then building a few DIY clone kits back around 2002, my passion and comprehension for both music and electronics was growing.

After suffering a "sports-related injury" to the arm in 2014, I had to give up playing that game (which basically occupied ALL my free time at that point) and decide on another activity to pour my creativity and passion into, so naturally I fell right back into guitar electronics.  All I really wanted from this deal was to build my own "dream rig."

What you see with GREMLIN (and now BARBARIAN FUZZ RAIDERS) is the unfolding synthesis of all those countless hours of research and learning, plus a decade of experience from my 9-to-5 electro-mechanical tech and machinist gigs, and again...grinding away at this stompbox thing in every spare moment...to generate something I find to be magical, if only for myself; something that I am truly stoked to share with you.  I even still tackle the occasional repair job for folks.

So whether you are a REBEL TO THE SYSTEM, THRASHER, RIFFLORD, DOOMER, SHOEGAZER, PSYCHONAUT...hell ANY sonic explorer...give Gremlin a damn shot."  

- Paul @ GREMLIN (2020)