Wampler Pantheon Deluxe

[D_Malone]

I’ve had a few Wampler dirt pedals over the years. None of them worked for me for various reasons. I bought the Pantheon Deluxe based on demos and reviews, fully prepared to be disappointed and put it up for sale after a few days of trying to dial it in.

I’m happy to say that, after putting it through its paces, I absolutely love this pedal.

There are a lot of great demos of this pedal on YouTube, so I won’t go into great detail, but I would like to point out a few things that don’t always come across in demos.

-The EQ controls are really powerful and useful. Rolling back the bass tightens things up without sounding thin or boxy. Turning up the treble makes it cut though without sounding harsh. The presence control is great for matching the pedal with different amps/guitars.

-The 3-position voicing switch is most noticeable at high volume. Soft clipping is more compressed, with more mids and softer attack. The middle setting is more open with slightly flatter mids and harder attack. The hard clipping setting is exactly what you’d expect. More percussive and dynamic, flatter mids, with a harder attack.

-Clean-up with the guitar volume exceeded my expectations. It cleans up beautifully. Retains the high end and does the jangly Hendrix thing.

-It feels great under the fingers. Has a bouncy, percussive feel. Surprisingly “amp-like”. Sorry for the cliché.

I’ll also add that the pedal looks and feels high-quality. The foot switches are soft-touch, and feel solid. The knobs could be aluminum, not sure, but they look and feel nice. Pots have nice resistance. Mini switches feel solid too.

And, before anyone asks, I’ve never owned or tried an Analogman KoT. There are comparisons on YouTube if you’re interested.

So, in my opinion, the Pantheon Deluxe is a surprisingly flexible, musical overdrive. I’m a happy camper.

 

[Big Twang Theory]

Cool man, great review! Pantheon deluxe is one I've been looking at while I'm on the wait list for the KoT. Have a KoT clone right now that's pretty good. One thing that a lot of Bluesbreaker variations seem to do is get darker if you have the gain anywhere below noon. Does the Pantheon do that or does it retain high end at lower gain?

 

[Whoa Tele]

Thanks for posting . I’ve been considering this pedal as well . I think I could get by with the Pantheon Deluxe and a delay pedal and have a streamlined board . I wish Wampler would make a Belle/Pantheon dual pedal as the Nobels and BB circuits are my two favorites

 

[-Hawk-]

The single Pantheon is a killer pedal. I’ve looked at this one quite a bit. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it!

 

[Killing Floor]

I love the plain ole regular Pantheon and have been thinking about the deluxe. Wampler makes great pedals. He understands how to use EQ beneficially without coloring too much.

 

[D_Malone]

Cool man, great review! Pantheon deluxe is one I've been looking at while I'm on the wait list for the KoT. Have a KoT clone right now that's pretty good. One thing that a lot of Bluesbreaker variations seem to do is get darker if you have the gain anywhere below noon. Does the Pantheon do that or does it retain high end at lower gain?

The Pantheon is a bit dark regardless of gain setting, in my experience. At home it's fine, but the more I use it with the band the more I'm considering letting it go. Turning up the treble past noon just seems to add harshness and doesn't really make it cut through any better. I think what it really lacks is upper mids. Boosting it with a Naga Viper helps.

It is definitely a fine pedal, just might not be right for me, maybe it just doesn't work well with my gear, I don't know.

As a low gain OD it's wonderful. Medium/high gain is too dark and compressed for my taste.