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Helweg Design is essentially pedalboard maker Michael Helweg—with a great amount of help from his best friend, wife, and co-owner Laura. Michael has been designing, building, and wiring pedalboard-related things since 2010. Helweg Design is based in Nashville, TN, and all products are made in the USA.
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Michael is a perfection-driven designer and craftsman. From the smallest bracket to the most complex signal chain, each product and project reflects his high standards and scrutiny of every detail.
Always a tech for the techless, Michael is as much consultant and signal routing engineer as custom pedalboard builder—though there is always plenty of that.
Michael founded Helweg Design with a passion for innovation. Ten years in, there is still always something new on the drawing board.
Michael: Product Design, Consulting, Building, Setup, Website, Photography
Laura: Business Management, Web Editing, Social Media
(Laura is also a full-time book editor at Thomas Nelson.)
History
Having a background in furniture repair, Michael launched Helweg Custom Pedalboards in 2010, producing highly customized handmade pedalboards from his hometown of Lawrence, KS.
Michael’s craftsman's skill set and meticulous attention to detail was welcome in a then-exploding market for boutique music gear. Our early portfolio shows a clear emphasis on wood crafting, upholstery, and integrated features. Michael spent several years cutting his proverbial teeth working with musicians to create signal chains, design layouts, and overcome obstacles, in addition to building, wiring, and testing the custom pedalboards.
The experience gained from these early years inspired a comprehensive new pedalboard design, pedal mounting bracket and riser system, and more importantly, a slightly new direction—veering away from expensive cosmetic features in pursuit of improved access, function, and durability, with heavy-touring musicians in mind.
We relaunched the company in 2016, unveiling our OpenWing flat pedalboard design, along with a new logo, under our current Helweg Design name. The product line was granted three US design patents, and we continue to be thrilled with the results that the designs are able to accomplish.
In 2018 we relocated to Nashville, which already feels like home. Music City has been an excellent base of operations to better connect in person with more of our clients.
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Much credit is due to Michael’s dad, Stan Helweg, who liked to jokingly claim that he taught Michael everything he knows. We hope to exude Stan’s love for people and selfless work ethic in all we do.