GEAR
[ WAMPLER ETHEREAL DELAY AND REVERB | Michael Hodge ]
is like two delay pedals in one. Having both adds
KEY FEATURES
depth and complexity for that Ambient vibe. I
do miss having a Tap, but since it’s designed
Beautiful sounding Ambient Pedal
for Ambience, it’s not as big a deal. The Reverb
Four Modes of Delay with Reverb
is a really nice and rich plate algorithm. Similar
True Bypass or Buffered Trail mode to the Delay Mix, when it’s all the way up you
Compact and easy to use can still hear the original guitar sound. Setting
the Delay at 1 second I could hear that the
reverb tail at max is about 7 seconds, with or
without Delays in the mix. The Tone knob takes
We are in the era of the killer ambient guitar
the Delay and Reverb from dark and dreamy
sounds! Brian Wampler is known as one of
to what I’d call vintage modern. I like how you
the best at making pedals for guitar players in
search of that ultimate tone. can have this ambient mix of delay and reverb
The Ethereal Pedal is his newest offering, playing. It adds a complexity and ambience
tastefully going on underneath what you are
that can be either “What is that cool thing going
revealed at Summer NAMM.
on in the background?” to an overwhelming but
controlled oscillation washed in reverb. Both
OUT OF THE BOX: effects sound great by themselves. Together
All Wampler Pedals come in a trendy drawstring I got the most amazing swells. There isn’t a
with a Compressor & Volume pedal up front,
bad setting on this thing, it’s very musical.
bag within a cool gray box. I like that his pedals
The Manual has eight preset examples. I
are California built in the good ole’ USA. The
recommend checking them all out. I was
build quality is top notch, including knobs,
impressed at all the possibilities available with
jacks, and internal components. On the top
such a seemingly simple and straightforward
of the pedal are five knobs: Delay, Feedback,
IN USE: design.
LED. On the side is a Trails switch that goes First of all, this pedal is simple and easy to CONCLUSION:
between True Bypass and Buffered Bypass, use. It’s a no brainer to quickly get a lot of cool allowing trails to continue naturally when variables. To me, the soul of the Ethereal is in switched off. On the front side of the pedal are the Delay functions. The Delay range is 10Ms to mono In & Out and a BOSS type Power Jack 1 second. FYI: one second would be a 1/4 note that can take 9v or 18v DC. delay at 60BPM. With the Mix all the way up,
Tone, Delay Mix, and Reverb Mix. There’s a
Delay Mode toggle switch, tempo LED, and On
the delay volume is almost equal to the original.
I opened the unit up to find no internal battery. Feedback goes from 1x to infinite Oscillation.
This is designed for your pedalboard. I also like I love the Delay Mode. It’s really unique. After
the Turquoise color with the subtle angel wings the original 1/4 note Delay, the second Delay is
imprinted under the logo. either Triplet, Dotted ¼, or 1/8th. This effectively
58
October 2017
There are a lot of pedals doing unique things
these days, and Ethereal belongs on that list.
It does all the stuff you want to get a beautiful
Ambient sound, it’s at an affordable price, and
it uses minimal real estate on your board. I
wouldn’t hesitate recommending this pedal.
Two thumbs up!
WorshipMusician.com
Retail $199.97
www.WamplerPedals.com