Wampler Pedals
Black 65
WAS: $280
NOW: $245
Category: Overdrive
It's here - the long awaited "Black '65 Overdrive" (formerly called 'Blackface Overdrive'). I've had tons and tons of folks ask me when I was coming out with an overdrive pedal that emulates the sound of a cranked FenderŪ amp. We wanted to get it JUST right, and spent a good 9 months breadboarding and prototyping tons of different ideas and a/b-ing with various fender amps to make sure it was accurate.
Once I got one that I was 100% happy with, I took it to Nashville studio Ace Brent Mason (www.brentmason.com) and brought a bunch of my competitors pedals that are supposed to do the same thing. Brent knows FenderŪ amps like none other, and I knew if HE thought it was good, I had a winner. Long story short, he LOVED it!
A common question I get is "What is the difference between the Ecstasy and the Black '65?" The ecstasy is completely different from the Black 65. Tonally, the black '65 is going to sound more like a Fender type of sound - I've heard guys say they hear The Twin, some say Vibrolux, some say Deluxe Reverb. Regardless, it still has that "Blackface" type of sound. When you turn it up, it's going to break up more like the amp would if you turn it up. The boost switch is basically adding a booster in front of this circuit to give it more gain.
The Ecstasy is a completely different sound than the blackface. I would describe it more like a cross between a Timmy and Zendrive tonally, with a switch that gives you a compressed overdrive, a crunchy overdrive, or a light fuzzy type of tone, perfect for Eric Johnson type stuff. Circuit-wise, they are in completely different camps too. The ecstasy is using opamps with diode clippers while the black '65 is a JFET based circuit.
Check out a video of the Wampler Black 65: