Rothwell Audio Products
Lanchashire-based Rothwell Audio was the
first British boutique builder I was aware of.
I remember hearing the mighty roar of the
Hellbender in one of our own Andy’s early
demos; remember the “I’m plugged into a 65
Amp Soho” days? Rothwell rose quickly to the
top of the UK tone ranks with robust beautiful
boosters, overdrives, distortions and one of
my favorite compressors of all time—the Love
Squeeze. It is no wonder these handsome little
boxes adorned the pedalboards of rock gods
such as Gary Moore, Dave Murray and Billy
Gibbons; they are assembled by aerospace
industry certified technicians who design circuits
from the ground up. They are serious about
audio and this is evident from their background
in boutique hi-fi equipment. This is top shelf
gear with no frilly marketing hype needed.
Stone Deaf Effects and Amplification
Another northwestern UK pedal company of
note is Stone Deaf Effects. The pedal that
put Stone Deaf on the map is the Parametric
Distortion Filter. The PDF-1 is its new and
improved version of the fabled Moogdesigned Maestro Parametric Filter. This circuit
was famously used by Alex Lifeson and later
championed by Josh Homme. Like all great
brands, Stone Deaf have continuity throughout
the product range. Both the vintage Marshall
inspired tones of its Trashy Blonde and the
futuristic do-it-all Muff tones of the Fig Fumb
are diagnosed with trademark Paracentric
personality. Just expand any of its custom
built boxes by adding the EP-1 expression
pedal and kiss the boring old wah and phase
pedals goodbye.
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TONE TALK //
8 Kick-Ass Pedal Builders From Across the Pond