This week is SXSW week in Austin,TX. It is the time of the year when the music world converges on our little city. Every year we seem to get pulled into demos, speaking engagements, parties, events, or showcases. This year is no different. The company has several events and all of our guys have multiple events going on. 

I thought it would be fitting to do a limited Texas edition controller set. The wood choice for maximum Texas flavor? Mesquite of course. Although Ryan Anderson (the head of our circuit board department), insisted that the state tree of Texas is a Pecan, nothing says Texas like Mesquite.

 

Mesquite is an extremely hardy tree that grows in the arid parts of Texas where not too many other trees will. In fact, it grows so well that ranchers consider it a nuisance. Also called “Texas iron wood,” it is hard and very dimensionally stable. In the dry west Texas climate with poor soil quality, mesquite trees usually mature as a large shrub so the supply of lumber is plentiful with very small pieces that have plenty of “character”.

As the Livid wood monger, I make it my responsibility to personally select each piece. Most of the local mesquite lumber is two feet long and three inches wide – an ideal size for our wood end caps. I made a trip to the yard and dug through a pile to come up with some really nice choice pieces for this Texas edition.

The Limited Texas Edition Ohm64 and Block have extra thick “Texas sized” mesquite end caps, clear anodized aluminum body, white LED’s and a mesquite crossfader. We fabricated a new Texas star wood brand to designate this run of controllers. Everyone who has picked up one of these Texas edition controllers comments on how well made it feels; the density of the mesquite with a little extra weight is really nice and solid. We may take mesquite for granted here in Texas but for the rest of the world, it is an exotic wood.

These controllers will be with us at all of our SXSW events to check out if you are in Austin, TX. 

We will be making a limited run of this for a great deal only available this month. We will have one of them up at the Austin retailer, Switched On as long as we offer this model.

I have always loved working with mesquite especially for the aroma that it has while being cut and sanded, which is what makes for great Texas BBQ.  Hmmm….. I think I know what we will do with the scraps!