In a non-descript industrial building in Akron, workers and machines at Earthquaker Devices are busy turning raw metal cases and circuit boards into guitar pedals — used by musicians to create distortion effects in both live and recorded performances.
"We make approximately 50,000 pedals a year," said Julie Robbins, CEO and co-owner of Earthquaker Devices. "We have a little over 40 pedals in our line."
Earthquaker is among the world's best-known pedal manufacturers. Its products have been used in songs by Paul Simon, Coldplay and The Black Keys.
Earthquaker, headquartered in Akron, was founded in 2004 by Robbins' now-husband, Jamie Stillman, after he repaired a broken overdrive pedal.
Tarriff troubles
The business has grown, but has seen a 200% increase in costs — and then a more than 30% decrease in sales — after higher tariffs took effect earlier this year. Those tariff rates have now been scaled back, which Stillman says is good, but have added to a general air of unpredictability in her business projections.
She said staff holds a weekly tariff meeting to try to keep abreast of frequent changes.
Unlike some competitors, Earthquaker doesn’t just import finished pedals. Instead, it buys raw capacitors and unfinished circuit boards from suppliers in China and other nations and completes the assembly locally. Because the parts are foreign-made and the finished products are sold in the U.S., the company doesn’t qualify for some federal programs that could help recoup tariff costs.
Stillman said the business has found creative ways to control expenses, such as making limited batches of pedals with existing stock and finding alternative vendors.
For example, one part used to come from China. "And we were hoping that we found a suitable replacement from Taiwan," said Robbins. "But when they went through the wave solder, they melted."
So now they’re trying other suppliers not subject to Chinese tariffs.
An uncertain future
Jooyoun Park is an associate professor of economics at Kent State University.
"Tariffs going up is not the [only] issue," said Park. "The uncertainty about what will happen is a bigger issue."
She says some businesses may benefit from the weakening U.S. dollar, which will make their products cheaper to export. But as steel and aluminum tariffs continue to fluctuate, local manufacturers are unable to plan ahead.
"Businesses can handle negative shocks," explained Park. "They go through a business cycle all the time. So as long as they're aware, they can plan what to do around that situation. What's hard with this situation is they don't know what happening like literally tomorrow."
Ripple effects
And it’s not just manufacturers feeling the uncertainty. One local guitar shop experiencing the ripple effects from Earthquaker’s struggles is Guitar Riot in the Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood.
The shop opened in 2012 and has six full-time and part-time employees. It prides itself on being a destination for musicians traveling between New York and Chicago.
The store carries Earthquaker pedals. Operating partner Brent Ferguson says any decline in the quality or quantity of the pedals would be terrible for both the shop and musicians both locally and nationally.
"They are one of the top brands in the industry," said Ferguson. "And for them to be wavering is not good."
Akron-based hip-hop musician Flaco Torres uses guitar pedals including those made by Earthquaker in his live sets. He worries the products may not be available to him in the future.
Another casualty, he says, could be Earthquaker Day — a yearly music festival and showcase for the company’s pedals.
"It's as Akron as it gets," explained Torres. "That would be a gut punch to lose them."
