JasonE
New Member
I am not sure I follow you on this comment. The PD is two fully configurable circuits.
NPD: Wampler Gearbox
- Thread starter phillybri
- Start date
gush
Where is that speedo pic
Pinnacle deluxe is a single od unit with an od boost. No adjustments for the boost function other than on off button
JasonE
New Member
That clears it up. I thought PD was Pantheon Deluxe.
Igotsoul4u
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2013
- Messages
- 62
If it's wampler, it kicks ass.
gush
Where is that speedo pic
I've spent some time with my gearbox pedal.
It responds very simular to my wampler pinnacle deluxe pedal by running OD much higher than I normally would but running guitar volume around 5.
Both wampler pedals sound very good when I set them up this way with my marshall class 5 combo.
I am recording tracks for a song and I will use GB and class 5 for that.
I have traded for a Friedman Runt 20 head but haven't spent any time with it yet. We are going away for the weekend to see our 7th grand baby so next week I'll be working with the new head.
It responds very simular to my wampler pinnacle deluxe pedal by running OD much higher than I normally would but running guitar volume around 5.
Both wampler pedals sound very good when I set them up this way with my marshall class 5 combo.
I am recording tracks for a song and I will use GB and class 5 for that.
I have traded for a Friedman Runt 20 head but haven't spent any time with it yet. We are going away for the weekend to see our 7th grand baby so next week I'll be working with the new head.
aamefford
The (should be) Committed
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2021
- Messages
- 944
Liked because grand babies!
JasonE
New Member
This thread was started almost exactly 3 months ago. I have been looking at the Gearbox and the Pantheon Deluxe on and off since it started. Well, last week I made an offer on a Pantheon Deluxe and it was accepted. I received that pedal on Friday. I honestly didn't like it at first. I only had a short time with it and my goal was to make sure it all worked so I could leave feedback. I got to spend some more time with it and compare it to some other pedals I have and now I really like it. Wampler has some things in the midrange that I don't always like and need to spend a little time with the pedal adjusting it to get it where I like it. I was able to get some good sounds out of it and am a believer now.
Fast-forward to today. I happened go look to see what was out there for the Gearbox. This is how the PD purchase happened. I found a pretty good price on one and made an offer and it was immediately accepted. To my surprise, the guy I bought the PD off of listed a Gearbox two days after I bought the PD from him. He had it at the same price I paid for the PD. I sent him an offer for the same price I bought the PD for and asked him if he would like to sell me another pedal this week. He accepted the offer. He only lives across the sate from me so shipping happens fast. I got the other one the day after he shipped it. That means I should have it tomorrow, the next day at the latest.
I really like these types of pedals. I like getting two pedals in one enclosure. I have a few like this but hadn't seen either of these until this thread came up. I am glad you are all enablers. I ended up with these pedals at a price that if I ever decided I really wanted to move them on, I won't lose much if any. This guy has a few other nice Wampler pedals he is going to put up for sale. He sent me some pictures to see if I was interested. They are not ones I am looking for right now.
Fast-forward to today. I happened go look to see what was out there for the Gearbox. This is how the PD purchase happened. I found a pretty good price on one and made an offer and it was immediately accepted. To my surprise, the guy I bought the PD off of listed a Gearbox two days after I bought the PD from him. He had it at the same price I paid for the PD. I sent him an offer for the same price I bought the PD for and asked him if he would like to sell me another pedal this week. He accepted the offer. He only lives across the sate from me so shipping happens fast. I got the other one the day after he shipped it. That means I should have it tomorrow, the next day at the latest.
I really like these types of pedals. I like getting two pedals in one enclosure. I have a few like this but hadn't seen either of these until this thread came up. I am glad you are all enablers. I ended up with these pedals at a price that if I ever decided I really wanted to move them on, I won't lose much if any. This guy has a few other nice Wampler pedals he is going to put up for sale. He sent me some pictures to see if I was interested. They are not ones I am looking for right now.
JasonE
New Member
Take a look at the Pantheon Deluxe. It is super configurable. I will be able to tell you what it is like compared to the Gearbox after it shows up here. I am betting they are both really good.3 months later, I still LOVE my Gearbox...
Definitely excited to hear your report...
JasonE
New Member
Have you ever looked inside of your Gearbox? I found something interesting in there that is undocumented. I can't find information anywhere on it. There is a jumper in there. I am super curious as to what it is for. I have learned from putting a post on TGP that the Dual Fusion has one too. It is also undocumented. I will probably mess with changing that to see what the heck it does. I am wondering if it is something I will notice without knowing what to look for.
I had a very short time with the pedal to make sure everything worked with it. I was able to get tones I liked quite a bit faster with this than I did with the PD. It will be interesting to try them next to each other after I figure out what this jumper does...
JasonE
New Member
I spent some of my lunch time playing with the jumper and comparing the two pedals. I was not able to figure out what the jumper is changing. I didn't hear any difference in either of the sides of the pedal as far as tone and gain. That is going to be a mystery for a while longer, maybe forever.
As for the comparison of the two pedals.
I was able to make side 1 of the PD sound like side 1 of the Gearbox by setting it to soft clipping and the lowest gain level setting.
I was able to get side 2 of the PD sound like the side 2 of the Gearbox by setting it to hard clipping and middle gain level setting.
They were very close with these settings.
There is a little bit more mid push in the Gearbox channel 1 than the PD channel 1 with these settings. However, the tone controls on both pedals are very powerful and I was able to get them adjusted so close that you would never tell the difference in a band context.
The PD is more configurable and has a wider range of tones in it. The PD has soft clipping, hard clipping and mixed clipping options. It also has 3 levels of gain structure. These are options on both sides of the pedal. I didn't test to see how they do at max gain. They both have way more gain and bass than I will ever have a use for.
The Gearbox has a very nice noise gate on it. The PD does not have this feature. If having a gate is important to you, be aware of this. It works very well.
The PD has a master presence knob. I am not sure if I consider this a strength or a weakness. I understand it is to match the pedal to your amp. However, I would have liked it to have a presence for each side so I could set them different from one another. That would add more tone shaping ability to the pedal.
I like having the clipping and gain options in the PD. I don't know if it was an intended feature but I hear a difference in the midrange response of the pedal when switching the clipping types. I didn't expect this. I am wondering if there are some intended differences in the circuit to do this. I just expected to hear a difference in the clipping itself and not the tonal characteristics of it.
Both of these are fantastic sounding pedals. I do not regret buying both of them. There is enough difference in them that I will get use out of both. One of my next comparisons will be to put them up against The Engine by Drybell that I bought several months back. This pedal really impressed me with the first note I played through it.
As for the comparison of the two pedals.
I was able to make side 1 of the PD sound like side 1 of the Gearbox by setting it to soft clipping and the lowest gain level setting.
I was able to get side 2 of the PD sound like the side 2 of the Gearbox by setting it to hard clipping and middle gain level setting.
They were very close with these settings.
There is a little bit more mid push in the Gearbox channel 1 than the PD channel 1 with these settings. However, the tone controls on both pedals are very powerful and I was able to get them adjusted so close that you would never tell the difference in a band context.
The PD is more configurable and has a wider range of tones in it. The PD has soft clipping, hard clipping and mixed clipping options. It also has 3 levels of gain structure. These are options on both sides of the pedal. I didn't test to see how they do at max gain. They both have way more gain and bass than I will ever have a use for.
The Gearbox has a very nice noise gate on it. The PD does not have this feature. If having a gate is important to you, be aware of this. It works very well.
The PD has a master presence knob. I am not sure if I consider this a strength or a weakness. I understand it is to match the pedal to your amp. However, I would have liked it to have a presence for each side so I could set them different from one another. That would add more tone shaping ability to the pedal.
I like having the clipping and gain options in the PD. I don't know if it was an intended feature but I hear a difference in the midrange response of the pedal when switching the clipping types. I didn't expect this. I am wondering if there are some intended differences in the circuit to do this. I just expected to hear a difference in the clipping itself and not the tonal characteristics of it.
Both of these are fantastic sounding pedals. I do not regret buying both of them. There is enough difference in them that I will get use out of both. One of my next comparisons will be to put them up against The Engine by Drybell that I bought several months back. This pedal really impressed me with the first note I played through it.
JasonE
New Member
I think I found out what the jumper is for. I was watching this video below and Andy mentions a little over half way through that there is a switch in the Gearbox that you can flip to lower the input if you have really hot pickups so you are not beating the front end up. So far this is the only information I have found on it. This could be why I didn't really detect any change in the pedal. I was checking gain and overall tone. I didn't notice any drop in volume when I switched it so maybe it is a limiter that I didn't hit with my pickups.
JasonE
New Member
Another thing to note about these pedals in case anyone was curious or didn't know and it makes a difference to you. Both the Pantheon Deluxe and the Gearbox are surface mount construction. These pedals will be very difficult to repair if you blow something up inside of them. They don't have the through hole construction of other Wampler pedals I have seen the inside of. I don't know if they went to this type of build for all of their pedals when they made the change to top jacks and the new switches along with the new cases and graphics. I know both of these are built this way because I have been inside of them.
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