 | Paul Crowther - Crowther Audio
In 95 I started hearing things about this amazing pedal called a 'Hotcake'. I called Dave Moyce, guitarist from Air Supply who just happened to have a spare that I bit his hand off for that still has it's place on my board after 1000 gigs. So how does a drummer come up with arguably one of the best OD pedals on the planet? I catch up with Paul Crowther from Crowther audio for the story behind the stomper of choice for tone hungry pro's the world over. |
| Daniel Steinhardt : All drummer jokes aside ( I'm sure I'll squeeze one in before we're done) how does the original drummer from one of my favourite bands in the world ( Split Enz ) end up designing what's just been voted one of the greatest OD pedals ever by TheGearPage forum members?
Paul Crowther : I have always been interested in distortion circuits and wave shaping circuits. One day in 1976 (while living in London...Streatham to be exact, with Split Enz) I came up with an idea for a special preamplifier circuit that would have a mainly flat response, except when it was overdriven the distorted component of the sound would have tone shaping applied (mostly a reduction in treble) . I tried it, and it worked! Something told me that I was on to a good idea.
DS : I did Paul Stacey's pedal board for the Finn Brothers tour last year and noticed that Neil still uses the original you made for him. What's the difference between that pedal and the new hotcake?
PC : There is no difference really. The older ones have a tone switch ('normal-mid lift' or 'normal -bright'), while the newer versions have a "Presence" control which is simply a mix between the two switched tones.
They didn't have a Led indicator, but Neil has had one fitted to his. The older Hotcakes also have the Drive control wired and working in reverse, and this was because of the difficulty in obtaining reverse log potentiometers from local electronics parts suppliers.
DS : I've used the Hotcake with Marshalls and Fenders which sounds great, but something magical happens when you plug the Hotcake into a Vox AC30. It seems to unleash a rock monster. Jim Moginie from Midnight Oil also believes the Hotcake is the ultimate pedal for Vox amps. Was this a design goal or did it just happen?
PC : Just happened. Maybe is it becuase the Vox amp is going into distortion before the Hotcake with some settings.
DS : What's the difference design wise and tonally between the Hotcake and the new Bluesberry pedal you've added to your catalogue?
PC : The Bluesberry sounds a little less 'solid state' at the onset of distortion, and this is mostly noticeable with lower Drive settings.
DS : So many boutique designers seem to simply churn out variations on a theme so when the Prunes and Custard envelope filter came out it seems to have taken a lot of your diehard customers by surprise. What's the story behind this pedal?
PC : I'm glad you asked me that! The P&C is not an envelope follower / filter at all!
It is a special waveshaping circuit that generates strong harmonic overtones. The harder the circuit is driven , the higher the harmonics (so I guess it is affected by the signal envelope in this respect) .
The harmonics always relate to the input signal...at least when you play one note at a time. This circuit, as with any type of waveform modifier or distortion, also produces strong intermodulation between different notes, so playing a 5th , interval for instance, will produce quite a good sub-octave effect. I just thought that it would be cool to make a waveshaping / distortion circuit that didn't just clip the signal waveform.
DS : It seems that you've achieved all this success without even a website, so it's been all word of mouth. That's a unique achievement especially considering you're based in New Zealand.
PC : Well..I have been making these things for quite a while anyway, but for many years it was just a sideline. They were just sold locally, with the occasional one going to guitarists from overseas touring bands. In 1994 Ken Fischer of Trainwreck Ampifiers in New Jersey USA, asked his mum (mom) to get a Hotcake for him when she was visiting New Zealand in 1994, and he then went on to mention it in a column that he was writing for Vintage Guitar Magazine.
That did create quite a lot of interest, and it was what really helped the Hotcake become known outside of New Zealand. I started selling them to US guitarists by mail order...then by email order.
I was contacted shortly after Ken's mention in Vintage Guitar by Hiroshi Yagi of Human Gear in Japan, and there are a lot of Hotcakes in Japan now!
Since then, the internet with all the guitarist news groups etc. has really been a great source of 'word of mouth' advertising too.
DS : When you gig nowadays is it on drums or guitar?
PC : I don't play the guitar. I still play drums though...and they don't have to plug in to anything.
DS : So what can we expect from Crowther Audio in the future?
PC : That would be telling! The Double Hotcake is looking like it will keep us busy for a while. |
| | Paul Crowther with Split Enz 1974 |  |
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