Rothwell Switchblade

Touch responsive and dynamic modern rock distortion

The Switchblade is a heavy/modern rock distortion pedal featuring three stages of distortion with carefully designed filtering before, between and after each stage to sculpt the sound and control the way each stage adds to the distortion. The bottom end of the spectrum is full and weighty with enough definition for every note of a chord to play its part. The top end cuts through without ever becoming fizzy and the midrange is slightly scooped to give a great tone for rhythm playing.

However, there is a wide range of gain on offer and the lower gain end of the spectrum is great for less extreme music styles. The available output is also high so that even with the gain turned down low enough to be almost clean there is still enough volume available for the pedal to act as a booster. This means the Switchblade can be used to add distortion to your sound (anything from mild to fully saturated), boost your level, or a combination of the two. This is all achieved in a compact pedal with very low background noise levels, low battery drain, and true bypass switching. The circuitry uses a unique blend of distortion devices and is assembled by hand using top quality components and chassis mounted knobs and sockets (as opposed to circuit board mounted) for the ultimate in long term reliability.

As with all Rothwell pedals the design is original (we don’t do clones or repros) and is derived by a painstaking process of careful calculation, computer aided simulation, trial and error and ultimately rigorous appraisal by professional guitarists.

More and more guitarists who care about their tone are discovering what great pedals these are and since their introduction in 2007 these pedals have been used on some of the world’s biggest tours. All the pedals are hand-made in the UK to the highest possible standards. The circuit boards are produced in the UK and assembled by skilled UK workers (aerospace industry certified), the cases are carefully polished and engraved in the UK, and the final assembly is done in the UK. The award winning sound quality is due to innovative circuit design by people who actually care. The circuits may be computer modeled and CAD systems may be used to calculate filter parameters but the end result is always subjected to the ultimate test - real world guitar playing and critical listening.

Rothwell Switchblade @ Electro Music.
Price: £139.00.