Summer School Electronics was founded in 2021 by Mark Turley, a working musician of 20+ years and a full-time elementary and special education teacher in central New York. When the 2020 shutdown turned Mark’s dining-room table into a classroom and put his usual summer of gigs on hold, he bought a build-your-own pedal kit. One fuzz led to another. Friends started asking for builds. Then strangers.

 

The first pedal Mark designed himself was the Gus-Drive, named after the dog he and his wife rescued during lockdown. Twelve pedals went up for sale to see if anyone would bite. Thirteen orders came back. Summer School Electronics has been hand-building in Syracuse ever since.

 

The schoolhouse theme runs through everything. Pedals are named like timetable entries — Science Fair, Class Reunion, Middle School Chorus, Spring Break Reverb, Snow Day Delay, Extra Credit Boost, Half Day Compressor, Pep Rally Fuzz. Artwork is by Mark’s lifelong friend and bandmate, Steve Peterson. The look is instantly recognisable on a shop wall and, more importantly, on a customer’s pedalboard.