Red Witch Pedals

The brand is best known for modulation and fuzz: the maker calls the Empress Chorus "Red Witch's most beloved pedal"³, and the range runs from fuzz pedals and tremolo pedals to phaser pedals, delay pedals, reverb pedals and synth pedals.

The story of Red Witch Pedals

Red Witch began with the Deluxe Moon Phaser, which the maker calls "our first pedal"⁵. That was followed by the Chorus Em, described as "our very first custom made pedal"¹¹. The Empress Chorus went on to become the pedal the brand is most associated with; the current Empress Deus Chorus page introduces it with "Red Witch's most beloved pedal, The Empress Chorus, is back"³.

Modulation has stayed central to the company's identity. On the Lyria Harmonic Tremolo page, the designer writes that "Modulation has always been at the forefront of my designs, from the Moon Phaser and Empress Deus Chorus right through to" the recent Eleutheria limited edition Flanger pedal¹². The Lyria itself is a harmonic tremolo, and the Pentavocal Tremolo is an analog tremolo pedal¹³.

Hand-made pedals in New Zealand

Every Red Witch pedal is built by hand in New Zealand, in small batches⁴. On several models the founder's personal involvement is spelled out: each Euphorium Fuzz and each Invidium Phaser is personally tested and hand signed by Ben Fulton before it leaves the workshop²⁶, and the FALCOR modulator is hand made and signed by him¹⁴.

True bypass switching is standard across the range. The OPIA Fuzz Engine, Seven Sisters Ruby Fuzz, Hypostasia, Famulus Overdrive, Zeus bass fuzz and TANGENTIA all list true bypass, and on several designs the footswitch is mounted independently from the main PCB, which the maker says offers more durability⁴¹⁵¹⁶. On the Epiphanous Overdrive and Invidium Phaser the true bypass footswitch is guaranteed for over 100,000 cycles⁶.

Fuzz, tremolo and phaser designs

Fuzz is the deepest part of the catalog, with more than 25 fuzz designs over 23 years². The line includes the Fuzz God II and Fuzz God III, the OPIA Fuzz Engine, Hypostasia Fuzz Overdrive, Valentina, the Seven Sisters Ruby Fuzz, the ultra rare Delilah, and the Euphorium Fuzz²⁴¹⁷. The maker describes the Fuzz God III as "the possibly the most versatile, compact and affordable Fuzz pedal ever made"¹⁸. The Zeus extends the fuzz line to bass, combining an analog bass fuzz with a suboctave in a two pedals in one format, each with its own true bypass stomp switch¹⁹.

Modulation designs include the Moon Phaser and its Deluxe reissue, the Invidium Phaser, the Pentavocal and Lyria tremolos, the Empress Chorus and its successors, and the Eleutheria Flanger³⁵⁶¹². The Synthotron family covers analog synth duties, with the Synthotron III hand signed and numbered by Ben Fulton²⁰.

Limited runs: the Nouveau series

Alongside the regular catalog, Red Witch builds the Nouveau series: limited short-run pedals that the maker says are only available for a very short time²¹. The runs are small and final:

They do not last long. The maker states that its last three limited edition pedals sold out in less than 60 minutes from the moment they were publicly available²⁷¹², and the Eleutheria Flanger sold out in 24 minutes¹². The Pristina, with only 99 units, carries two true bypass footswitches, one per channel¹.

Shipping and packaging

Red Witch ships all pedals in 100% recycled packaging, a policy stated across its product pages⁷⁸²⁸. The maker's own pages do not state a free shipping policy for the US; a related product, the Pedal Pawn RedPrint, carries free worldwide shipping on all pedals, but that is Pedal Pawn's policy rather than Red Witch's²⁹.

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