If you're on the hunt for new drive pedals, US pedal maker Wampler has an outstanding series of stompboxes that are sure to please. We've tried out two of them and they do sound good…
First up is the Ecstasy - a pedal that goes a considerable way to sounding like the mid gain drive tones associated with fabled amps from Dumble and Bognor. Over to Brian Wampler:
"When I created the Ecstasy, I was working on creating a pedal that would go from clean tones to distorted tones while adding a bit of warmth. I wanted something for myself that would be dynamic, have a great sounding "gritty" tone yet be able to respond to the volume knob like a tube amp. I'm a big fan of dynamics and if a pedal can't work with me dynamically I just can't use it. Out of this search, I developed the Ecstasy Drive.
The Ecstasy is my take on that elusive "dumble" tone and feel: smooth creaminess yet crunchy when you need it to be. Very responsive tone controls that interact with the pedal - they don't just 'color' the sound. They actually affect the response and feel of the pedal, just like a great tube amp.
The "Bog/Ecs" switch changes the distortion texture into a bit more aggressive and more 'open' type. Many feel it is similar in tonality to a "Bogner" amp in it's lighter settings."
Priced at $199 you can get it from here:
http://www.indy-guitarist.com/inc/sdetail/96
Next up is the rocking distortion courtesy of Wampler's Plextortion. There's more gain on tap here with a warm tone - perfect for those wanting to rock but with less sizzle often associated with modern distortion. Over to Brian:
"The Plextortion is a distortion pedal that was originally designed to emulate a JCM800 with Celestion Greenbacks (Back in Black era AC/DC tones through Van Halen, Dokken, Ratt, and all those amazing 80's rock "cranked Marshall" tones). It has a very 'brown' sounding distortion, more like the tight drive derived from preamp tube distortion."
Priced at $199 you can get it from here:
http://www.indy-guitarist.com/inc/sdetail/1016
