rather than a gimmick. “I’ve designed
every device to offer guitar players
really useable flavors in the specific effect
genre—and then something totally new
that’s not available elsewhere, but that’s
also totally useable.
Red Witch founder Ben Fulton’s design approach is heavily influenced by
sounds he gleans from recording artists that share a “purity of expression.”
“There’s no point offering bells and whis-
tles that you’d never use,” he continues.
“For instance, our Moon Phaser offers
three different styles of phasing, as well
as a gentle tremolo setting. In addition,
it offers our unique Tremophase—where
the phase shift occurs at the same time as
the tremolo’s volume pulse. No one else
has done that before, and the Red Witch
Moon Phaser remains the only source of
this new, useable sound.”
For all his concerns with practicality, Fulton
also doesn’t mind tinkering with radical
sounds. Though even his pursuit of more
“out” sounds are in the name of musical
ends. “I’ve always loved contrast within a
piece of music,” he says, describing one
of his musical guidelines for design. “You
want to make a section of song seem really
loud? Play really quietly before it. And
vice versa. The Fuzz God can do really
subtle fuzz sounds—but then you can click
one footswitch and enter a world of sonic
insanity. It allows you to shift between two
extremes very easily.”
FEATURE
In the end, Fulton’s concern with musicality
reinforces his own primary directive—
staying creative as a pedal maker so that musicians can be creative with his creations.
“I think our customers are the players out
there who really pay attention to their whole
approach—playing, tone, and gear,” Fulton
says. “They want the classic sounds but they
also want to push the boundaries. They
don’t just want to emulate their heroes, they
want to develop their own voice.
I try to design stuff to help folks do that. I’ve
never considered whether people use them
to the full extent of the box’s capabilities. As
long as the pedals are helping to open new
creative avenues for them, I’m happy. I think
that’s part of the appeal of our stuff: you can
use as few or as many of the features as you
like. Either way, offering something unique
opens new avenues of expression for them.
I like that idea a lot!”
redwitchanalogpedals.com
www.premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2010 93
