What it’s all about

cult fx was designed as an online shop with a highly curated selection of exclusive boutique guitar pedals and gear. we are starting with the total distortion worship pedal and will expand our offerings with more limited runs in the near future.

Who is behind Cult FX?

let me lift the cloak and introduce myself

my name is simon "sludge" hawemann. i'm a german expat living in portland, oregon as well as a touring musician, indie record label owner and mastering engineer with a decade-spanning obsession for gear.

so it should come as no surprise that the idea for cult fx was born out of a tone-chasing rabbit hole and my eternal hunt for the perfect pedal.

as a very visual and aesthetics-driven person, seeking out dealer exclusives and limited variants from brands like earthquaker devices, old blood noise endeavors and snk pedals, is something that's already ingrained in my dna as a vinyl collector.

this path also led me to discover the visually and, most of all, sonically striking pedals of lichtlaerm audio from my hometown berlin, germany. daniel and i bonded over our similar music tastes and gear preferences, which resulted in co-developing the first ever cult fx pedal: the total distortion worship.

having designed guitar models and limited runs with brands like esp, axe palace and hapas guitars in the past, the process felt natural to me and provided even more inspiration to start cult fx.

the exclusive launch edition of the tdw is for sale now and on pre-order until mid february. stay tuned for our next drops and sign up for newsletter if you want to get early insights and access to what we have in the pipeline...

simon hawemann (founder)