5 Boutique Stompbox Builders You Should Know
Red Witch
The seeds for New Zealand’s Red Witch
pedals were sown when founder Ben
Fulton’s girlfriend bought him a Holden
50-watt amp head in need of work. The
repairs, as well as the need for some effects
to put in front of the amp when it was
healthy again, prompted a fascination with
preamp, amp-modulation, and pitch-modu-lation circuits that led to his first effect—the
Moon Phaser. The project was originally
intended for Fulton’s personal use, but his
friends dug the little pedal and the requests
started coming in so fast that a business
was born.
Today, Red Witch’s line includes the Deluxe
Moon Phaser, the Pentavocal Trem, the
Empress Chorus, the Fuzz God II, the
Famulus Distortion, and the Titan Delay.
The motivation behind each of these ped-
als is the same that guided the design of
the first Moon Phaser: “The boutique pedal
scene was much smaller eight or nine years
ago, and there were a lot of guys building
clones of classic, out-of-production ped-
als,” says Fulton, recalling the early days
of Red Witch. “There were a lot less folks
doing new or innovative stuff. I’ve never
had any interest in copying or cloning other
people’s designs. Manufacturing anything—
your own idea or someone else’s—is a
huge amount of work. So I figured from the
outset that I’d prefer to put my time and
energy into something that was unique, dif-
ferent, and, most importantly, my own.”
Though he was eager to carve out his own
niche, Fulton knew what sounds he liked on
record. Not surprisingly, Fulton’s list of sonic
influences was broad and varied, ranging
from experimental Japanese guitar expres-
sionist Keiji Haino to pioneers like Jimmy
Page and Mick Ronson—players that, as
Fulton put it, had “a purity of expression.”
“Page’s palate has had an influence,”
Fulton says. “The range of tones that he
got with guitar, amp, and pedal combina-
tions in the studio is staggering—layer
upon layer of guitar parts, each with a
slightly different treatment. Beautiful.”
Another Brit was also a huge influence on
Fulton’s sonic philosophy. “I loved Alvin
Lee’s guitar sound, that blistering playing
in the late ’60s—very clear and articulate.
I guess with our Fuzz God II and Famulus
distortion, I really strived to get that clear,
punchy sound happening. No additional
frequencies, nothing that would allow the
guitar to get muddy in the mix.”
Fulton’s interest in not just the spe-
cific pedal tones but the overall playing
approach of the greats keeps him from
obsessing over emulation, which means
he can focus on the flavors that make
his pedals different. It also means he can
refine them to the point of being practical
92 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2010
www.premierguitar.com
