Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Entrekin.
Hi Ryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started building guitar effects pedals around 2019/20 somewhere around there! I bought a kit and it failed and I hard no way to figure out how to troubleshoot it because I knew nothing about electronics. So I decided to fix that by buying books and reading articles and teaching myself to read schematics. After I became more comfortable I started building circuits from simple schematics I found online and modifying them. As I became better and better at reading schematics my circuits got more complex. The real draw to my pedals however is that I hand wire and hand paint each pedal individually. There are no fancy computer templates or decals…it’s all by spray paint and brush. This went on for about 3 or 4 years, then I moved to flint and moved my workshop into the basement and it flooded and ruined a lot of my stuff so I became disheartened and stopped working for awhile. The fire to build still burns, I just need a better place to build! Now I play all my pedals myself and enjoy writing songs, getting ready to start performing again as Charmin Diggs.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I had to teach myself everything, nobody I knew had any electronics experience. So I read books and articles, visited my local electronics shop and spoke to the owner and he hooked me up with lots of old capacitors and resistors. Biggest obstacle now is a basement that likes to flood….Sometimes circuits don’t work, a lot of the times actually so it’s challenging to work so long on something and have it not work…but there’s a lot of joy that comes with troubleshooting and solving problems.!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I build guitar effects pedals and write quirky pop/rock/punk songs under the name Charmin Diggs. I used to perform a lot, but have slowed down over the years, plan on getting back out there soon!
What sets me apart from others is that I’m a real DIY kinda guy, lots of self teaching and experimenting. I never collaborate, tend to be a loner!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I’m a new father! So I’m too busy to do anything creative right now haha.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charmindiggs.bandcamp.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/entrekinpedals?igsh=bGJuaDYyZXprdXJ2&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/entrekinpedals/
