The Tumnus is a bit more
sophisticated than that.
It’ll boost the signal in its
lower to mid-gain settings.
An A/B test demonstrated
that the Tumnus added a
pleasing amount of “edge”
and “grit” to this reviewer’s
tone compared to the
clean signal. In the upper
ranges of the gain, when the
pedal is really pushed to its
limits, it’ll make a crisp, rich
distortion that reminded
this reviewer of Peter Buck’s
tone on that old, gold
rush classic, “What’s the
Frequency, Kenneth?”
Let’s face it: tiny pedals
can be just as good as the
traditionally-sized ones,
as evidenced herein. The
Tumnus is as cool as the
waters of the Klondike and
small enough to fit in a
pocket, but it will be one
pedal that won’t get lost
on the pedalboard. The
Tumnus is one little gold
bar that tone miners won’t
want to let wander out of
their sights.
WHAT WE LIKE
Tiny size, fantastic boost
and not-too-insane amount
of overdrive. Get a great
tone for a reasonable price.
CONCERNS
Some people will be
bothered by the lack of a
nine-volt battery snap. They
should simply get a power
adaptor.
The Tumnus features a SMT
circuit board inside, which
is likely the reason that the
pedal can be as small as it
is. SMT circuit boards can
be a bit expensive for the
ma and pa boutique pedal
makers—their margins won’t
be so great, and as a result,
the consumer will have to
pay a higher price. Luckily,
Wampler has managed to
fit all the circuitry in this tiny
box that retails at a very
reasonable price, especially
when that price is compared
to that of the larger,
centaur-bearing pedal.
ToneReport.com
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