Adrian Thorpe

We get the lowdown on ThorpyFX with company founder, Adrian Thorpe, who briefs us on the military-precision engineering and incendiary tone that’s behind the company’s meteoric rise to fame among audiophile guitarists

- Rod Brakes

With a long legacy of influential sound designers, the UK has a colourful history of guitar effects pedal manufacturing stretching back to the 1960s and has produced some of the most well-regarded stomp boxes in the world. British manufacturing may have taken more than its fair share of ups and downs, but the spirit of innovation and expertise in guitar effects design is alive and well, especially in the realm of high-quality, hand-built, boutique pedals. When Ammunition Technical Officer Major Adrian Thorpe left the Army to settle down he decided a change of career was in order. Moving away from the rigours of bomb disposal and explosives, he set up shop with ThorpyFX in 2015 and immediately picked up rave reviews in the music industry, as well as notable endorsements and awards in the press. Adrian and his wife, Georgia, still conduct the pedals’ final assembly on a workbench at their home. But, with the demand for ThorpyFX pedals on the increase and a plethora of new circuit designs in the pipeline, how are they able to keep up with the demands of their newfound success in such a highly competitive (and potentially oversaturated) market? “It seemed to gather momentum very quickly,” begins Adrian. “All told, there’s three full-time employees: my wife and I and a guy called Mitch Keen, who has around 30 years of experience in the music industry. We also have a part-time contracted designer on board, Dan Coggins of Love tone. Dan has always worked in electronics and he still does – he’s busy all the time and his skill set is very much in demand. It’s good to lean on people who have expertise in a certain area that you don’t have and, as we expand, I’m sure we’ll get more designers on board. Dan designed the Lovetone pedals and I ended up building a Lovetone Meatball envelope filter as a personal project.”

Aiming High