heads on fire « Very versatile dirt box! »
Published on 09/08/11 at 10:45I'll preface this review saying that I'll never get rid of this pedal. It sounds so good, and is so useful, that it will never leave my possession, or even my pedalboard!
This Hot Wired pedal from Wampler Pedals is the signature pedal for Nashville legend Brent Mason. He is a studio guitarist that has played on about everything you've ever heard coming out of Nashville since the early 90s, and he is required to get a huge variety of great tones in his sessions. This pedal, true to its necessity as a versatility machine, is a two-channel overdrive box, and each channel can be set to provide different tones. Either channel can be run separately, or both can be run at the same time. The tonal options are absolutely vast!
I find it particularly useful to run the right side as a signal boost, with a touch of overdrive, and the left side as a distortion, for pure liquid lead tones.
Each side has its own volume, gain, and tone controls, as well as low frequency boost switches. The manual provided with the pedal explains the functionality very well, and gives a good starter-tone setup to allow the user a base for springboarding into experimentation.
The boost is invaluable - it can add that "extra" that one needs to let a solo cut right through. I feel like the boost channel is so nice that Wampler should make a less expensive version of the pedal that's just a one-channel unit, as I'm sure it would sell incredibly well! And the left side distortion is fantastically responsive, and adds a ton of sustain to the signal without getting too hairy.
Overall, this pedal is a great addition to any pedal setup. I feel like I could take this pedal to any fill-in gig or jam night, and plug into an amp that isn't my own and still get "my" sound - that's how much I like this pedal.
This Hot Wired pedal from Wampler Pedals is the signature pedal for Nashville legend Brent Mason. He is a studio guitarist that has played on about everything you've ever heard coming out of Nashville since the early 90s, and he is required to get a huge variety of great tones in his sessions. This pedal, true to its necessity as a versatility machine, is a two-channel overdrive box, and each channel can be set to provide different tones. Either channel can be run separately, or both can be run at the same time. The tonal options are absolutely vast!
I find it particularly useful to run the right side as a signal boost, with a touch of overdrive, and the left side as a distortion, for pure liquid lead tones.
Each side has its own volume, gain, and tone controls, as well as low frequency boost switches. The manual provided with the pedal explains the functionality very well, and gives a good starter-tone setup to allow the user a base for springboarding into experimentation.
The boost is invaluable - it can add that "extra" that one needs to let a solo cut right through. I feel like the boost channel is so nice that Wampler should make a less expensive version of the pedal that's just a one-channel unit, as I'm sure it would sell incredibly well! And the left side distortion is fantastically responsive, and adds a ton of sustain to the signal without getting too hairy.
Overall, this pedal is a great addition to any pedal setup. I feel like I could take this pedal to any fill-in gig or jam night, and plug into an amp that isn't my own and still get "my" sound - that's how much I like this pedal.