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Wampler Pedals

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The Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, a Klon-style overdrive pedal.

Wampler Pedals is a company located in Martinsville, Indiana[1] that produces effects units to be used with guitar and bass guitar as well as guitar amplifiers.[2] Founded by Brian Wampler in 2007, Wampler Pedals is considered part of the boutique guitar pedal industry.[3][4]

History

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Wampler Pedals originated from the hobbyist work of founder Brian Wampler. Wampler began playing guitar around age 7, and eventually became a self-proclaimed "gear nut". In 2001, Paul Weller, a friend of Wampler, modified a pedal for him, leading Wampler to learn more about how pedals worked and were designed.[5] Wampler began to teach himself how pedals worked and were designed in his late 20s,[6] using online resources like the DIYstompboxes.com community,[7] mirroring the path of other boutique builders like Jamie Stillman of EarthQuaker Devices.[8]

The Wampler Pedals name was formally adopted after Brian Wampler developed a personal brand and persona in the DIY guitar community. Wampler contributed to the DIY community via email exchanges that at times took up hours of each evening. In a move designed to professionalize his work, Wampler eventually self-published a series of books on guitar pedal design that he represents as helping launch the career of several popular boutique guitar pedal builders.[7] In this early phase of the company's development, Brian Wampler operated under the name Indyguitarist.[5] In 2007, the company began to operate under the Wampler Pedals name.

The company and its founder have participated in the DIY community by writing articles for Premier Guitar and hosting a podcast on guitar gear, Chasing Tone.[9][10][11] The company also regularly posts blogs on gear-related topics as part of a larger content-strategy.[12][13]

Design and fabrication process

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The Wampler Pinnacle distortion

Wampler pedals are primarily designed by Brian Wampler himself, and the design process can range from a few days to several years of development time on a breadboard. Once the breadboard design is finalized, the company generates prototypes that are distributed for testing before the design is finalized and produced.

Unlike similar boutique manufacturers such as JHS Pedals, Keeley Electronics, and EarthQuaker Devices, Wampler Pedals does not produce their pedals on-site at their company headquarters. Some of the company's first pedals were sold on eBay and produced in Wampler's garage before the company moved production to a factory in Kentucky owned by a friend of Wampler that also produced products for Warehouse Guitar Speakers.[6][14] Presently, the company's pedals are manufactured and distributed by Boutique Amps Distribution in California, the same company behind other major brands such as Bogner, Friedman, Egnater, and Tone King. The move to Boutique Amps Distribution was cited as giving Wampler more time to focus on designing pedals and creating materials for the DIY community by offloading management and business concerns to the distributor.[15]

Artist collaborations and associated artists

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Wampler Pedals is known for a series of pedals they have created with various artists, starting with their collaboration with Brad Paisley. The Paisley collaboration began when Wampler threw a modified pedal onto the stage at a Brad Paisley concert and followed up with the artist's technician after the event.[16] Wampler Pedals has developed three signature pedals for Paisley, including the Paisley Drive,[17] the Paisley Drive Deluxe, and The Doctor (a pedal used to produce the album Wheelhouse).[18][19]

In addition to Paisley, the company has worked with Brent Mason as well as Tom Quayle for signature pedals.[20][21] Wampler pedals have been used by John Fogerty,[22] Keith Urban,[23] and Lance Lopez.[24]

Notable products

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Wampler has several notable products that have gained recognition in various ways. The Underdog, a limited run pedal created to raise money for a victim of breast cancer, gained exposure after it became a part of Brad Paisley's guitar rig. It was eventually incorporated into Wampler's Paisley Drive Deluxe.[16] The company has also attracted negative attention with certain pedals, including the Pantheon, the Wampler take on the classic Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal. The Pantheon received some criticism from online forums when draft dealer copy was released that compared it to a popular pedal in short supply, the Analog.Man King of Tone.[25]

The company also had to change the names of a small number of their pedals due to name conflict issues. These include:

  • Euphoria (formerly the Ecstasy)[26]
  • Thirty Something (formerly known as the Ace Thirty)[27][28][29]
  • Tumnus (graphical changes after a request from the C.S. Lewis Foundation)[30]

References

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  1. ^ Hawkins, Ronald. "Wampler pedals gets variance". The Hoosier Times. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "What Is A Pedal Platform Amp". Riffcityguitaroutlet.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  3. ^ "The Best Boutique Guitar Pedal Companies". Sweetwater.com. October 2, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  4. ^ Wagner, Jordan (April 2, 2010). "Wampler Pedals Super Plextortion and Pinnacle Pedal Review". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Wampler Pedals: Interview with Brian Wampler". Effectsdatabase.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Martinsville Man Changes The Sounds Of Music". Wbiw.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Wampler Pedals: Interview with Brian Wampler". Reverb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  8. ^ "Earthquaker Devices: Tales From Fat Tone Guitars". Fattoneguitars.wordpress.com. August 5, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  9. ^ Wampler, Brian (November 26, 2008). "MXR Distortion Plus Mods". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  10. ^ Wampler, Brian (September 6, 2012). "5 DIY Mods to Perfect Your Ibanez TS9 and Boss SD-1". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  11. ^ "Chasing Tone - Guitar Podcast About Gear, Effects, Amps and Tone by Wampler Pedals on Apple Podcasts". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  12. ^ "News / Blog - Wampler Pedals". Wamplerpedals.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  13. ^ "3 Small Brands — Big Content Experiences". Martechadvisor.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  14. ^ "10 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Wampler Pedals". Sonicstate.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  15. ^ Gardner, Josh (March 5, 2019). "Interview: Brian Wampler on why his new Terraform pedal is a step into a new world". Guitar.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Wampler Paisley Drive Deluxe". Guitarinteractivemagazine.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  17. ^ Taylor, Mick (February 23, 2011). "Wampler Paisley Drive review". Musicradar.com. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  18. ^ "The Doctor - LoFi Ambient Delay". Wamplerpedals.com. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  19. ^ Paisley, Brad (2013-07-17). "@WamplerPedals have outdone themselves. We used a lot of LoFi delay on the new album, and this pedal nails it..pic.twitter.com/HmofHy59gK". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  20. ^ Wagner, Jordan (October 3, 2012). "Wampler Pedals Brent Mason Hot Wired v.2 Pedal Review". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  21. ^ Curwen, Trevor (February 13, 2014). "Wampler Dual Fusion review". Musicradar.com. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  22. ^ Bohlinger, John (May 13, 2015). "Rig Rundown: John Fogerty Band". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  23. ^ Dirks, Rebecca (February 10, 2012). "10 Pro Pedalboards Revealed". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  24. ^ "Interview with Lance Lopez May 2018". Museonmuse.jp. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  25. ^ Wilding, Jason. "The Pantheon and associated pedals... - Wampler Pedals". Wamplerpedals.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  26. ^ Bruce, Neil (September 5, 2013). "Wampler Euphoria (was Ecstacy) Drive Review". Spencerbruce.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  27. ^ "Wampler Ace 30 Report". Tonereport.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  28. ^ "Wampler Thirty Something and Latitude FX pedals". Guitarinteractivemagazine.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  29. ^ "Wampler Pedals". Facebook.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  30. ^ "r/Guitar - [AMA] Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals here to answer your questions". Reddit.com. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
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