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Wampler Belle Review – Yet another green overdrive pedal, but it could be the best!
Introduction
Welcome to our first review of a Wampler pedal, and it’s an exciting one: the Wampler Belle Overdrive! Inspired by everyone’s favorite green overdrive pedals, the Belle offers more options and controls for enhanced tone shaping. Plus, it’s housed in a compact enclosure, making it a fantastic choice for saving space on your miniature pedalboard or fitting it into a tight spot on your large pedalboard!
In this review of the Wampler Belle, we will cover its features and controls, explore its sound capabilities, and share our final thoughts on this compact overdrive pedal. Let’s dive in and see what the Wampler Belle is all about!
Wampler Belle Overdrive Pedal
The Wampler Belle is Wampler’s take on the classic green overdrive, with a unique twist and a compact design. Made in the USA, this pedal features high-quality components, ensuring the best possible sound.
The pedal has four knobs: the Bass knob (top right) controls the bass frequencies, the Color knob (to the right) adjusts the highs and lows in the mix, allowing for either cutting or boosting while keeping the mids intact. The Level knob and Gain knob (bottom row) control the output level and the amount of saturation/clipping, respectively. Additionally, there’s a Clipping switch on the side to tweak the clipping style, adding more texture to your sound.
The Wampler Belle is versatile, capable of serving as a clean boost, mid-push drive, or a low-end, Klon-like push—all while occupying less space than most other overdrive pedals.
More on the Wampler Belle Pedal
The pedal features side-mounted input and output jacks, with the input on the right and the output on the left. The power input (9v or 18v) is located on the top. Due to its compact size, the pedal does not accommodate battery power. It retails for around £139 in the UK and comes with a 5-year warranty.
The Sounds
We tested the Wampler Belle with a blues/country demo song, including some improvisation for the solo. The pedal demonstrated a wide range of tones, though we missed showcasing the clipping switch. Engaging this switch adds a bit more “hair” to your tone.
All the demo sounds were recorded with the Wampler Belle running into the front end of the Revv D20 (check out our review for more details). We will have the amp set to both clean and a crunch sound so you can see how the pedal works for various amp settings. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment on our YouTube video, and we’ll respond as soon as possible!
What are my thoughts?
How does it sound? Better than expected! This pedal allows your amp to “bloom” in various ways. Increase the level for a traditional screamer sound, use the Color knob to adjust specific frequencies and add some top-end sparkle, or crank up the gain for a heavier sound. Need even more grit? The clipping switch adds extra punch. Regardless of how you set it, the Belle is highly responsive to your guitar’s volume, cleaning up nicely when needed.
Surprisingly, the pedal offers more gain than you’d expect. Cranking up the volume and gain provides a tight, classic rock sound, while the Bass control lets you tighten the low end without altering the tone too much. Going from a gentle push, all the way up to thick overdrive and saturation! Believe me, this is more than a simple overdrive pedal!
"Once you discover the tone shaping options it works wonders with any guitar! Really good at pushing an already overdriven amp and sculpting the tone further!"
Final Words
Initially, I didn’t connect with the pedal, but pairing it with a Strat into a clean amp made everything click. The Wampler Belle feels like a refined Tube Screamer, offering better tone-shaping controls. The bass cut and Color knob let you tailor your sound precisely, making it an excellent upgrade from a standard Tube Screamer. Then, Once you discover the tone shaping options it works wonders with any guitar! Really good at pushing an already overdriven amp and sculpting the tone further!
While the pedal isn’t cheap at around £140, it offers features that justify the price, especially if space-saving is crucial. For comparison, the Nobels ODR-1 offers similar tones at a lower price, and the Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini is also a budget-friendly option at around £70. Ultimately, the choice depends on your needs and budget. If you want extensive tone-sculpting options and can afford the Wampler Belle, it’s a perfect choice.
A note on marketing: despite being labeled as a “country” pedal, the Wampler Belle is versatile, offering killer low gain, great boost options, and thick drive tones. Don’t let the “country” tag limit your expectations!
Conclusion
That’s our review of the Wampler Belle! We hope you enjoyed it. This pedal is fantastic, though it took some time to fully appreciate its potential. Once you get the hang of it, it’s absolutely perfect for a high-quality overdrive. If you’re in the market for a top-tier overdrive pedal, the Wampler Belle is a great choice!
We’ve reviewed several “green overdrive” pedals, and you can find them all below. Hopefully, our reviews and demos will help you decide which pedal suits your needs. If we missed any, please let us know!
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