[Harp-L] Wampler delay pedal

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

After not using any electronic effects for years, I've gotten into  
using all
sorts of gizmos these days.  Anyway, I just got a new echo/delay pedal
called the Wampler Analog Echo which is actually a digital delay/echo  
pedal
that sounds analog.

Wampler is a boutique pedal maker.  Pedals are hand made to order and
sold through the Wampler Pedals website.  About 3 weeks between
ordering and shipping.  Not all that expensive ($189 plus shipping).
If you sign up for Wampler's newsletter there's a$10 discount. A guitar
player I play with uses Wampler pedals andtold me about them.

The Analog Echo is harmonica friendly and has 4 control knobs:
Level, Repeats, Tone and Delay.  These are very useful for dialing in
the sound you want to get and adjusting for the particular mic and
amp you are using. True bypass and fairly transparent even when the
effect is engaged.  By this I mean it adds the delay or echo sound
you dial in but does NOT alter your basic tone at all.  It also does not
effect the gain level, so it it does not make you any more (or less)
likely to feedback. No "tap tempo" feature but I never use that anyway.

I like the transparency, but i don't use bullet mics.  Some players
rely on a delay pedal to darken, deepen and/or thicken their tone.  This
pedal gives you the ambiance and texture of the effect but does not
thicken or otherwise alter your basic tone and does not darken or
compress the highs like some delay pedals do. In this respect it
behaves more like a reverb, but it's an echo/delay with a variety of
useful settings and sounds. I especially appreciate the tone control.

I got the pedal to use with my SWR Baby Baby Blue bass amp that has
no reverb and it's perfect for that application (it actually sounds  
better
between the mic and the amp than in the effects loop, so I put it  
last in
the chain on my pedal board and leave it on all the time). Also  
sounds pretty
good with my Princeton Reverb Reissue and my Super Reverb Reissue. I
really like it, but others may or may not depending on what you are  
trying to
do to your sound by using a delay pedal.  This one sounds great, but  
it does
not color your tone whatsoever, which may be good or bad depending on
what you are after.

I think I'm done acquiring new electronic gizmos for the time being.  
Don't
need anything else.  Besides, now all the space on my little pedal  
board is
filled up.

JP