Wampler Pedals company was founded by Brian Wampler in 2007 and is headquartered in Martinsville, Indiana. It produces some of the best and most practical boutique category effect pedals for guitars, bass and guitar amplifiers. Their overdrive, boost and delay pedals are particularly admired in the guitar world. The units are manufactured in Kentucky, USA.
The concept of Tape Echo was the brainchild of Les Paul. In 1950's, he decided to use a tape machine to record his guitar signal and then play it back. The result was an echo which was given the name, the "Tape Echo". Tape machines in those times had lots of moving parts, resulting in inconsistent sound that would often break down. These inconsistencies along with the wear of the tape created vintage, weird and warbly tones. Tape echo pedals are designed to produce the warmth and character of the old tape echo units.
Faux Tape Echo V1 was considered as one of the top sounding Tape Echo pedals in the market for the depth of the effect, purity and sheer beauty of tone. But it was the tape emulation feature with its organic and unpredictable sound that blew the people away. V2 keeps all the good aspects of V1 such as purity of signal path, depth of tone etch while having more subdivisions on Tap Tempo and added delay time.
Things To Consider Before Buying A Delay Pedal
The world of guitar pedals can be really overwhelming with so many different types of pedals available in the market and wide variety in features, even in the same type. While experienced players already know their way around. We present some factors which you must consider before purchasing a delay pedal, if you are just starting to use them. Knowing what you want is half the battle won.
Our Picks for Review
Make | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|
Wampler | Faux Tape Echo |
Wampler Faux Tape Echo
PRO's & CON's of Wampler fauz Tape Echo
Every technology and gear in the market had some advantages and disadvantages over their contemporaries and competitors. Before selecting any specific gear, it is essential that you know them and fully understand the implications. In this section we will present some Pro's and Con's of the pedal under review - The Wampler Faux Tape Echo Pedal V2
Pros
Cons
Features and Benefits
While many pedals may have a host of features available, it is the quality and utility of the features that matters, over the quantity. The good news is that Faux Tape Echo has all the essential and useful functions.
Features
Let us have a look at some of the important and standout features of Wampler Faux Tape Echo unit below:
- 1Wampler Faux Tape Echo is a hybrid delay unit with fully analog dry path. Nearly all the parts of the pedal including filters, modulations and all the major functions work on analog circuits. The only digital part in the signal path is the delay line as analog chips can't match the clarity and focus of the digital line.
- 2Faux Tape Echo excels at design and build quality as is customary with Wampler pedals. The unit uses quality components such as high grade capacitors and resistors to get superior tone and response.
- 3V2 version has additional subdivisions of 1/4, 1/8, dotted 1/8 and triplets on the Tap Tempo and added delay time of 200 ms. Tap tempo is a specific function on digital delay pedals that allows the user to set the delay time (speed) by repeatedly tapping the footswitch or a button. The tempo then matches the set delay time (speed). This means that the delay will now come at one of the above four settings based on our set tap tempo.
- 4Wampler Faux Tape Echo has an extended delay time of 800 ms, which is more than most of the similar units in the market.
- 5It works on a 9V DC battery or 9-18V DC power supply that is not included with the pedal, with about 40 mA consumption. It has a standard 1/4" input and output. Faux Tape Echo is manufactured in the USA and has the dimensions of 88.9 x 114.3 mm.
Controls
In order to fully utilize the capabilities of any gear, you must be fully familiar with the controls. The new Wampler Faux Tape Echo unit contains six control knobs - Depth, Rate, Tone, Delay, Repeats and Delay Mix controls. In addition we have Bypass & Tap Tempo footswitches and a subdivision selector switch. Let us see the functions of these controls in brief:
- 1Depth: This knob controls the depth of modulation. Modulation effect becomes deeper, as we go clockwise (CW). It works in conjunction with the Rate control to weave its magic.
- 2Rate: This control defines the speed with which the modulation effect reacts to the original signal. The rate or the speed increases, as the knob is rotated CW. If both Depth and Rate are set in a fully counterclockwise position, the modulation effect is completely bypassed.
- 3Tone: It controls the character of the delayed signal and how it sounds. We can choose to set all the way from warm and dark tone in full CCW position to cleaner, brighter and more pristine sound in the full CW setting.
- 4Delay: This knob determines the actual delay time of the Wampler Tape Echo unit. The delay is almost instantaneous in the setting, 9 o'clock and before, also called a "slapback" delay. In noon position, the unit provides 300 - 350 ms delay time, which goes all the way up to 600 ms as you move clockwise.
- 5Repeats: This knob manages the feedback level to the delay line, which translates broadly to more number of echo repeats. This is the number of times the delayed signal is fed back to the original. It also depends on the tone setting and your guitar output.
- 6Delay Mix: This controls the total output volume of the pedal. The adjustment allows you to select the level of wet signal you want to mix to your dry signal.
- 7Tap Tempo: This soft switch overrides the delay control and dictates the time of the repeats, on pressing.
- 8Subdivisions: The subdivision selector switch on Faux tape selects different delay subdivisions. This selection sets the delay pattern, relative to, tempo defined by Tap Tempo switch or the delay knob.
- 9True Bypass: This relay based stomp provides unadulterated signal in bypass position.
Sound
The below video demonstration will give you a fair idea about the capabilities and the sound output of the Wampler Faux Tape Echo unit under various common settings of the controls.
The effect of various controls on the characteristics of the sound produced by the unit is summarized below:
- 1At the low settings of the delay mix, when the wet signal percentage is low, the effect is quite subtle with Tone and Repeat controls having a strong impact on it.
- 2You can get a very large number of pleasing oscillations for your setup, on playing a note, if you turn the Repeats knob high.With lower delay mix and tone settings, you can adjust the repeats knob to the point of oscillations, to get a beautiful ambient background undertone to play over.
- 3Just where the first repeat, pre-oscillation and oscillation will happen, will largely depend on your setup including your guitar output's volume, delay mix and repeats knob setting.
- 4Tone knob only controls the wet signal and defines how your delay signal will sound. With delay time setting in high position, the soft distortion over the end of the notes will increase as you increase the tone setting.
- 5Modulation allows you to make changes in your delay repeats that range from minor pitch adjustment to creating interesting and even crazy sounds.
- 6The unique characteristics of any tape echo device is filtered repeats, chorus like effect and tape saturation. The Wampler Faux Tape Echo largely emulates the organic & natural delay sound of a slightly worn out tape.
Social Proof of the Pedal
We are impressed by the features and sound of Wampler Faux Tape Echo pedal. However, before you decide to buy the Wampler delay unit, we recommend that you read some reviews from the experienced users available over the net. We present some reviews that we have gathered to let you have a feel of it.
The reviewer has been using Wampler pedals in the past and is impressed by their build quality and features. He is also impressed by the tones of the pedal in consideration.
This is a very in-depth review with the reviewer commenting favorably on almost every feature - analog, digital, sound, delay volume, tap tempo and tape simulation. He has, however, experienced noise with shade control when used with longer delay sounds. He also recommends what type of delay the pedals work best and otherwise.
In this very rare critical review, the user expressed his disappointment with the pedal, particularly the faux tape feature. But, we could not find any similar review or comments from any other user.
In Conclusion
While Wampler Faux Tape Echo may be slightly expensive, its features and above all its performance provides enough value to justify the price tag. These features include analog warmth in sound, hybrid of digital delay in the path of analog signal, tap tempo footswitch, doesn't alter the basic guitar tone, superior sound and response, 800 ms delay time, 6 controls and true bypass. Do click below to check it out!
