| Wampler: Guitar Effects Pedals |
.
It’s been a while since we’ve done a pedal feature
in a big way. I know that there are a few of you out in our customer base
who really enjoy my anecdotes, enthusiasm and humor when describing the
pedals that we feature. Many of you have approached me in regards to new
installments of “Mike’s Excellent Pedal to the Metal” adventure. So here
you go…this for all the pedal pushers out there who have been patiently
waiting for a fix of Mike “Metal” McAvan’s guitar effect anecdotes.
‘Nuff Said,
Mike “Metal” McAvan
|
|
|
| There is always a fierce debate over analog vs. digital delays.
I tend to sit closer to the digital side of the fence due to the simple
fact that most analog delays are just “tone suckers” and color the original
sound of the guitar. There are many analog style pedals that claim to maintain
tone and clarity but end up sounding like the equivalent of taking a walk
in pasture were livestock have grazed.
Brian Wampler’s design for this ultimate delay
pedal maintains clarity, tone, and transparency by mixing the dry path
and core processed sound through a pt2399 chip. This chip is used in many
boutique pedals that don’t even come close to sounding as good as Wampler’s
stellar design. The results are nothing short of breath taking. The delay
sound is huge, fat, musical and bigger than anything that I’ve come across.
It even rivals my favourite Blackbox Quicksilver delay…and that is a feat
unto itself!
The secret weapon “du jour” is the tone control.
It allows a player to dial up a vintage fatness that begs to be spooned
and savored like velvet chocolate mousse. This pedal is one of the best
delay solutions in the store guaranteed to please both analog and digital
geeks with one giant S-T-O-M-P…STOMP…s-t-o-m-p…stomp…stom…sto..st…s. Plus
it’s
finished in a cool sparkle orange color (insert the sound of crickets in
the background silence here___________). ‘Nuff said. |
|
|
|
| Compression is an effect that guitarist either love or hate.
I never really had much use for them except for a little trick where placed
after a distortion pedal, they make the clean to distorted sounds have
a cleaner transition. It’s a subtle effect but works really well on stage.
The Ego Compressor is a compromise between a modern
sounding Keeley 4 knob compressor and a vintage Dynacomp. Brian Wampler
has a real winner here, as there hasn’t been any middle ground between
these two schools of squishiness. Tougher than a hungry Tasmanian devil,
this pedal is built for the stage.
The compression itself is very dynamic and musical with
no hint of tinny sounding harshness. It works great as a boost on the front
end of a hot amp or after a scorching distortion pedal. Its true bypass
design keeps things uncolored when not in use. The bright switch sounds
divine with a Rickenbacker or Dusenberg twelve-string electric guitar.
Again, Brian Wampler is an alchemist when it comes to building pro quality
guitar pedals. |
|
|
|
| Wampler Cranked AC Overdrive |
| I remember the first time that I heard Queen’s Brian May.
I was living in Montreal and as a youngster I was exposed to rock’n roll
very early on thanks to my older cousins. I remember hanging out at my
cousin David’s listening to CHOM FM and that famous bass line to “Under
Pressure” came through the speakers. When the massive chorus hit I was
hooked. Brian May has been a huge influence on me as a guitarist and a
songwriter and it looks like my little rock star Nathan is following in
my footsteps. You have to see him rock out to “Bohemian Rhapsody”. It’s
priceless and makes this rock’n roll papa proud.
Whenever I here about a pedal that boasts about
achieving a Brian May sound, I’m always the most sardonic, sarcastic, “Mikey-Hates-Everything”
guy in the room. I’m sorry there isn’t a pedal that can ever touch that
majestic tone. My friend Valerie who is performing in the musical “We Will
Rock You” as Oz and I were talking about that tone the other day. It’s
not easy to achieve. It’s all about cranking up an AC30 and cooking those
EL84 tubes. I’ve gotten really close with my Pod X3 but there is still
something missing.
Leave it to Brain Wampler to work his mojo and
alchemy to create an overdrive pedal that gets closer than any other to
that legendary Brian May tone. The layout is dead simple and the construction
impeccable. The tones range from mild dirt to raging’ “Stone Cold Crazy”.
My cover band Left Of Eden play a bunch of Queen songs and this little
number is going to find it’s way onto my pedal board in no time. |
|
Wampler Pinnacle Limited Edition |
| Guitarists are always after the proverbial Holy Grail of pedals
that are going to get them that elusive high gain “mucho chunga” sound.
We’ve seen our fair share of amazing products come through our doors and
into your hands. With the Wampler Pinnacle, I am suffering
from another “Here-I-go-again” syndrome.
Just when I though I had heard it all, I
came across Brian Wampler’s amazing products. Brian Wamplers pedal mods
and custom pedals have become legendary in the pro circles. Guitarists
are always looking for distortion pedals that yield amp-like tones and
have the dynamic overtones that only an amp and 4X12 cab can achieve. I
stand corrected. The Pinnacle is a high gain overdrive/distortion that
is voiced towards the Hot rodded Marshall/Bogner Ecstacy/Peavey 5150/ Soldano
SLO100/ Mesa Engineering sound. In fact, it’s the pedal that gets the closest
to the EVH Brown sound!
It’s masterfully made up of J-fet circuits peppered with high grade
metal film resistors and diodes. It’s true bypass design keeps everything
neutral in the signal chain and is remarkably quiet even at “gainiac” level
of distortion. Remarkably dynamic, the Pinnacle responds to the subtlest
of volume knob adjustments and cleans up very nicely. It consists of Volume,
Tone (high frequency roll off), Vintage/Modern switch, Contour (sweepable
mid control), Gain (duh!!!), On/Off switch and a boost switch for solo
boost or adding more snarl to the equation.
|
|
| Not only does this pedal sound amazing but it looks incredibly sexy
as well. I can pretty much plug this sucker into any amp and get my sound
… from the cheesiest of transistor amps to the clean channel of my Koch
Powertone and VHT Pitbull. With minor adjustments I was even able
to get my trademark Gainiac/Captain Crunch approved tone and everything
in between. Amazingly enough, there is a lot of gain on tap…a lot
even for me. There is enough gain here to choke a hungry Great White Shark.
Yet in making such a fire breathing pedal, creator/alchemist boy Brian
Wampler has managed to keep all the subtleties of the guitar and the dynamics
of a tube amp while still keeping some amazing headroom levels. As we don’t
have any stock at the moment, delivery time is about 2-3 weeks on Wampler
pedals…take it from a self-confessed pedal addict/gainiac, it’s totally
worth the wait.
***Gainiac: definition… Crunch monger, One who prefers excessive
gain and volume levels associated with high performance amps like Soldano,
Koch, Mesa, Bogner and Egnater amps. Known to strike fear in other less
aggressive guitarists, Gainiacs thrive on a steady musical diet of Heavy
Metal, Hard Rock, Death Metal, Thrash Metal and Shred/guitar instrumental
music. They are often very picky about tone and are often not intimidated
by Floyd Rose equipped instruments*** |
|
|
Wampler Ecstasy
. |
| Years ago, I did a session
in New York and had the pleasure of plugging into a Dumble Overdrive Special.
I was absolutely floored by the tones emanating from the unassuming head.
To this day that classic and boutique overdrive tone is a “white elephant”
for many guitarists. Brian Wampler brings to the table an affordable and
very authentic sounding approximation of that amazing tone. The Ecstasy
pedal oozes mojo and attitude to the point where many people who heard
me playing with thought that I had plugged into some new wild and wacky
boutique amp. The pedal is a true bypass design with Wampler’s tough-as-nails
construction that boasts a gain, level, tone and bass control with a two-way
mode switch. In the “Dum” mode the amp oozes a Carlos Santana/Eric Johnson
style overdrive that beckons one to unleash some of their modal styling.
Paired with a delay pedal, I was able to dupe the amazing “Cliffs Of Dover”
tone to a “T”. In the “Ecs” mode, the pedal takes on more of a Bogner tonality,
as the name would imply. Yes this is a distortion pedal, but it takes the
concept to another level. Brian Wampler has managed to take some amazing
boutique sounds and stuff them into a under $300 pedal package that rages
like an amp wanting to be wound up. |
|
|
|
| What is a buffer? This is a question that sparks all sorts
of heated debates with guitarists. A buffer, in a nutshell is essentially
a uncolored pre-amp boost that converts high impedance signals to low impedance
signals and then gives it the extra “juice” to run long lengths of cables
and chains of true bypass pedals. If you’re a guitarist that uses 3 or
more true bypass pedals in conjunction with a long cable, you should be
using a buffer or at the very least a BOSS pedal in the chain to put back
the signal loss. The whole “True Bypass” idea/craze has become a buzzword
for fly-by-night wannabe pedal gurus and misinformed critics. The simple
fact of the matter is, the more true bypass or non true bypass pedals you
add to your chain, the more load will be conversely added. Brian Wampler
has created a discreet little buffer that works great before or after pedals
and is as cute as a button…the buffer pedal that is. We have gone ahead
and ordered them with a true bypass switch for those buffer-phobics and
old school pessimists. Its a great little discreet package guaranteed to
please any audiophile. Now if it can only help us “buff” out for the summer
season at the beach, we would be selling these by the truckload. What do
you think Brian? Some sort of pedal that will simulate hulking muscles
would be awesome, eh? |
|
|
