Red Witch Ivy Distortion review

  • £99
Reviews
By
( )
published
The Red Witch's lithium-ion battery just keeps on keeping on…

MusicRadar Verdict

Watch your amp EQ and bring in some other pedals, and you may well find a partner for life.

Pros

  • +

    Dinky size; awesome battery life; seemingly limitless gain.

Cons

  • -

    Not the most refined.

MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.

The Seven Sisters are unique among other all-analogue pedals thanks to the lithium-ion batteries hidden away in their compact enclosures.

Following an initial 12-hour charge, Red Witch promises 220 hours of continuous use as your reward, with subsequent charges only taking four hours. We couldn't get the battery to go flat even after a week of extensive use, so top marks there.

The other upshot of the battery is the positively tiny construction. It's comparable with TC Electronic's PolyTune Mini for sheer portability, but unlike TC's tuning marvel you don't need to make space for a power supply.

So, what of Ivy's singing voice? There's a huge amount of gain available, capable of turning practically anything with a speaker into a fire-breathing metal monster.

The tone may seem a little rough and ready, but partner Ivy up with other pedals or a few of her sisters and it will all make sense. Out of the entire series we especially like the Eve Tremolo and Violet Delay, which are great for taking you from that raw rhythm sound to a thick and complex lead tone with incredible ease.

We love the concept of the Seven Sisters, and Ivy's blend of analogue mayhem mixed with clever design and complete simplicity is hard to beat.

Alun Lower