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Red Witch Launches the Synthotron III

Red Witch Launches the Synthotron III

An all-analog monophonic guitar synthesizer with filter, sample and hold, and analog chorus.


Company owner and designer, Ben Fulton says “The Synthotron III is the most unique sounding pedal I have ever created. Synthotron I and II were unique, but also quite polarising - the inherent challenges with analog tracking meant that people seemed to either adore it or be utterly mystified by it. Synthotron III offers all the things people loved about it’s predecessors, but a vastly improved and expanded design. This is the only pedal in the world that can create these sounds. There are thousands of Fuzz pedals, Chorus pedals and overdrive pedals. But only ONE Synthotron.”

Synthesizer Section

  • 4 independent all analog voices with pitch and octave settings across them, determined by the top toggle switch on each of the four channels.
  • Voice One toggle - Pitch 1 -(Yellow strip)= Unison, 1 octave up, 2 octaves up
  • Voice Two Toggle - 8ve - (Orange strip) = References whichever note is being generated by Voice one and generates either: 1 octave below, 2 octaves below or 3 octaves below
  • Voice Three Toggle -Pitch 2 (Red strip) References note generated by Voice one and generates either: 1 octave below, p4 or p5 below, ma 2 or mi6 below
  • Voice Four Toggle - 8ve - (Dark Red strip) = References whichever note is being generated by Voice three and generates either: 1 octave below, 2 octaves below or 3 octaves below
  • Decay and infinite sustain options - you can set each voice independently to have an incredible crisp, staccato feel, or a gentle decay (You can set the duration of the decay independently on each channel) or set it to an infinite sustain - where the synth will lock onto the note you’re playing and will
    only change pitch when you change the note on your guitar.
  • Flux dial controls the “spring” or glissando between notes.
  • Flux Toggle - right position engages the flux option. Left position disengages. Left position enables a staccato option with great tracking.
  • Separate Dry level control.
  • External Dry out (so you can split the Synthotron III between two amps - one carrying clean signal, the other carrying synth.
  • External CV in.
  • External Trigger in.

Filter Section

  • ​ Select between - Sample Hold Mode, Envelope Filter Mode, and Manual Sweep Mode (via exp pedal).
  • Velocity and Freq control the speed and frequency range of the filter
  • External Exp jack for controlling frequency range with an external exp pedal when in expression pedal filter sweep mode.
  • External Exp jack for controlling filter section LFO speed with an external exp pedal.

Chorus Section

  • All analog chorus section (based around the Empress Deus Chorus) - using a NOS MN3007 bucket brigade chip.
  • Twin voice settings allow selection between a warm CE-1 styled chorus or a bright shimmery chorus
  • Velocity controls the chorus speed
  • Mix controls the blend of wet and dry signal
  • Depth controls the depth of the chorus effect

Specs

  • True Bypass
  • 100% Analog
  • 9 Volt DC - from any standard guitar pedal external power supply. Tip negative.
  • 130mA current draw
  • Dimensions: 144mm x 121mm x 56mm
There will be a maximum of 100 Synthotrons produced between now and the end of 2023. Each pedal will be hand-signed and numbered by Ben Fulton.
For more information, please visit redwitchpedals.com.

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