Being the Budget Guitarist, my whole philosophy on gear is to get the best bang for the buck and to not overpay for things. Someone recently asked me what I thought about the “high end pedal market with Wampler, Love Pedals, all those types of companies.” I told them that’s not “really” the high end pedal market. There are pedals that go for 800 bucks or more. Wampler and companies like them live in the $200 range. But you can buy pedals that in some cases sound just as good for less than $100, so I must hate Wampler, right? I must think they’re a rip off, they have a huge markup, and they’re just greedy, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong.
I don’t currently own a single guitar pedal. But I used to. I have a Floor Pod Plus that I can use for delay, chorus, flanger, tremolo, wah, and reverb. But there are no distortion or overdrive pedal sims in the thing. There are amplifier sims in it, and they all sound like poop when you are connected to a real tube amp. So that leaves me with a problem. My little tube head can deliver a great distortion, from barely crunchy to very overdriven. And it sounds great and I love it. But it has a definite sound, regardless of the guitar I use, and lately I’ve been wanting some more variety. Sure, I’ve got Amplitube 3 and a bunch of great amp models in it, but none of them sound as good as my tube head’s direct out. So? So the solution to having different distortion sounds is… pedals.
There are three Wampler pedals I have my sights set on – the Plexi Drive, the Tweed ’57, and the Pinnacle (Standard.) But why spend $200 on one of these pedals? Because a great pedal can last you practically a lifetime. Because I’ve tried them all out and they sound amazing. Because the quality control at Wampler is first rate, and cheap pedal companies often don’t even test their pedals before they sell them. Because of that, you can have cheap pedals that sound different from each other. Do I want to spend my time wondering if my pedal sounds as good as my buddy’s pedal?
Wampler pedals are made in the USA, and the company provides a living for a bunch of people. If you’re into video podcasts, they’ve got one called Chasing Tone that’s really good. It’s 10% talking about pedals and guitars and amps, and 90% three guys hanging out and making jokes that are sometimes funny and sometimes aren’t. I’m a fan. I don’t mind awful jokes. I’d rather hear more content and less yucks, but it’s still the best guitar-related podcast I know of.
I’ll do a review of whatever pedal I buy, after I buy one. The Budget Guitarist motto is to only buy reasonably-priced guitars that are $500 or less. How does that apply to other gear? For amps, same thing. For pedals? How much would I be willing to spend on a great pedal? Probably $200 or less. There are a billion great pedals in that price range. The Love Pedals are great, too.
UPDATE – 5-16-15: I tried the Plextortion today and I think it’s my new fave pedal. Probably be buying one instead of the Pinnacle. Or maybe I’ll get a PlexiDrive. Decisions, decisions.
UPDATE – 7-5-2015: Yup, I ended up buying the Plextortion. I chose it over the Pinnacle because to me, the Pinnacle was a one hit wonder – it does the EVH sound. I wanted something with more range, something that could go from crunch to high gain. The Plextortion does that. I like it. I don’t love it. But it does give me tones very different than my Peavey tube head.
