Red Witch Releases the Limited-Edition Pristina

December 8, 2020 · 6 sources

Red Witch announced the Pristina, a limited-edition dual-channel germanium boost pedal that the maker describes as "offering a mountain of crystalline, sparkling, clean boost to push even the most lack luster of valve amplifiers" into dynamic overdrive¹. Only 99 were ever made, each built by hand by Red Witch founder Ben Fulton in his workshop in New Zealand, and each hand-signed and hand-numbered¹².

The pedal houses two independent germanium amplifiers, one per channel, each built around a single hand-selected NOS germanium transistor¹³. Gearnews described the circuit as "a dual boost pedal based on two NOS germanium transistor-powered channels"⁴. Red Witch's own words on the transistors: "The power of a single, hand selected, NOS germanium transistor in each channel ensures that!"¹

Controls and switching

Controls are simple: twin volume controls, one for each channel, with two true bypass footswitches to engage each channel independently¹².

MusicRadar noted that the two footswitches and two volume controls "all equates to three levels of boost from using the footswitches alone," and that with both channels running at once, a player can use the guitar's volume control to dial in overdrive without treble loss when rolled back².

Build and power

The enclosure is stripped back, with a monochrome graphic on the face and the knobs situated on top of the enclosure rather than the front⁶⁴.

Red Witch says a higher voltage accesses even more headroom¹⁵.

What reviewers said

Gearnews' reviewer, writing from experience with the maker's earlier pedals, said: "I find the build quality to be excellent and the choice of components in Ben's pedals to always be top notch."⁴

The Pristina was listed at 599 USD and has since sold out¹.