Wampler Reflection review

Wampler decided the currently fashionable do-everything reverb pedals are too big and too complicated. 

So the premise with this design is a pedal that offers the same washes of tone, while compact with simple controls and a single footswitch. Here, then, is the Reflection: certainly pedalboard friendly with its compact footprint and top-mounted jacks and also easy to use with just two reverb types and four knobs to set them up. 

The only ‘complication’ here is that there’s no complication, with just two internal ‘set and forget’ DIP switches: one (Trails) that lets the decay die naturally when you hit bypass rather than be cut dead; and another to kill the dry sound, setting the pedal to 100 per cent wet so you could use it in an amp’s FX Loop. 

If you want your shimmer and your modulated reverbs this probably won’t suit you as the pedal focuses solely on emulations of the two electro-mechanical reverb types that traditionally sit well with guitar: Spring and Plate reverbs that you’d get with a spring-tank equipped amp or have applied to guitar in a studio recording.

There is, though, one feature that you’d find on those larger pedals: infinite reverb. If you turn the Decay knob up full, the reverb will go on and on, so you can create those textural washes of ’verb that hang in the air behind your sound. Both types of reverb sound excellent here, whether applied subtly or laid on thick, and there’s plenty of variation available. 

Besides the decay time adjustment and wet/dry mix you get a pre-delay of up to 140ms before the main body of the reverb kicks in to help simulate different-sized spaces or put some distance between notes and reverb for increased clarity. There’s also a very effective Tone control for brighter or darker shading of the reverb. 

This easy-to-use pedal offers authentic-sounding spring sounds, making it a useful complement to an amp that doesn’t come equipped with a spring tank. But it goes beyond that basic task with a smoother plate sound that can provide a warm cloak of ambience.