Wampler Dracarys

Is it worth trying to cram the metal might of a
100W head into a pedal? We think so, and so do these...
105
A
mptweaker is the brainchild of James
Brown, the lead engineer on the Peavey
5150. With that heritage, you might be
forgiven for having high expectations – and
Amptweaker delivers. Compared with the
original TightMetal, the Jr has a much better
noise gate, lower noise fl oor and additional EQ
options that allow it to take on some of the
tonality of its FatMetal pedal. Convincing chug
and powerful arpeggiated chords are easy to
fi nd with a Les Paul and a Jazzmaster. With
the ‘tight’ switch engaged, the pedal will even
‘djent’. With a seven-string in hand, you can
smash out Tesseract without a mushy bass.
T
hough it’s a divisive pedal, we’ve always
been fans of the Metal Zone. With a
powerful EQ section and a wide sweep on
the gain control, it’s easy to dial in punchy
sounds that cut through a band mix. Shooting
out standard mode on the Waza version with
our original MT-2, we found the newer pedal a
bit thinner with the same settings; it requires
tweaking to get the ‘bark’ we’re used to, and
it’s quieter than the original, too. Switching to
the new Custom mode is another story. It’s
full, throaty and easy to control at the bass
end, though we still found the EMGs on our
seven-string oversaturated it.
Amptweaker
TightMetal Jr
NOT THAT JAMES BROWN
Boss
MT-2W Waza
GET IN THE ZONE
BYPASS:
True bypass
POWER:
9V DC centre-negative
CONTACT:
Wampler: First Line Distribution
wamplerpedals.com
Fender: Fender EMEA
fender.com
Amptweaker: Sounds Great Music
soundsgreatmusic.com
Boss MT-2W: Roland UK
roland.com
AT A GLANCE
£149
£131
ROUND-UP
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
JANUARY 2019 TOTAL GUITAR
Is it worth trying to cram the metal might of a
TGR314.gear_pedals.indd 105 06/12/2018 17:51