Wampler's Spin on a Nashville Session Secret
Nashville cats have been juicing their amps and stacking their stomps with a particular vintage of pea-green German drive pedals for the better part of a decade. Today, Brian Wampler brings the transparent character and smooth saturation of this genre-defining overdrive pedal to bear on his own original design: the Wampler Belle. Like the circuit it's inspired by, the Wampler Belle gives you gobs of chewy, gooey, amp- and axe-favoring stackable gain. Unique to Brian's pedal, however, are a Bass control that delivers a 4 x 12"–type sternum punch when pushed and a side-mounted Clipping switch that ups the dirt and compression characteristics. Whether you're boosting a stage amp or feeding a floorboard modeler, the Wampler Belle makes an essential addition to any stage and studio pedal setup. And thanks to its mini footprint, conservative current draw, and true bypass switching, you won't even notice it when it's out of your chain — though, based on our tests, we don't know why you'd ever want to shut it off.
Related Videos: Belle Transparent Overdrive Pedal
Just like adding a gain stage to your amp!
Scores of players like Brian Wampler have turned to the transparent tone and natural response of Nashville's other favorite green OD for a decade and counting. The Wampler Belle perfects this legendary German circuit, giving you added front-end gain and harmonic excitement for color-enhanced country leads, basted-on blues solos, and muscly moderate-rock crunch.
Color: far more than a tone control
What Sweetwater players dig about the Wampler Belle is that it preserves the midrange content of your signal chain, even amid heavy tone shaping. The secret lies in the Belle's versatile double-filter Color control. This allows you to dial in the high- and low-frequency content just where you need it, all without carving out those critical midrange frequencies.
Bass and Clipping controls add versatility
Fans of the OG green will find even greater versatility in the Wampler Belle's added Bass and Clipping controls. The Bass knob really adds some heart-pounding cab thumb when you crank it past 3 o' clock. Naturally, this control also lets you carve out troubling bass frequencies in a dense mix, but we think you'll agree that cranking it adds a response that many will find lacking in the original. Also unique is Wampler's side-mounted Clipping switch. Engage this at any time for added harmonic saturation and a compressed attack that's perfect for lead and solo breaks.
Wampler Belle Transparent Overdrive Pedal Features:
- Wampler's spin on a Nashville session secret
- Transparent overdrive and harmonic enhancement
- Essential for front-ending an amp or modeling device
- Color control preserves the midrange character of your amp and instrument when tone sculpting
- Bass control scoops mud and enhances cab punch
- Clipping switch ups the drive and compression characteristics
- 9–18-volt power supply required (not included)
- Built in the USA using high-grade audio components
- Small size — just 3.5 inches x 1.5 inches
- Low current draw — 11.4mA @ 9 volts, 14.1mA @ 18 volts
- True bypass switching preserves your tone when removed from your signal path
