Wampler Pantheon Overdrive Pedal Reviews

It's very difficult to describe tones in mere words. The Pantheon is crisp, lean & mean, yet as smooth and refined as you need. The Presence knob makes it work with anything. I like to run it at low gain for a character-building clean boost & before a fuzz to get more string definition for soloing. I never turn it off. It is my core sound.
This is a real masterpiece of a pedal. I love it so much that I bought the Deluxe version for my studio board. A modern classic.

I bought this pedal to use as a boost for the most part. It does that great but what makes this pedal really special is the other settings for distortion and clipping. You can get a great SD-1 sound up to some pretty nice full on cranked amp drive. It can cover as a main drive pedal that will take a tube screamer or klon type great. I am considering buying another one to run as a pair or put it on a travel board to have the versatility less pedals more sounds. It's a hidden gem that was a special find.

This is a great sounding pedal based of the bluesbreaker pedal sound. It does that well and has potential to get higher gain sounds than a bluesbreaker. Great for goosing the front end of your tube amp, or into other drive pedals. My current use is in front of an xotic BB. It's good as an 'always on' tone shaper too.
I'd think that anyone looking for a low to medium gain drive pedal would dig this.

This pedal received a lot of accolades when it was released and it's easy to hear why. Incredible range of great overdrive tones, gain ranging from lightest of breakup to monster saturation. The controls are highly interactive, and the pedal is extremely responsive to guitar volume and picking dynamics. The voicing switch is quite interesting, how apparent the difference in the different clipping styles sounds is highly dependent on the other control settings, sometimes very subtle sometimes really obvious. Overall, the switch seems to most effect the level of compression in the tone, and the way the tone cleans up with guitar volume. It also sounds equally good whether providing all the gain into a clean amp or pushing the front end of a lightly crunchy amp (and has plenty of volume for that). Like most Wampler pedals, it can be run from 9v-18v, but the manual suggests that it's optimized to sound best at 9v, which I definitely found to be the case. I've had it for almost a month and I'm still finding more great tones that can be dialed in. Overall, right near the top of all overdrives I've played in terms of overall sound and versatility.

I had this bright idea that I was going to try to replace 2-3 pedals on my board with 1 pedal. Well... I came pretty close. The Pantheon filled the sonic space previously occupied by both my Greer Lightspeed and Southland, so I pulled them. Don't get me wrong, I adore those two pedals, but I always wished I had a pedal that did both things, and the Pantheon is that pedal, but it does sooo much more. It does way higher gain than I expected it to, and can keep up with my BE-OD...to a point. There's an aggression and focus the BE-OD has at it's higher gain levels that can't be matched on the Pantheon, but the fact that it's even in the ballpark is a testament to how fantastic and how versatile the Pantheon is. Sonically, it's nice and open sounding the way I like it. No mid hump nonsense happening. That kinda thing is not for me. The Presence knob is brilliant. I have a pretty dark and mid focused guitar amp, and turning up that Presence knob opens things up nicely and tames some of the mids the amp naturally has as well. So many clipping and gain level options on this pedal, it's amazing. It covers AC/DC to Green Day, hard rock to 80s SoCal punk, classic metal to indie rock, all the way to dirty surf tones and blues, I'm beyond thrilled with this pedal. Oh, and on top of ALL that, it's purple!

Wampler Pantheon takes my Mesa Fillmore 25 and kicks some serious balls into it. It does what a blues breaker should, push the volume and tone and hit you in the chest!

If I could have only 1 overdrive pedal this would be it. No question. In low gain/normal overdrive, you get everything a Bluesbreaker would give you plus the active Bass control. From a clean boost to slightly crunchy overdrive. But wait! There's more! I really like the middle setting on the overdrive switch - apparently mixes soft and hard clipping for a slightly more aggressive sound. The medium gain setting gives me all the gain I could want. Hard clipping only plus max gain approaches a pure distortion pedal.

Putting a Klon clone in front of the Pantheon gives you almost everything you could possibly want in terms of overdrive.

My only conceivable complaint is that the Presence control seems kind of like a second treble control just with a lower frequency cutoff. I know why it's there but kind of wish there were an active Miss control instead.

During Covid I got the guitar pedal bug. Actually I got a severe case of GAS overall. I've never had a guitar pedal or proper amp. I upgraded from an Epiphone Les Paul 100 to a Fender American Professional Telecaster. From a small cheap Fender Champion solid state to a Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb. Tom Koch helped me with all of these. When it was time to scratch the pedal itch Tom took the time to call me and discuss what my musical tastes were and if I wanted to gig, etc... He suggested getting the Pantheon or OCD and I believe he also suggested the Morning Glory as a possibility. He seemed to think the Pantheon would be the best overall. I bought it and haven't regretted it since. It's my always on pedal. I've since bought several more and none have been as heavily used as this one. Since then I've also tried the OCD (which I'll buy at some point) and Morning Glory. They are both really good, but I think the Pantheon is better overall in terms of versatility. It seems like I find new sounds/uses everyday. Great suggestions Tom!

Amazing overdrive pedal. I may cancel my Analogman King of Tone (3 year waiting list) pedal order because the Pantheon is that good!

The drive section of my board needed something, so I went with the Pantheon after watching a LOT of videos. To add some more context, I play through an ENGL Blackmore into a Sunn 4x12.

With my Rivolta Combinata, the Pantheon stacks awesome with both lead channels and keeps the p90 sound without becoming a 60 cycle humming mess. That being said, I love 60 cycle hum for the classic rock vibe, and plenty of songs I've written never sounded quite right with humbuckers or single coils. I use both switches in the down position for the traditional BB sound, and it works very well.

With my Gibson V, the Pantheon stacks greats with my low gain channel and gives a cleaner distorted tone than what both lead channels together will give. I realize some EQing and other changes on the front of the amp could fix that, but the clean lead channel engaged with no gain sounds amazing as it's set. It's the right choice in maybe 1 out of every 50 situations, but I'm not willing to alter something that sounds so good to my ears.

Haven't tried it with my Strat, but I can't imagine it won't sound good. Brian Wampler makes the best dirt pedals on the planet.

I was skeptical at first because after hearing all the praises of the wampler tumnus deluxe I bought it and was disappointed
with it. The Pantheon on the other hand is a different story it really shines with single coils and its what I was looking for. It has that squish like Greg Koch talks about. Great with Humbuckers too

Received this pedal yesterday and am blown away. I have lots of great pedals but I think this will find a permanent place on my board. I've been a fan of Wampler pedals for quite awhile. But this is next level. 3 different gain stages and 3 overdrive voices makes it fit any guitar and amp combo. And, I'm quite sure it will fit in any track. I will be doing a session later today and I'll find out. I haven't been this excited in a pedal in a long time.

Honestly one of the best sounding pedals I've ever played, incredibly diverse, and sounds so good. If the amp is on, this amp is on, and it's that simple.

Takes my Origin 50's clean tone and turns it into a snarling monster, it sounds better in person than any video I listened to on youtube.

Brian Wampler builds the best pedals on the planet! My gosh, I just spent an hour of sheer inspiration from fusion, to blues, to full on metal, this drive rocks! I have never been disappointed with a Wampler pedal. Building a new board and the majority of it is Wampler. Never, ever disappoints! TONE CHASERS UNITE!

This pedal is freakin' sweet! Sounds like a Blues Breaker with extra features. Brian Wampler designs amazing pedals! I own the Clarksdale, Dracarys, and now the Pantheon. This sounds great with my setup, and I couldn't imagine it sounding bad with yours. If this is the sound your going for. Check it out, I doubt you'll be unhappy with it.

It’s Brian Wampler! Again another wonderful pedal that sits along side my Tumnus, Euphoria and the Plumes overdrive pedals. They stack and play nicely together, all kinds of tone! To be perfectly honest I have never had the opportunity of playing the king of tone pedal. After listening to number of comparison videos and being on a budget. I believe that I have found a pedal that I can be happy with and for a fraction of the price, no wait time - I can’t imagine having a better pedal. I use Wampler‘s Tumnus after the Pantheon to boost. It jaw-dropping!

I called this pedal the magic Blues this thing does everything from Southern Rock to the old Hard Rock two wonderful Blues it Sparkles and it gives it the angry Edge and the beautiful sweet Melodies that you need XOXO

Excellent and versatile peddle- so many configurations and power as well - I especially like that the pedal has a presence dial and multiple volume and gain settings - as always for me Sweetwater is Sweet

I have NEVER been disappointed any any Wampler pedal I have purchased. I bought this unit for the lower gain Bluesbreaker voicing. As usual, Wampler delivered the goods and much more.

The Bluesbreaker breakup tones are perfect. The additional gain and midrange voicings via the mini switches can leave you wandering why you would ever need another overdrive pedal. I also own the Paisley Deluxe and Euphoria and I love every single one of them.

This pedal sounds great in front of every amp I've tried it with. It also sounds really good in front of a Kemper or Axe FX III.

After many many years of searching for that Fat, Analog and Meaty ( Excuse my Hunger ) I knew The Pantheon was the ONE.
I am presently Complementing it with my Source Audio VENTRIS Dual Reverb and Keeley"s ARIA Compressor Drive for the Compression.That"s all I need for Now REALLY. Just Get it Believe the Hype. You will be Totally Satisfied. As always thanks to Sweetwater and my Rep Robert Williams.

I"m a fan of Wampler pedals. I own and use the Tumnis Deluxe and consider it fantastic addition to tone. That"s an understatement! The Pantheon is a peddle that has a lot of different gain and voicing options that allow for some great tones. It"s a Bluebreaker style pedal and I think it will soon be in the class of the KOT-POT. It"s on my board (Pantheon) and like the TD, most likely, will be utilized forever. So, yes, I like this pedal a lot.

I watched a handful of YouTube cuts on this pedal - no offense to our Mr Carr here, bc you"re great too, but I think the one I most enjoyed was by R.J. Ronquillo.

Also, Brett Kingman"s is helpful.

You will most likely love this pedal. I stack my TD with it but I think a Tube Screamer style would do nicely with it too. You will be rocking with this one. Buy it now.

Shout out to my Sales Tech and Sweetwater in general- Ty Heinman. Thank you.

Heres my take on the Pantheon. I don't work for Wampler either. So, heres my rig. I play an ESP horizon nt 6 string guitar which stays in drop c always. My amp is a Vox valvetronix 212 which is solid state and tube combined. I play live a lot and the music hanges from ambient with muti layers of reverb and delay to huge rumbling long sustaining cords. Its worship at my church. The pantheon Ive found to be a very useful overdrive with a ton of sound capabilities. It is super high quality in sound and build and easy to use. Between the toggle switches and very effective EQ section this thing covers a lot of bases. One thing that bugs me about youtube demos on overdrives is that you rarely see the pedals used in down tuned heavy playing. Of course we want to know that the overdrive can handle blues stuff, and I like blues just fine. But what about other stuff right? Almost every review on the Pantheon is not nearly showing it off in full range. Ive found it does cover everything from BB King to Clapton to ZZTop to Van Halen to Prog metal, Alice in Chains, AC/DC. Its very wide in that sence. It does have tons of gain for sure. It is particularly great for guitar solos and shredding. Definetly one of gthose pedals that seem to draw out your most articulate playing. And though it is very well capable of the heavy stuff one should be mindful that it does maintain a sweetness to it. It can go toe to toe with my Wample Souverighn in turms of gain level but it wont sound as mean on account of that sweetness.Its kind of interesting like that. Overall it is a really great and well engineered overdrive and I would say /distortion because yeah it can easily cross over from overdrive to serious distortion with a pinch of sugar.

Makes my guitar tone sound juicier/fatter/warmer. Stacks well with my Tubescreamer too. It's important to note Wampler's advice on setting the Presence knob all the way off (counter-clockwise) and only add it in if necessary. This is particularly true when I switch between my Tele's singe coils (presence at zero) to my PRS's humbuckers (presence around 9 o'clock.) Sounds the same (in my rig) at 9 or 18 volts. I run this into my clean channel on a Mesa Rectoverb 25. I use my Mesa's 2nd channel in a high gain setting, so this works perfectly for me for lower gain, bluesy, and classic rock tones. This setup allows me to have swift access to clean, medium, and high gain settings. If you're in the mood, there's a ton more gain on tap in this thing as well.

My only knock is a tiny one: I don't know if there is any discernible difference with the 'Overdrive Voice' switch positions. They don't appear to do anything at all when I click between them. Perhaps I need to look into this more? But I can honestly care less--the pedal sounds stellar.

I have owned the KOT with the high gain options and was very pleased with the sound I got from it with my t-style and Cutlass. What I was not happy with was the malfunctioning foot-switches and the poor customer service I received from the builder that I purchased from directly. It was probably one of those exceptional cases that proved the rule for them, but I was left feeling stung after spending good money and waiting two+ years in line. I sold it (wiped it off my shoe and went on). This Pantheon is an excellent choice for an alternative and, frankly, will probably better suit today's player. It does the clean, boosty, clear-as-a-bell thing that the KOT does and offers up a broader palate of tones. I love the 18v option and the typical Wampler build consistency. Mr. Wampler nailed it with this and I am very happy with my purchase. Tone tip: keep that presence all the way down and add it after everything else is set. This one, the Sovereign and the Tumnus are my favorites ODs from Wampler.

I was expecting Pantheon to be just a Bluesbreaker clone with some extra controls. While that may be true and where it started in design, Wampler has morphed this thing in to a unique gem of badass grit and tone.. It has a huge range of cool and useable settings that sound just incredible. This is my new favorite.

Great pedal. It has all of the features I need to play various styles of music.

Blown away by this pedal. I've never owned a pedal with so many tones available. Sounds great with a clean or dirty amp. Thanks!

The Pantheon is exactly what I've been needing for years! No matter what guitar I plug into it, the sound that comes out is MY GUITAR played through a killer amp! With the clipping and gain level switches I can get exactly the sound I need for almost any song. I mostly play classic rock cover tunes, and we take a lot of requests, so I never know what I'm going to play. Everything from ARS to ZZ Top. The Pantheon is the best tool in my toolbox to capture the flavor I want. It's all about the tone. I've played guitar for more than 50 years, and I've owned a lot of overdrive pedals. This is my all-time favorite. Well done, Brian Wampler, and thank you Sweetwater for offering it at a discount, and delivering it in 2 days at no extra charge!

When I first got the pedal I tried with all the knobs set at 12:00, and it was very bright sounding for my tastes. Then I watched Brian's (Wampler) demo of the pedal and noticed he had the presence set at about 7-8:00. This tamed it right down. I also use a Tumnus deluxe on my board, all going into a Mesa Express 5:25+ combo. I like having multiple drive profiles in my rig as each room likes different drives. The Tumnus has a more pronounced mid range comparatively and the Pantheon has more of a treble boost. They both have the silent switch which I really like for p&w settings. The Pantheon offers a lot of flexibility with the additional mini switches to find a perfect grind for most styles. It also stacks well pushing the Tumnus for some saturated lead tones! Wampler does it again!!

If you want a plug-and-play pedal for a gig the same night, and don't want to fiddle with controls, the Pantheon may not be for you. Stick with simple pedals built to produce one sound, and do it very well. Boss is a familiar example.

But if you are a gearhead like me, who enjoys tinkering with pedals to see what they can do, you will love the Pantheon. Like all Wampler OD pedals, it bristles with controls for gain, volume, gain range, and voicing. In addition, it has full wide-ranging EQ controls for bass, treble, and presence.

If you take he time to experiment, you will be richly rewarded. You can find just about any OD sound you are looking for.

This pedal will allow you to dial in anything you want. I own a plethera of amps and pedals. This pedal works with dark amps, bright amps tube and solid state amps. Tone controls run the full gambit. In short you want this pedal. Brian Wampler did it again.

Everything I've heard about this pedal is true. It's the most tweekable pedal I've ever owned. I highly recommend. By the way....I've been gigging for 35 years and have never been inspired to write a pedal reccomendation.

Yet another absolutely killer pedal from the guys at Wampler. It"s basically replaced all of my other drive pedals since it"s arrived. Can"t believe how versatile it is, from very very subtle overdrive, to gobs of distortion. Even with loads of gain you can easily retain clarity by tweaking the eq section a little.

This is a great pedal, and like other Wampler pedals that I own, it's very versatile. It has a great range of drive from transparent boost to compressed distortion. I also found that it was easy to voice it to a different guitar and/or amplifier quickly. The official Wampler YouTube video does a good job of setting your expectations and explaining what the switches actually control, the manual doesn't spell everything out the way Brian does.

I still have another year to wait for my own KoT pedal, this scratches that itch and does it VERY well. I knocked off half a star only because they didn't go the extra mile and add the boost side as well, like the KoT has. I see a Deluxe version on Wampler the horizon!

I have a Prince Of Tone as well, and both are on my board.

I would say this pedal is best when it occupies the area between a Fulldrive2 and a POT.

Surprising amount of useable gain.

This pedal is advertised as an AnalogMan KOT, and Bluesbreaker inspired pedal by Wampler. I owned an Analogman KOT pedal, which I loved, but this Wampler pedal does not sound like anything in that realm of OD/Tone at all. I'm picky about my tone, and this pedal doesn't cut it. I'm recording a blues/rock album right now and everyone laughed when they heard it. Very brittle and fake sounding, even with various eq settings. It is not transparent at all. It ruins the sound of my rig.
Everyone has different tastes, and that's fine, but I definitely do not like this pedal at all.