Wampler cataPulp

[tzd]

Anyone else out there excited about the new Wampler cataPulp?

Wampler cataPulp British Distortion - Distortion Pedal | Sweetwater.com

All I can say is, FINALLY

 

[Sournote]

My first impression was it didn't sound much like an Orange amp to me, (at least not much like my Dual Terror).

My second impression was it would be a great pedal to pair with a Fender or Vox type amp to give both great cleans and a close to (but a good bit brighter) Orange type tone.

It really sounds more like a Marshall tone than a darker Orange tone to me.

 

[kakao]

Why $199 .. ?

 

[Sournote]

Why $199 .. ?

Because it says "Wampler" on it?

 

[Hector Arcadius]

Why $199 .. ?

'cause you're lucky to live in the States! In Europe they are closer to 230 Euros.

Feel better already?

 

[kakao]

'cause you're lucky to live in the States! In Europe they are closer to 230 Euros.

Feel better already?

Nope, I'm an Aussie.
Wampler doesn't mean anything here, thus my remark.

 

[StormJH1]

Note about the cataPulp and then a quick rant...

I saw just a few demos of the cataPulp. The easy response is to say that whenever Wampler does dirt, you have to take it seriously. I've got a Black '65, Pinnacle, and Euphoria, and all three are excellent. Is there really a huge market for Orange-based sounds, though? I actually did pick up an Earthquaker Monarch not too long ago - I think that pedal does a pretty good job of nailing a fairly niche sound. But as pedal crazy as I am, I only ended up with it because my store was blowing out new ones "at cost" (about $110, normally $155 or so), and I had some trade-ins. But the cataPulp is a thing that now exists, and I thought it sounded pretty good. Better than the Monarch or the Tech21 Oxford at nailing Orange tones? Dunno.

Now the quick rant regarding pedal pricing. I'm actually not mad that Wampler charges $199.99 (or more) for their pedals. They make great stuff, it's largely intended for professionals (which I am very much not), and obviously there are people willing to pay it. But on their podcast and social media posts, they love to rant about how terrible it is to buy Chinese pedals and clones. I understand their frustration, but they seem to have a blind spot for the used pedal market, which does every bit as much to deprive them of a new sale, but lacks the sexy xenophobic boogey-man angle of ripping foreign clones. I was looking for a "D-style" pedal. I played a Wampler Euphoria and loved it, but not for $200. Bought a Mooer Rumble Drive hoping to solve my need cheaper, but it wasn't quite there. Later, I flipped the Rumble Drive and found a used Euphoria for $128 on Reverb. Neither purchase gave any money to Wampler. (Note: I bought the Pinnacle new, so they got my money there). I now have a Euphoria, not a clone. So why is buying the clone "immoral" versus buying the used pedal?

 

[Hector Arcadius]

Storm, you make excellent points and the pricing of new pedals, in general, has been on my mind lately and have been wanting to start a dedicated thread to discuss freely in the forum. Maybe we should do just that.

 

[tzd]

My first impression was it didn't sound much like an Orange amp to me, (at least not much like my Dual Terror).

It really sounds more like a Marshall tone than a darker Orange tone to me.

It's supposed to be modeled after the Rockerverb 50, so perhaps that's the difference in tone from your Dual Terror. I do think I hear a bit of Orange in it, but it's really hard to conclude on tone based on YouTube videos. I'll have to find an opportunity to try one for myself to find out.

Is there really a huge market for Orange-based sounds, though?

I've been looking for an Orange pedal for some time. Orange is one of those amps that to me is very nice, but given the obvious alternative I went with buying a Marshall (or two, actually) and could never justify spending more money on an Orange amp. Kinda same thing with Mesa... my Marshall covers 75% of the tones that I like to have, and I have a Triple Wreck for when I want to get into Metal territory, and a Black 65 when I need to get into Fender territory. In that sense, I'd rather spend $200 (probably less, I'll wait for used ones in 6-12 months) on a pedal that will give me the Orange tone, than to buy yet another big amp.

Regarding pricing, Orange actually came up with their own tone pedal very recently (Bax Bangeetar) at $379. That's obviously priced way too high for me to consider. Prior to that, I have not found any pedal that does Orange tone... there had been one or two from many years ago, but I've found no recent ones.

 

[Sournote]

Note about the cataPulp and then a quick rant...

snip: Is there really a huge market for Orange-based sounds, though?

I'm a recent Orange convert and I've noticed more and more Orange amps showing up on stages. I saw Blackberry Smoke a couple of weeks ago and both guitarists had an Orange amp, though the lead player also used a Marshall and is a long time Marshall aficionado.

Also, I forget who, but saw another country type band on TV using Orange amps and yesterday I walked through the family room while my wife was watching Pink perform on Ellen and lo and behold the guitarist was using an Orange Amp. So it seems Orange is coming on pretty strong in the market.

As to your points on used pedals undercutting boutique builders same as a knock off, I mostly agree, but at least with a used pedal the "brand" still will get press when the used buyer talks about how great a pedal it is on the interwebz.

That said, the presence of boutique pedals on the used market says to me, many folks don't find the juice worth the squeeze.

 

[IamGerald]

Is there really a huge market for Orange-based sounds, though?

May not be an apparent market, but its good that the option is available to try out. As a pedal nut, I'd much rather have more choice available as a player than less.

 

[copperheadroad]

Trade my tiny terror for it ....

 

[gibsonguitar1988]

I think when it comes to AIAB pedals, it's hard to go wrong with Wampler. Brian has a massive amp collection and will breadboard over and over and compare to the real deal and he nails it most of the time.

I'm really interested in his new Plexi-Drive Deluxe, but it's not something I 'need' right now. Maybe later.

The CataPulp sounds excellent but not my bag so to speak.