Swindler Effects pauses all new orders after owner's first child

August 18, 2025 · 1 sources

Swindler Effects has stopped taking new orders. In an update to the company's FAQ page dated August 2025, owner Drew Swindle wrote that his wife had their first baby on 8/18/25 and that he no longer has time for pedal building or design¹.

"Due to my increasingly long list of responsibilities and other priorities, I sadly no longer have any time to devote to pedal building or design," Swindle wrote¹. He added that the shop is not closing fully "yet," but that all new orders are paused for the foreseeable future¹. He directed questions to the contact form on the site and pointed buyers interested in purchasing toward the used market¹.

Swindle describes Swindler as a one-man operation that he runs on the side alongside a full time job, with limited build time each week¹. He builds each pedal per order in the order received, and the FAQ states that an "IN STOCK" listing means a pedal is available to order and in production, not sitting on a shelf¹. He has run the company fully since 2015¹.

The FAQ lists the WORKERS COMP, IRON DRIVE, MINESHAFT and MAGIC CITY as pedals without firmware updates or MIDI, and the RED MOUNTAIN, THE GULF and NEXUS_4 as supporting firmware versions¹. Most of the line uses a Hammond 125B enclosure measuring 4.7 x 2.6 x 1.5 inches, while the Nexus_4 uses a Hammond 1550D measuring 4.51 x 2.52 x 2.17 inches¹. The page gives no price or shipping information for new orders, and no date for a resumption.