Colt Westbrook on Walrus Audio’s Hits, Misses, and the Gear That Still Inspires Him
About this episode
Blake Wyland interviews Colt Westbrook about the evolution of Walrus Audio and the intricacies of working in the pedal industry.
This week on The Tone Mob Podcast, Blake hangs out with Colt Westbrook of Walrus Audio for a conversation that wanders through guitar pedals, business experiments, digital rigs, tube amps, customer service philosophy, and the delicate art of telling your friends they can’t just show up at the factory and hang out all day. Colt walks through how Walrus has evolved over the years, from the early days of pedals like the 385 and Monument to the creation of entire product ecosystems like the Mako DSP line, Canvas utility gear, and the more affordable Fundamental series. Along the way he shares some surprisingly candid insight about what worked, what didn’t, and why “budget” pedals in the boutique world often aren’t nearly as profitable as people assume. The guys also dig into what working at a pedal company actually looks like day-to-day. Spoiler alert: it involves a lot less shredding and a lot more soldering, packing boxes, managing teams, solving problems, and trying to keep people from treating the shop like a guitar-themed coffee hang. Naturally, there’s plenty of gear talk too. Colt walks Blake through his current guitars, his pedalboard, why EQ might be the most underrated…
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