Info about the original:
The Wampler Ecstacy uses a very simple control lay out but produces an incredible vasriety of tones that let your guitar do the talking thanks to transparency and awesome responsive gain that reacts just like a top end tube amp! Use the Ecstacy’s two band EQ (high and low), Smooth/Open/Crunch switch, gain and output volume settings to set the basic distortion tone that you’re after then use your guitar’s volume and tone controls to choose between full on grit (both on full) choppy crunch (volume halfway tone full), singing solos (volume full, tone backed off) or even cleaner tones (volume backed right off tone full) and so on. You can even control the pedals grit with your playing dynamics and pick attack, just like a top end tube amp that costs ten times the price of this magic little pedal from Wampler!
Here’s what Wampler say about the Ecstacy overdrive pedal
When Brian created the Ecstasy, he was working on creating a pedal that would go from clean tones to distorted tones while adding a bit of warmth. He wanted something for himself that would be dynamic, have a great sounding “gritty” tone to it yet be able to respond to the volume knob like a tube amp. Everything about Brian is in the dynamics of sound and if a pedal can’t work with him dynamically, then he just can’t use it. Out of this search, he developed the Ecstasy Drive.
The Ecstasy is his take on that elusive “dumble” tone and feel – smooth creaminess yet crunchy when you need it to be, yet the tonality is much more transparent than other “dumble sounding” pedals. Very responsive tone controls that interact with the pedal – they don’t just “color” the sound. The controls actually affect the response and feel of the pedal, just like a great tube amp.
If you love the sound of your clean tone, and just wish you could have more “hair” on the note… a little bit of grit without any change in tonality, the Ecstasy will do that with ease. PLUS it’s extremely flexible… with the toggle switch in the down position you’ll get a hint of fuzz along with the overdrive, it’s reminiscent of the tones that “Eric Johnson” may use. With the toggle in the up position the tonality is super smooth, creamy yet crunchy when you dig into the strings. This is reminiscent to the famous “dumble” tone, though it’s really much, much more than that. In the center position, the toggle will give you tons of crunch, or roll the gain back a bit and push the volume up and you have a superior clean boost with a 2 band EQ that’s extremely transparent, but variable so you can actually turn it into an awesome treble booster just by cranking up the treble and turning the bass down.
