David Torn

David Torn is an experimental guitarist and soundtrack composer whose credits include David Bowie, k.d. lang, John Legend, Tori Amos, Bill Bruford, Mick Karn, David Sylvian, Meshell Ndegeocello and Don Cherry¹. He is also a builder's collaborator: his attention drew Paul Trombetta's work, and he and Trombetta went on to conspire on a pedal built to suit Torn's needs¹. He plays down-tuned guitars and asked Benson Amps for more bass on tap in his personal pedal, mostly for amplifying the sub frequencies of those instruments².

Benson Amps calls him one of the most famous and discerning users of the original 60s Tone Bender MK1 circuit², and Guitar World credits the former Bowie guitarist with lending Benson a number of vintage fuzzes to compare and contrast when developing a fuzz of their own³.

Rack delays and loopers

Torn is not just a user of advanced rack delays and loopers, he is a programmer of them. Chris Buono, writing for the Stompbox Book after visiting Torn's studio in December 2019, puts it plainly:

On the current pedalboard side, Torn is an artist on the JAM Pedals roster⁵, and appears in a JAM Pedals video lending a hand with the company's pedals⁵. Of the Delay Llama XTREME he says:

His place in looping is widely noted by the press. A GuitarPlayer review of the Pigtronix Infinity 2 groups him with Robert Fripp as the avant-garde guitarists whose ambient style loopers have traditionally been used for, before a generation of newer artists took them into traditional composition work⁸. BOSS's guide to loop pedals names him alongside Ed O'Brien as a player who uses loopers to create atmospheres⁹.

Fuzz pedals and prototypes

Torn's fuzz collection runs deep into small-builder territory. On display during the Stompbox Book visit were deep cuts and prototypes from four builders⁴:

Analog Man also counts him among the purchasers and users of the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory¹⁰. Beyond fuzz, Godlyke lists him with his TWA WR-03 Wah Rocker, a wah descended from the Guyatone Wah Rocker¹¹.

Germanium vs silicon

During the Stompbox Book visit there was a teaching moment where Torn schooled the visitors on the difference between germanium and silicon transistors⁴, and he held court on the origins of fuzz circuits, citing the Maestro FZ1 and the pioneering iterations of the Sola Sound Tone-Bender as pivotal designs⁴.

The transistor choice he was explaining is one fuzz players still weigh. Dave Hunter, writing in GuitarPlayer, notes that silicon transistor-based fuzzes followed germanium units and are known for their slightly harder and more crisply defined tones¹². Guitar World's fuzz buying guide puts the trade-off in practical terms: silicon transistors typically sound brighter, more controlled and more modern but can sit on the harsher side, while germanium transistors tend to sound warmer, with greater responsiveness to changes made using the guitar's volume knob, though they are more susceptible to temperature changes¹³. The classic example is the Fuzz Face: early models used PNP germanium transistors, argued to be the better sounding models, while some later models used NPN silicon¹⁴.

Feedback and oscillation

Torn's reputation extends to the sounds most players try to eliminate. Benson Amps' builder notes, quoted by Delicious Audio, describe him as one of the pioneers of using self noise and oscillation in creative ways¹⁵. That same builder's account notes Chris Benson applied a misremembered idea from his lead tech, Carson McWhirter, described as an unconventional guitarist in his own right, in developing the fuzz that Torn's input helped shape¹⁵.

Cell Labs East in Woodstock

Torn works from Woodstock, New York, a town whose calming effect of nature is evident in its earth-tone clad ethos⁴. His workspace there is affectionately known as Cell Labs East⁴. In December 2019 the Stompbox Book team visited the studio to photograph him and gather material, with a full interview and photo of his chosen pedal slated for the book⁴.

Questions