Solder Soldiers- Lyle Cline of Boneshaker Pedals

I was born and grew up in Ponoka AB (find that on the map!!).  Pretty much lived there until my early 20s went I moved to go to Red Deer College.  I moved to the Lower Mainland in 1997 after I finished college.  Been here ever since!

My family on my Mom's side was very musical.  My Uncles all played various instruments, and mostly self-taught according to my Mom.  How I got interested in music is a pretty weird and somewhat long and twisted tale.  I started playing guitar when I was 13 when the whole hair metal thing was big.  I loved metal of all kinds, but I think my only motivation for playing guitar at the time was I thought it would make me look cool.  Needless to say, it didn't go very far, despite lots of great gear and lessons.  I never practiced, and by the time I was 18 I gave it up.  Fast forward to 2005.  I had switched my focus from music to motor racing. I was an amateur race car driver for many years (drag racing and open wheel).  By 2005, I was running out of money and patience for racing, plus my wife and I were expecting our first child.  My good friend Dave plays guitar and sings. One alcohol fuelled Saturday night I picked up his spare bass that he'd bought to record with and started playing around with it. I really enjoyed playing and started to think about playing music again and playing the bass seemed to be the right fit. My wife gave me a squire bass for my birthday that year. I think she thought that playing bass would be less of a money drain than racing (little did she know that I would become a gear head and obsessed with getting the perfect sound with stomp boxes) and I know she thought playing bass would keep me closer to home once the baby was born. I started by teaching myself and jamming with my friend who taught me a lot in the beginning and continues to do so. I've taken lessons with some great local bass players and I've been playing ever since!

I have a ton of influences, probably too many to list.  When I started, I began by learning the baselines of Peter Hook and Tina Weymouth, as Joy Division and Talking Heads were two of the groups that I was listening to at the time.  I think my list of influences would include Justin Chancellor, Blacky (Jean-Yves Thériault), dUG Pinnick, Jean-Jacques Burnel, David Wm. Sims, Peter Hook, Chris Wolstenholme, Jason Newstead, Geddy Lee, James Jamerson, John Paul Jones and many more I'm sure.... The big thing for me is my need for overdriven or distorted bass tone, so the guys I look up to typically have that going on.  Really, I love all types of music.  I listen to blues, reggae, ska, rock, metal, and so on.

My rig is my old friend Geddy, or my 1st edition Fender Geddy Lee Jazz signature.  I want to be buried with that bass, depending who goes first.  I've modded it with Dimarzio Model Js, black pick guard and D-tuner.  I've had plenty of second basses, and at the moment I have a Squier Matt Freeman Precision which is a beautiful bass for the money.  My amp is my other baby, my 70's era Ampeg V4 with a 4x12 cab.  I also have a Traynor Monoblock II and a Fender Bassman 25.  I'd list the pedals I use currently, but that would change next week.
I left for mostly for personal reasons. I had concerns about the band's direction and it's culture and how I fit within those frameworks .  My leaving is probably all for the best, as my musical tastes and that of the Twitch are not really that compatible, while it was fun for a while to play with a band whose music is about girl problems and getting laid; I'm into a darker, heavier, sinister, somewhat experimental music.  I've been with the same woman for nearly 20 years, girl problems aren't what drive me.

I don't have any plans to join or start a group at the moment, as I'm kinda burnt out on the band concept for now.  I'm sure I'll want to get something going in the future, as I really think I have lots to give as far as being in a great, kickass band.  I think I will need to have more control and say in the direction and culture of the group in order for a band to feel right for me. All the groups that I've been involved with in the past were put together using someone else's vision. I didn't feel as though I had any influence in growth or in direction and I feel that creatively and emotionally I've paid for that. Regardless of my personal relationships within those groups, more than anything I just ended up feeling more miserable than anything else in those situations. I'm still playing and writing songs with my good bud Dave, and I'm learning some other instruments; drums for instance, returning to guitar and thinking about learning keyboard. 

Not really, as I only really starting playing seriously when we were expecting our first child.  Family and my musical life have always gone hand in hand.  I've been pretty busy with various bands throughout the last 4 years, and I'm surprised my wife hasn't left me yet.  She's always maintained that she supports my music, and I absolutely love her for that.
I've always been a gear nut, in particular stomp boxes.  Prior to building, I cycled through tons of pedals despite being a bass player.  I probably spent way more money than I should.  One of my favourite bass players (Justin Chancellor) had a vintage Colorsound Jumbo Tonebender in his rig, and I wanted that sound.  However, they are few and far between plus very expensive.  To make a long story short, I ended up finding the schematic online and someone to etch a board for me.  I figured, "I can build one" and it actually worked first time despite my rookie soldering.  Since then, I've not been able to quit making pedals.  I'm mostly self taught, other than bits and pieces in school (which I mostly tuned out).  I love to experiment with different designs and circuits, and I usually have more projects than I have time for.
Again, too many to list.  I started with kits, then I moved onto getting etched or fabbed pcbs from various guys who provide that service.  I have a pretty stocked parts inventory, so I can build just about anything at this point.  I'm not doing my own pcbs at the moment, as I don't want the chemicals around with little ones, plus it's time consuming.  Lately, I've been doing circuits with proto board called veroboard or stripboard.  It's a little harder to work with than readymade pcbs.  I guess to answer your question I'm not doing anything of my own design "yet", but that's mostly as I want to experiment with all the existing circuits and ideas that are out there.  I've come across lots of resources, so like I said previously there's more to try than I have time for.  I'm just about to the point where I can design something, but I want more experience and I'd would like to learn more of the theory (which is what school is for).  For being self taught, I'm pretty good at what I do :).  I've also done lots of mods and repairs as well.
When I gave up my 14 year career as a chemical analyst early in the year, I started putting more thought into how I would actually start my business.  I still have lots of work to do, as school is my focus now.  I think I would focus on bass pedals, as that is what I know.  As a bass overdrive junkie, I would want to design the perfect overdrive that I hear in my head.  I've been trying since I started building, and with each build I get closer but I've not got it yet.  I think if I was to sell pedals as a proper business, I would want to make sure I had something new and exciting to offer.  The problem is, there are so many builders and guys trying to sell pedals these days, that the market is saturated.  Adding to that, many of what people sell are just derivatives of old established designs (Fuzz Face, Tubescreamer, etc).  I believe I could offer great service and pedals that are truly one of a kind.  I love the look of hand painted pedals, so I'm collaborating with my wife to paint each pedal so they are truly originals.  I'm hoping with school and a little more experimentation I can come up with something mind blowing.  I'm also wanting to build amps at some point.  I love the old style point-to-point wiring of vintage amps, plus the newer boutique amps.