30 Pedals in 30 Days: Wampler Velvet Fuzz and Euphoria Overdrive/Distortion

Don’t forget to check out the video at the bottom of the page. 

velvet_fuzz_front WAMEUPHORIA

For those of us who search for good tone, we always have to keep one thing in mind: The big picture. Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals seems to know this. When Brian designs a pedal, he takes into account the era, the artist, and the amp, and make’s it all come out through his pedals. For 30 Pedals in 30 Days, TheToneKing.com had a chance to see the big picture with Wampler’s Velvet Fuzz and Euphoria Overdrive

If you’re trying to chase down an epic sound, most pedals are going to leave you swinging in the wind. We’ve got breaking news for you:

Tone is more than just a pedal.

Some players who want those classic fuzz sounds probably don’t realize that sound is a result of the guitar, pedal, amp, and, of course, the player. Nobody can help you with the player part. But, Brian thinks that Wampler Pedals has the rest covered.

To design the Velvet Fuzz and Euphoria Overdrive/Distortion, Wampler Pedals went back to square one. Instead of trying to recreate or duplicate the pedals that were a small part in what resulted in the classic sounds of the influential 60’s era, Wampler took the entire signal chain into account.

With the Velvet Fuzz, Wampler wanted to recreate the sounds of a fuzz going through a cranked EL34 driven amp. The result is a pedal that can give you the clarity of David Gilmour and Eric Johnson, to the grit of Hendrix and the muddiness of Sabbath. The Velvet Fuzz is equipped with highly responsive Brightness, Volume, and Fuzz controls for a broad spectrum of sounds. Also, there’s a switch that toggles back and forth between “Big” and “Tight.”

Switching between “Big” and “Tight” is like switching out amps. It’s not about coloring tone; it’s about changing backlines. In the “Big” position, the pedal is classic fuzz. With a ton of compression, like you would get from pushing a tube head, the “Big” position gives you a subtle chime on one side to a massive gnarl on the other.

The “Tight” position, takes away all of that compression and leaves you with just the pure sound of a fuzz. Basically, you’re getting the fuzz without the reaction. Rich and thick, the “Tight” position has tons of tone without shaking the walls.

The Euphoria Overdrive is Brian’s take the classic tone of “D style Amps.” Big, fat, round, and smooth. The idea behind the Euphoria is to take the most sought after boutique amplifiers and put those tones in a pedal. It also helps that the pedal doesn’t have the 5-figure price tag of those “D style amps.”

Like the Velvet Fuzz, the Euphoria’s controls are highly responsive and interact with the player’s playing style, just like a high-quality tube amplifier. The Euphoria sports a Gain, Bass, Volume, and Tone controls. In true Wampler fashion, there’s also a switch that changes the voicing of the pedal from “Smooth” to “Crunch.”

“Crunch” adds a bit of fuzz to the Overdrive, retaining the punch of the Overdrive with a little extra gnarl of the fuzz. The “Smooth” setting is rich but still has some bark when you dig in harder with your pick.

We have a confession to make. TheToneKing.com is only the second best place to hear a demo of a Wampler pedal. The best place is Wampler’s own YouTube channel where he and his staff personally demo every pedal that they make. There you can get an earful of what kinds of tones Brian was going for when he built his pedals. What better place to hear a pedal than from the guy who built the damn thing?

Wampler Pedals are handmade in the USA using carefully selected parts. Again, they know that if you want quality tone, you need quality parts and manufacturing.

There are a ton of pedal manufacturers out there. For a company to rise above the rest, they have to do something different. Instead of trying to recreate a classic pedal, Wampler Pedals sets their sights higher and recreates classic sounds with modern twists. Sometimes it’s better to look at the big picture. Even in such a short time, Wampler Pedals has already made a name for themselves as a quality pedal manufacturer. So, when we played the Velvet Fuzz and Euphoria Overdrive for 30 Pedals in 30 Days, we here at TheToneKing.com weren’t surprised to find some great tone.

 

For prices on the Velvet Fuzz, the Euphoria Overdrive/Distortion, or any Wampler  gear, check out: Sweetwater.com

 

Click here to enter into TheToneKing.com’s 30 Pedals in 30 Days Randall Give-Away! 

 

Official RD1C Give-Away Page: https://thetoneking.com/gear-give-away/2013-2/randall-rd1c-give-away/

 

Randall Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/randallamplifiers

 

Product Page: http://www.wamplerpedals.com/

 

http://www.wamplerpedals.com/overdrive-distortion/velvet.html

 

http://www.wamplerpedals.com/overdrive-distortion/euphoria.html

 

Unboxing Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_f0fH88-lM

 

Official Full-On Demo & Reviewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dBxkqonXvg

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dBxkqonXvg’]

 

 

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Filed Under: FeaturedPedals3P3D-2013

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About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.

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