Wampler Pedals Pinnacle Distortion Limited

• High grade film capacitors and resistors picked for their superior sound and response

• Completely true bypass

• Battery connection and 9v power jack (barrel plug like Boss)

• Boost switch alters gain structure to take it from overdrive to distortion.

• High gain, crunchy and dynamic pedal

• Extremely tweakable EQ

• Can do scooped mids to 'honky' mids
to lo-fi

• High boost switch for using with
amps that are not very bright and
sparkly clean

• Ultra-bright LED's for ease of use

• 2.5" x 4.5"

• Powder coated durable finish

• Designed to get the best EVH "brown sound" possible within a pedal design


This is supposed to be an EVH in a box distortion pedal. To which, feature wise is great! Lots of knobs and the controls are all quite sensitive.

Controls: Tone, Volume, Contour, Gain, and a vintage/modern switch.


UTILIZATION

Pretty easy to use, just like any other distortion pedal, just plug it in and tweak the knobs till you find something that sounds good.

SOUND QUALITY

This is where it fell short for me. I know a lot of people will flame me but I don't think anybody truly knows what the brown sound is, and neither do I. But I definitely think this pedal sounds like a pedal. The distortion does not sound like EVH to me whatsoever. I played this through a few amps just to make sure I wasn't crazy, and then I got the chance to A/B this to a 5150 III side by side and I can definitely say with complete confidence that this is nothing compared to the 5150 III.

Yes of course it's a huge difference. An Amp vs a pedal, unfair right? I know.
So why do some players keep claiming this is EVH in a box? Isn't that unfair too?

On the plus side, yes it's a dynamic distortion pedal, very pick sensitive. It also cleans up OK, not so great but alright. And the distortion itself is not ice picky it's very smooth and vintage-esque sounding so it's great. I think it's a decent distortion pedal, but to my ears it still sounds like a pedal and doesn't sound like amp distortion, nor does it sound like the brown sound, but more like vintage distortion.

OVERALL OPINION

The build quality is good, the fact that it runs on a standard 9v operation is convenient. The distortion is smooth and not ice picky, it's also very tweakable and dynamic. Good stuff. Does it sound like EVH and the brown sound? No. Does it sound like natural amp distortion? No. It still sounds like a pedal to me.

If you are into pedals and not amp distortion and are looking for that "brown sound" than look no further. This pedal certainly has that cranked plexi sound in a little elegant stomp box. It produces a good and extremely usable distortion sound into a clean amp or even a slightly dirty amp. It gives the front end of your amp a little sizzle but not to over the top. It definitely is refined into that earl VH sound. Therefore, it is not going to be an over the top grind or heavy saturation type pedal that is offered from Wampler such as the Ecstasy drive or the Triple Wreck. Simple lay out as follows...

Tone, Volume, Contour, and Gain with a mini switch in the middle for vintage and modern

Most know what each value does. The Contour changes the mid frequencies a bit and the vintage/modern switch is just as it says. Come to find out it actually does as it says. Going from each will give a slight change of feel in attack and color the tone to the old or the new distortion types. Very useful in custom modifying your desired tone.


UTILIZATION

Extremely easy to figure out. You can probably find a sweet spot within minutes of use with this pedal. I generally would keep the gain around 3:00 and volume according to your room. The tone knob I generally kept on the 11:00 range and the contour in 12:00 position. Since this is a mids focused pedal I would suggest using the contour to fit your personal amp EQ. I mostly stayed on the Modern side of the mini toggle but occasionally flipped it over to the vintage side. However, I generally just used this pedal as a mids booster.

The manual could be a little clearer in the sense that I like to have suggested settings with an unfamiliar company like Wampler. I would like those settings so I could get up in running with their favorites and then go from there. Not a hard pedal to figure out but would be a plus if they add a few extra pieces of insight to get you started.

SOUND QUALITY

I found this pedal to be extremely fun and since I go with natural amp distortion this pedal fit well as a booster in the front end of the amp rather than the main tone of your rig.

I used this with a Strat of course into a '74 Marshall JMP....since that is the guitar that created these type of sound. I found it to be very close as a pedal could get to that "brown sound". But let's be very clear....this will never give the feel or sound of a real overdriven plexi . Not matter how well it's marketed or hyped it just won't deliver that tone. If your on a budget or have a clean amp and want that early VH tone than I would suggest this pedal. You can definitely have fun with this pedal as I did.

OVERALL OPINION

The thing that I liked best about this pedal was its versatility. The vintage and modern switch was a very cool feature and an enjoyment to play around with.

I got this pedal before they jumped the prices up. So my out of pocket expense was fine for an experiment. Now that it is up to around $200 well that might make me think twice on the overall value of the pedal. I don't find that it is worthy of a $200 price tag. Fun nonetheless but not at that price. I can think of a lot of pedals that could deliver similar results for quite a lot less of commitment.

Since then I have found other booster pedals that I enjoy more with my overdriven amp so this pedal is no longer the go to for that reason. Yet I would recommend this for certain people on a VH quest on a budget.

Excellent distortion pedal very high-end analog of the famous "boutique pedal maker" Brian Wampler.
Made in order to emulate the much sought after "Brown Sound", it goes far beyond using a switch vintage / modern sound provides modern british, but also a great tone and contour EQ which to navigate in varied tones.
The gain is very efficient and takes you to the gates of fuzz.
The sound is clean, with nice overtones, it turns any clear his old cranked Marshall.
This version also has a footswitch with boost, very convenient to give some teeth in the middle of a song eg.

UTILIZATION

Very easy to use, it sounds good in almost all settings (unless you get lost on the side of regalia extreme and dubious).
The settings are very effective (as on any Wampler pedal), the tonality and contour make a big job to change the tone switch and modern / vintage can add sharp for a more current and more cutting edge.

SOUND QUALITY

10/10 Ya nothing to say, it is pure distortion English like you have never bit.
A great brown sound emulation mode "vintage", but a pannel of its most modern while remaining very British.

OVERALL OPINION

I used very little, it was a gift from my family, but in reality even if it's a great pedal, I have little use in my game (more oriented post-rock, air) , so I'll put it on sale.
But for anyone looking for a distortion pedal British high-end, is a must.