occur because of how much gain is there. So something that’s forward looking enough but DNA? Is a big distorted rock sound something
the quality has to be really impeccable there in still comfortable enough. that an eight-year-old would hear and go,
order to get something that sounds great with
large ridiculous amounts of gain. It’s not easy
“Yeah!” – you know? What is that thing an eight-
[WM] Is there anything else you’d like to add?
as a designer, which is great, that’s a lot of fun.
year-old hasn’t heard before, and how do you
make that? Big long ramble, but that’s one of
But there’s no wind blowing in that general [Stan] Something I think about a lot are all
direction at this point. these sounds we listen to. When you go back
the thoughts that kind of drives all of this stuff!
to classic records and you go back to classic ENGAGER BOOST ($89.99) provides players with
[WM] You opened yet another door when designs of products, it’s always a little bit of a more volume (20 decibels of boost) for fatter
you mentioned the relevance of design. When chicken and the egg thing. Sometimes I wonder, tone, making it the ideal clean boost pedal.
we interviewed Max Gutnik, one of the things did the early designers of this stuff really have a The adjustable, onboard 3-band EQ shapes
he mentioned was that there are people that good solid sense of what they were doing? Did tone to cut through a mix, while the Frequency
don’t necessarily associate Eric Clapton with they know the tools they were making and what switch lets players select the middle frequency
Cream and that as a brand Fender needs to the players were going to create with them? Or range, ideal for shaping tone precisely. The
be responsive to that. What are your thoughts were they just doing the best with what they Engager Boost features a FET input buffer
in that regard? had, put it out in the world, and then some and is also perfect for boosting a signal into
guitar player came along and said, “Wow, this a tube amplifier’s preamp. True and buffered
sounds great when I turn it up to ten!” bypass modes ensure this pedal plays nicely in
[Stan] Relative to your question earlier about
designing things that are particularly Fender,
any setting.
the past stuff already happened. So in a sense All these sounds that happened, all of the I don’t want to look back there. If there’s some ridiculously complex things that occur when THE PELT FUZZ ($129.99) All the familiar controls
particular jewel that you want to excavate you start stacking a Stratocaster, Fuzzface, are there: Level, Fuzz and Tone, along with
because it had great value on its own, that’s Univibe, Octavia and a Marshall and all of the a Bloom control to shape the contours of a
a really cool thing, but as an overall direction it complex relationships that happen. Sometimes player’s sound. The Mid switch lets players
holds no interest for me at all. I want to do stuff you wonder if the early designers were really boost or cut the midrange for even more voicing
which points forward. I want to do stuff that savvy to stuff, or was it more that people were options, while the Thick switch adds some
opens up some new doors. And that’s tricky. doing unusual things. girth. With the ability to be placed anywhere on
the signal chain, this silicon-based stompbox
We have a saying, we call it “The Golden I think a lot about where sounds came from, Handcuffs”. People are so used to buying and the history. How important is it to make a the stuff from us that they’re been buying tool that’s functional, well behaved, and has FULL MOON DISTORTION ($149.99) Packed with
for decades that if we drift very far from that creativity in it, versus to make a tool that is brutal, high-gain tone, three-band EQ, a high-
people get kind of suspicious.