wampler black 65

**feet** · 04-11-2014, 08:36 PM

curious to hear what your thoughts on this might be. its a fender blackface style overdrive, but it does the cleans too, if you turn the gain down. since i'd only be interested in that, i thought this might be a interesting (cheaper!) alternative to, say, an effectrode or ethos or something to that effect.

anyone?

**monkmiles** · 04-11-2014, 09:07 PM

I haven't played one, but have been wanting to since the day it came out. Not sure why I haven't actually.

It's funny, I was going to mention this pedal in a clean booster thread, where I mentioned the Catalinbread Formula 5F6 instead. I think you should consider the Formula 5f6 too, as it definitely can do clean tones in its stock setting (there is an internal switch to get higher gain). Obviously it does Fender tweed tones as opposed to blackface. It's a better fit for me since I play through Fender blackface style amps already.

**jorgemg1984** · 04-12-2014, 05:37 AM

If you just want cleans the Barb EQ seems like a better option because it also has a tweed mode.

**Jazz_175** · 05-12-2014, 03:13 PM

I bought used the Wampler 65 a few days ago.
I have been thinking about this pedal for long time, actually was thinking about the Wampler 65 and the Barb Eq,
but in the end I bought the Wampler.
I put it in front of the Henriksen 112. Very nice indeed.
Played a Stratocaster with the Henriksen and the Wampler ON. It is really nice.
I hope I'll find some time to record a little demo and post it here.

The pedal has a switch with two positions; boost and gain.
It can work as a great overdrive with a lot of gain.
The only thing is that, even with the gain knob at minimum, you will get some distortion if you play chords with force.

**hans halmackenreuter** · 05-12-2014, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

If you just want cleans the Barb EQ seems like a better option because it also has a tweed mode.

I haven't played the wampler, but I've got a Barb EQ since last week and I am really satisfied with both the blackface and the tweed mode.

**Frank67** · 05-12-2014, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by hans halmackenreuter

I haven't played the wampler, but I've got a Barb EQ since last week and I am really satisfied with both the blackface and the tweed mode.

without wanting to derail the thread too much - I also really like what the Marshall mode does - in the context of rock music of course. It is still absolutely clean, but it kind of "prepares" your amp nicely for an overdrive peal. The BarbEQ is just a great overall pedal.

**hans halmackenreuter** · 05-12-2014, 05:18 PM

True, but I use the Marshall setting more for other music style's, allthough tweed and british mode is exclusivly played in the bright channel mode.

But if one is looking for a blackface sound, this is a good way to go + that you have two other amp-voicings

**feet** · 05-12-2014, 07:26 PM

nice to know there are a few winners out there in this field. thanks, fellas. i'll keep these in mind when the need arises. would love to hear some clean demos, at least to gauge headroom and what not.

**jorgemg1984** · 05-12-2014, 07:52 PM

Glad you liked it Hans. Sometimes I don't like to endorse stuff too strongly because we don't all want the same sound... And I agree, tweed mode with bright input on.

**Jazz_175** · 05-13-2014, 12:37 AM

As for the Wampler 65, the manual says it is possible to cover tweed territory as well by adjusting the tone knobs appropriately. It would be great to have both pedals in the same pedalboard. The Barb Eq for pure cleans and the Black 65 for overdriven sounds with the flavor of a Blackface or of a tweed amp.

**woland** · 06-29-2014, 01:23 AM

I had Black65 for a very long time on my board and I recently decided to remove it. 90% of the time I play through a solid state amp (Evans RE150) and Black65 is too cold for that - big bass but glassy top. I ran Wampler Ego compressor which can be dialed dark and I ran EP-type of booster (EP+ by ClinchFX) and no dice. Dirt channel is very fat and actually nice but rather useless for jazz. I tried running it on 14.5V instead of 9V and there was no usable difference.
Another Wampler I tried for clean tone was Tweed57 (also at 14.5V). That one was better but I was not happy with EQ sweep and apart from slightly hairy edges the tone was not that great. In the end I replaced it (temporarily) with Ddyna ThinMan and I am selling Wampler to get something else - possibly Honey Bee.
EDIT (08/05/14)
After some back and forth with different ODs I went back to RC booster. And added EWS Brute Drive for higher gain if needed. So my chain is now: Ego compressor, EWS Brute Drive, RC, EP, Boomerang chorus/delay, Looker tremolo. Nice and simple.

**Silentwiz** · 07-01-2014, 12:08 PM

anyone try something like this in front of an acoustic image/RE setup?

does this "fake" a tube-y tone?

**6stringjazz** · 07-04-2014, 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by Silentwiz

anyone try something like this in front of an acoustic image/RE setup?

does this "fake" a tube-y tone?

You might try a Tech 21 Blonde. I used one with my Acoustic Image Clarus and I was able to get a lot of usable tones from clean to slight breakup.

**Frank67** · 07-04-2014, 01:10 AM

Originally Posted by 6stringjazz

You might try a Tech 21 Blonde. I used one with my Acoustic Image Clarus and I was able to get a lot of usable tones from clean to slight breakup.

I am curious - How did you get nice clean sounds out of a Tech21 blonde? With a Humbucker guitar I either got anemic, thin cleans or unpleasant distorted sounds (with everything in between :-)) I feel I must be doing something wrong.

**jorgemg1984** · 07-04-2014, 04:22 AM

The barb eq is much better than any tech 21 stuff. Never tried the wampler.

**6stringjazz** · 07-04-2014, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

I am curious - How did you get nice clean sounds out of a Tech21 blonde? With a Humbucker guitar I either got anemic, thin cleans or unpleasant distorted sounds (with everything in between :-)) I feel I must be doing something wrong.

I turn the level all the way up and use the drive as the volume. This keeps it pretty clean until the drive gets to about 10 o'clock where some overdrive starts to happen, but that should give you enough usable clean volume. The eq is very sensitive to me and I have no problem getting fat sounds. I usually start all the eq at 12 o'clock and work from there. I also have the speaker sim defeat switch which will cut some of that harsh high end if you are running through a combo amp.

**Frank67** · 07-04-2014, 04:25 PM

thank you very much for the kind explanations. I'll give it a try. I remember that even with the volume all up, I did not manage to get unity gain before the distortion sets in. The eq, as you say, is very sensitive - to an extent that makes it difficult to work with it IMHO.

**6stringjazz** · 07-04-2014, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

thank you very much for the kind explanations. I'll give it a try. I remember that even with the volume all up, I did not manage to get unity gain before the distortion sets in. The eq, as you say, is very sensitive - to an extent that makes it difficult to work with it IMHO.

You are right, distortion sets in pretty early, but I've been able to make it work for me by turning down the guitar volume some. It may not be as clean as you might like it, but I don't mind a VERY slight breakup if I hit a chord pretty hard. I notice this happens also on some of the older jazz records when they were using low wattage tube amps. If it's set like that for me, I don't notice any breakup on single notes. The speaker sim switch also really does make a big difference. The earlier units don't have it, but it cuts a lot of the thinness you speak of out and allows a fatter/darker tone overall.

**monkmiles** · 07-04-2014, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by FrankLearns

thank you very much for the kind explanations. I'll give it a try. I remember that even with the volume all up, I did not manage to get unity gain before the distortion sets in. The eq, as you say, is very sensitive - to an extent that makes it difficult to work with it IMHO.

Originally Posted by 6stringjazz

I turn the level all the way up and use the drive as the volume. This keeps it pretty clean until the drive gets to about 10 o'clock where some overdrive starts to happen, but that should give you enough usable clean volume. The eq is very sensitive to me and I have no problem getting fat sounds. I usually start all the eq at 12 o'clock and work from there. I also have the speaker sim defeat switch which will cut some of that harsh high end if you are running through a combo amp.

The other important thing is the character control. It needs to be low, say 8-9:00. That will scoop the mids for blackface tone and reduce some drive. Then with the volume cranked, the gain/drive knob still needs to be below 12:00. That gets me blackface clean tone with humbuckers. Then you can raise the character knob to get tweed tone.

I use one for headphone practice and really like it. But it does have way more gain/drive than needed.