The Walrus Audio RED High-Gain Distortion is a distortion pedal from the Oklahoma City maker, unveiled at the NAMM Show in January 2017 as the company began taking orders1. It is built for players who want a lot of gain: gearnews' Jef opened his report with "This distortion is anything but subtle"1.
What it does
The RED is aimed, as gearnews put it, "at lovers of that '90s over-the-top distortion used by Swedish Death Metal bands and alternative Shoegaze bands from that era"1. Its one defining control is the texture switch, which selects between two different configurations of clipping diodes, the components that shape the pedal's distortion character1.
| Texture switch position | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Top | A lower level of compression and clipping, good for overdrive-like sounds1 |
| Other position | The pedal's fuller high-gain distortion character1 |
In practice, the top position leans the RED toward overdrive territory, while the other setting delivers the saturated gain the pedal is named for. Players comparing it within Walrus Audio's distortion range may also look at the Iron Horse or the Eras Five-State Distortion, which offer different approaches to high-gain tones1.
"This distortion is anything but subtle"
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Questions
What is the texture switch on the Walrus Audio RED?
The texture switch selects between two different configurations of clipping diodes inside the pedal. In the top position it gives a lower level of compression and clipping, which gearnews described as good for overdrive-like sounds. The other position delivers the pedal's full high-gain distortion character.
What kind of music is the Walrus Audio RED aimed at?
According to gearnews, the pedal is aimed at lovers of that '90s over-the-top distortion used by Swedish death metal bands and alternative shoegaze bands from that era. It was described as anything but subtle.
Sources (1)
- Walrus Audio RED Distortion: A new saturated drive for Shoegaze and '90s Metal, gearnews.com, 2017-01-27
