Fran Blanche is a name that evokes the essence of Americana ; a downhome Midwestern secretary with a penchant for baking and collecting china dolls straight out of ‘ 50s nuclear America . While her designs do somewhat adhere to this aesthetic , Fran Blanche is anything but unassuming . Spearheading the boutique movement with her effects company Frantone in the mid- ‘ 90s alongside her contemporaries Zachary Vex , Bill Finnegan and James Demeter , Fran Blanche enjoyed cult success with her incredibly unique original designs , such as the Peachfuzz , Cream Puff , and The Sweet , to name a few .
“ Any guitar forum will show that this is not a culture that women would create or really ever desire to be a part of – which is a major obstacle to diversity right at the front gate …” -FRAN BLANCHE
In addition to being in the boutique game almost longer than anyone who is in it today , Fran is also one of the only prominent women in the industry , and she has overcome some tremendous obstacles in the years she has been in business . Around 2008 she began to taper away , and by 2009 she had all but disappeared , making the prices of her pedals on the secondhand market surge . Now in 2016 with the help of Kickstarter , Fran is back in full swing with two of her flagship pedals , the Peachfuzz and the Cream Puff . Other than making the author ’ s stomach rumble , these effects embody Fran ’ s dogma of “… only original analog effects and accessories with an emphasis on tonal quality , clarity , and rugged reliability .”
We at Tone Report had a rare opportunity to sit down with this effects veteran and legend , to speak about her story , where she has been , where she ’ s going , and what ’ s next for the new Frantone .
TONE REPORT : It ’ s a pleasure to get to speak with you , thanks for giving us some of your time ! Tell us a little bit about the current line of pedals you are offering .
FRAN BLANCHE : Right now for the summer of 2016 I am making the Peachfuzz and Cream Puff as you know , both were brought back with successful Kickstarter campaigns earlier in the year . Now that Frantone has some traction I am self funding the re-release of The Sweet and a newly redesigned Vibutron and hopefully I can get all the parts issues ironed out in time for those to be added to the new line this fall .
TR : When did you start to get into pedal building ? Did you just sort of start tinkering or is it something you wanted to do from the beginning ?
FB : I talked about the long story of how this all started in a video of a lecture I did at the University of the Arts recently , but the short story is that I never had a plan to be a pedal maker . I did have a need for a pedal back in 1994 because I
Fran Blanche is a name that evokes the essence of Americana ; a downhome Midwestern secretary with a penchant for baking and collecting china dolls straight out of ‘ 50s nuclear America . While her designs do somewhat adhere to this aesthetic , Fran Blanche is anything but unassuming . Spearheading the boutique movement with her effects company Frantone in the mid- ‘ 90s alongside her contemporaries Zachary Vex , Bill Finnegan and James Demeter , Fran Blanche enjoyed cult success with her incredibly unique original designs , such as the Peachfuzz , Cream Puff , and The Sweet , to name a few .
“ Any guitar forum will show that this is not a culture that women would create or really ever desire to be a part of – which is a major obstacle to diversity right at the front gate …” -FRAN BLANCHE
In addition to being in the boutique game almost longer than anyone who is in it today , Fran is also one of the only prominent women in the industry , and she has overcome some tremendous obstacles in the years she has been in business . Around 2008 she began to taper away , and by 2009 she had all but disappeared , making the prices of her pedals on the secondhand market surge . Now in 2016 with the help of Kickstarter , Fran is back in full swing with two of her flagship pedals , the Peachfuzz and the Cream Puff . Other than making the author ’ s stomach rumble , these effects embody Fran ’ s dogma of “… only original analog effects and accessories with an emphasis on tonal quality , clarity , and rugged reliability .”
We at Tone Report had a rare opportunity to sit down with this effects veteran and legend , to speak about her story , where she has been , where she ’ s going , and what ’ s next for the new Frantone .
TONE REPORT : It ’ s a pleasure to get to speak with you , thanks for giving us some of your time ! Tell us a little bit about the current line of pedals you are offering .
FRAN BLANCHE : Right now for the summer of 2016 I am making the Peachfuzz and Cream Puff as you know , both were brought back with successful Kickstarter campaigns earlier in the year . Now that Frantone has some traction I am self funding the re-release of The Sweet and a newly redesigned Vibutron and hopefully I can get all the parts issues ironed out in time for those to be added to the new line this fall .
TR : When did you start to get into pedal building ? Did you just sort of start tinkering or is it something you wanted to do from the beginning ?
FB : I talked about the long story of how this all started in a video of a lecture I did at the University of the Arts recently , but the short story is that I never had a plan to be a pedal maker . I did have a need for a pedal back in 1994 because I