Not to take anything away from the Wampler, but that Blue Note has such a wonderful sound, still really clean and articulate even when driving it hard... lovely stuff
Great video. I love how you explored the settings on both pedals. The Blue Note was the winner for me. I loved being able to hear the clarity of the notes even when using higher gain. Thank you again..Great job!
Just ordered the blue note a day before I saw your video and was driving myself crazy hoping I made the right choice. Based on your great video, I definitely made the right choice. Beautiful guitar!! Love those P 90’s
Wamplers always seem to have an artificial compressed sounding "fizzyness" layered over a clean sound. The blue note sounds a more realistic overdrive.
I love the smoothness of the Blue Note and how transparent it can be. The Ecstasy is a bit too rough for me. To me the Blue Note remains the golden nugget of pedals.
This Blue Note Continues to Impress Me. It is Really a Nice Open-Sounding Pedal, with great individual string retention. It's not-at-all Fuzzy. Great Demo Brett ( as always / from you ). Your videos Help alot. - Michael Caz - NYC -
To my ear, the Blue Note offers something pretty unique, a very mild overdrive that can be always on and just give a little extra edge. The Ecstasy sounds like a standard overdrive/distortion. Lots of gain and fuzz which is fine if that's what you want.
Hi Brett, I've opened up the Ecstasy and checked the circuit. It's basically a modified Tube Screamer design, with different clipping options, and post gain additive Bass control. At a guess, the Blue Note could well be another very similar design with just way less overall distortion/gain adjustment, without post gain Bass control. For those who say the B.N. is a smoother sounding pedal, I say just try adjusting the Ecstasy Gain Pot up to
***** The blue note initially was designed by Brian Wampler. In spite of having similar circuit structure, the Blue note is a very low gain drive unlike the ecstasy. If you match their clipping and gain values they might sound similar (smooth mode on the Ecstasy and normal mode on the Blue note I think). I would say it would be easier find a resemblance with the gain pots all the way down as the ecstasy gain pot has 10 times more gain
Strange settings on the Ecstasy. Even Wampler says to start with the bass at 0 and dial it in until it sounds warm. Setting the knobs at noon makes very little sense for comparison sake IMHO. All that bass is making the Ecstasy sound gainy and fizzy while the Blue Note is Clear and Transparent. Drop the bass and put the pedal in open mode and you'll have a better comparison.
Yep, I agree with all of that. Subtlety is the key with the Ecstasy. It has a severe amount of tonal versatility and needs to be explored with that in mind. Fabulous pedal.
The mic is a Violet Design "The Amethyst Standard" I place it dead centre on the V30, about 3-4 inches away. It feeds an AVID Mbox 3 Pro and I track with Pro Tools LE in a Mac i7 iMac. The ProTools master output has a Wave L316 limiter of it to keep levels in check. Cheers and thanks for your support. BK.
Hi Brett yes the clipping stages and compression on the wampler sound edgy with more grit at most settings it really did sound less transparent and condensed compared to the Blue Note. Both pedals sound great are they similar if played with single coils or does the Blue note have smoother attack when the gain is increased.
Great demo, great playing Brett. I've had the pleasure of owning both of these pedals with me choosing the Ecstasy(Euphoria). The output of the Blue Note didn't cut it for me as well as the low gain output. The Euphoria on the other hand, with the right settings dialed in gave me great tones in all three modes. The Blue Note is a well made pedal, just not powerful enough to make an impact for me. The Ecstasy is a God-send for my Fender Deluxe 410's clean channel.
The Blue Note is on my board in a low gain setting, and it's always on. Makes everything in the chain behind it sound better, maybe except my mad professor little green wonder. Can't imagine playing without it.
For me... 4 knobs, clipping switch and on/off switch - that's where the similarities end. Sound like totally different gain circuits - both great, and as usual, super vid from ya Brett!!!
Wow ... the Blue Note is so much smoother then the Wampler Ecstasy, I'm kinda shocked ... Good demo as usual my friend ... thank you Seems like the BP Wampler would be more in line with the Blue Note in comparison ... Ya think maybe?
I couldn't agree more. It was simply a thing said in passing that I decided to publicly explore when I had some spare time. I like both pedals but they sure are different. As for disguising tone, that's what many effects boxes are designed for - to give you tonal versatility. Transparency with dirt is one thing, frequency focus, grain and dirt are another. There is plenty of room for both in my arsenal.
Thanks a million, Brett. I own Ecstasy/Euphoria and am considering replacing it with Blue Note for more transparent and bluesy OD. At this point my choice is between Blue Note and Sick As. I want to put mild OD in front of Black 65 (that gives me my clean tone) - that would be capable of covering both Kenny Burrell and BB King territory on different settings. Perhaps you could demo Sick As and Blue Note side by side?
I'm prolly biased here as I own the Blue Note. Love Wampler pedals but the BN does a lot- it's really a "thickening" agent for anemic single coils and and beautiful light OD for buckers. This vid really showed the pedals being pushed but I run mine a lot on slight break up and also as a stacking pedal with a germanium boost. Also, the Blue Note is build like a tank.
The Blue note is the superior pedal. Totally natural sounding with a loose feel and it distorts in a very nice way...on the other hand the stiffness of the Wampler (once again) makes me remember (but not reminisce) the good old days when I was 16 (24 years ago) and all I could afford were the cheaply made boss pedals...this is what the response of the Wampler sounds like to me, a Metalizer in a low gain setting. once again Wampler VS Rocket 0:1
Hi George, how strange, I immediately preferred the Ecstasy as it's more nasal signature seemed to me a great 'punch through the mix' tone for leads and melodies......I guess that's what's make the world a wonderful place, and jeeps pedal makers in business '!!!!!
Each to their own Ben. If the Wampler is the pedal you like, this is the one for you to buy. I was just talking from experience and based upon how the pedal responds, not just what you hear...btw the nasal "quality" doesn't cut through anything. Mid mids make a guitar disappear in the mix, this is why mahogany type (PRS style) guitars tend to get a bit lost in the mix in a gig situations and swamp ash kind of guitars really do cut through the mix due to their tight low end and bright character. Anyway, as I said each to their own
Hey Georgios. Wow I have to say I totally disagree with pretty much everything you stated, in a totally respectful way, after 20 years of gigging and recording I find mid are the true voice of the guitar, and ( tone wood fallacies aside ) have found swamp ash guitars ( through pick up composition and construction) to be a bit washy and indistinct in a band situation compared to PRS/Gibson style instruments. HOWEVER... They say the tone is in the fingers and my fingers work best on a gibbo/prs guitar. I prefer that sound so I think I hear it better'. What type of guitar do you play? I am sure it's no surprise that I play a PRS and a Les Paul lol. But differences are what make the world go round.
ok Ben, I didn't want it to come to this as It's a veeeery long chat but here we go. I'm the managing director of Zivory Custom Guitars (a small custom shop in London U.K). I dedicated 5 years of my life to testing unconventional "tone-wood" v the cheap firewood all the big companies have been using for over 5 decades now. In total I've tested over 320 species in all combinations and with all the hand-wired pickup you can imagine. If you want a more in detail chat it will have to take place either through email or through our FB profile which is very easy to find. I've mentioned Swamp Ash a this is the sort of wood people can relate to as all most people know are 4-7 species more or less. We've discovered a vast number of other wood species that are far superior to all of the commercially used ones. If you would like just visit our website, look through what superior tone-wood is...also read up on the different characters of non conventional tone-wood species and if you have any further questions just friend request us on FB or send us a direct email. All the best, George
I think so too. Blue note is shockingly beautiful and smooth, but too bad we don't hear it much at more "aggressive" settings to see if it's capable of rockier tones (apparently yes).
I just bought the Blue Note ... LOVE THIS PEDAL !!! I tried the Ecstasy and I own the Ego from Wampler, but the Blue Note is SOOO transparent and clean, to me the Ecstasy was too dirty and had some fuzz ... not what I was looking for. Both are great companies and excellent pedals.
Hi! I've an ecstazy , and there is a position called "open" beetween "smooth" and "crunch" position, and this is my favorite, specially for low gain... I play with an old tele, and i don't want a pedal to hurt my tone, this one is my favorite overdrive pedal cause my guitar is my guitar with it! big sound very dynamic, my others are tchula and Cot 50 by lovepedal, tim by cochran, klon, all are great pedals, but my favorite is the ecstazy. thanx brett for yours videos, thats cool for use to make an idea . sorry for my bad english... cordialement
I have the Ecstasy and you should really think of the tone stack as zero, being not affected. As you turn the EQ-controls up into the higher registers you get that kind of fizzyness, but if you keep them below 'noon' you get some beautiful sounds. I rarley that the 'bass' control higher than 9 o' clock! The smooth-setting sounds best and more like the Blue Tone in the lower registers aswell. The range on its knobs is mind blowing!
I use both of them to boost a slightly overdriven amp for solos. Ecstasy ("open" mode) has lots of dynamics and bite and is extremely transparent and "jangly" when you roll back the guitar volume. The texture of Blue Note is a little rougher with more growl. Like a TS it pronouces the mids a little and makes the guitar cut through. That's why i prefer it on stage. Both are VERY versatile pedals, Ecstasy more "american", Blue Note more "British" to my ears.
I just recently tried a Wampler Euphoria, MP Sweet Honey, and the Rockett Blue Note. Wasn't even aware of the Blue Note when I walked into the guitar shop, the fellow there made me try it. There was no comparison. The Wampler sounded like a better quality distortion pedal than most, the Sweet Honey sounded like a Supro, and the Blue Note got put on my "Must Buy ASAP" list. The BN is the best pedal I've tried in years. Try one. Amazing feel, response, and sophistication. Great pedal.
ok, here's the deal. The Ecstasy can run extremely transparent as well! Brett isn't setting it to be so. On the ecstasy, unlike other pedals, when the tone and the bass control is ALL the way down, or as far left as you can turn them, you are at your guitar and amps sound. As in you aren't adding any bass or treble to it. so setting the bass control all the way down to the left is how you have to run it if you want it to sound super transparent. Also setting the 3 toggle switch in the middle to open, gives you a more transparent boost setting. Then just add gain or volume from there. I run the wampler ecstasy on all the time on my pedal board as a really transparent grit to my clean sound with those settings. boom! try it out. With the 3 way toggle switch pushed up on SMOOTH with the EQ settings this way, you get a very smooth slightly hairy (with the gain at 12 o clock or less) transparent dumble / two rock-ish awesome clean sound!
I understand tonal versatility but, in my opinion, not at the expense of diminishing the tone of an instrument. A good high gain pedal should still be very transparent and bring out the tone of your guitar. I've heard plenty that are and that's probably the one thing I really like about J. Rockett Audio pedals. Do a comparison between the Wampler Ecstasy and the Rockett Ten Ton Hammer for a realistic comparison as the TTH has that versatility for a distortion type pedal.
Wampler got more Gain and compression. Would have been interesting to try lower Gain settings on the Wampler... I love the transparent low gain mode on the Blue Note (2:20) and I doubt that the Wampler can do this. Guess the Wampler is designed for more compressed high gain sounds. Basic sound (without pedals) is already very nice in this vid. Guitar, amp and player!
Thanks Brett. GFS is better known for their pickups, but some of their inexpensive pedals are quite good too. I have the Bluesdrive and the Black Hammer and really like both. Unfortunately it's not likely Jay would send any out for review. I also have a semi-hollow Strat-style guitar with dual P-90s from them that I love ($230 delivered in a hardshell case). I have no affiliation with them; I just like the value of their products so far.
Hi. I know very well both circuits and definitely are not the same. They're not clone each other. So the "all buttoms at noon" doesn't work for a comparison. The ecstasy has four times more gain than Blue note. BUT, in "open position" and a quarter of drive (perhaps less) you can achieve the Blue Note sound without many tweakings. I think, when we have two diferents effects for comparison, we must look for similarities and not for differences witch, of course, must exist.
I like both pedals a lot, but I LOVE that guitar! Great video (as always) Brett. Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried any of the GFS pedals from guitarfetish?
Those two pedals are ships passing in the night when it comes to making them sound similar. The Wampler (owned it/sold it) - way more saturated. The Blue Note (buying it) - more open, articulated and jangley. No disrespect to Brian. He makes some outstanding pedals but the Blue Note eats the Ecstasy for dinner.
The two pedals are different animals. And I like the Blue Note better - which surprises me because I own the Ecstasy and I thought it would win. Now I have something to add to my wish list.
I think Brett could have gotten a tone much closer to the Blue Note's if the Ecstasy was set on the "Open" setting and the gain was at about 9 o'clock. I love my Ecstasy and I think it's so versatile in that it can give you that open, organic sound that you're talking about but it can also give you an almost distortion-like sound.
Great pedals, I'd love to have both, but since there's limited room on my board and budget, I'd have to go with the Wampler. It can be as light and clear as the Blue Note, which is how I run overdrive most of the time, but it can also be beefier or ballsier when you want, and at no extra cost. Just seems like a better value. But again, they're both really nice pedals.
Having once owned the Ecstasy, my recollection is that it sounded way less "buzzy" with single coils. Clearly different pedals, really liked the Blue note best here.
i think that the Ecstasy could get closer to the BlueNote when in "open" mode and starting with the bass boost off (which, to me, come usefull just in "crunch" mode to find some muff-like tone)
They're certainly different. The Blue Note is a mild overdrive perhaps better suited to Blues or modern jazz players, while Ecstasy works miracles with a Marshall or a Mesa - and humbuckers.
Don't care for the wampler. It's sounds great, but more modern. Not to my taste. It suffers from the sleepies...can't dial out the zzzzzzzzzzz. A lot of pedals suffer this affliction. That's why I sold my dual fusion, and many other ODs. The blue note, while a completely different sound, sounds nice to my ears. And I likes me some med-high gain.
Blue tone, natural cranked amp sounding, and really transparent pedal. Ecstasy, more compressed, kinda like when you lower a gain on some high gain "pedal". So to me, there is no way that you can get Blue Tone in Ecstasy. You might get same amount of gain in it, but it won't sound as natural and transparent as Blue Tone.
The Blue note is seems to be more transparent BUT you didn't use the Ecstasy in open mode! They've both got great tone no mistake, assuming in the open mode you can get the Ecstasy to sound more transparent it's the more versatile of the two...But yes you're correct you could use both of em on the same board!
I think you would have more luck comparing the Rook and the Ecstasy. I think that the BN and Ecstasy are both opamp based drive pedals with totally different tone stacks. Bass control is different on the Ecstasy for sure.
personally, I think you need to set your 7 stringer on 'Metal' and run it thru the Ecstasy. just my 2 pence. I do like the Blue Note. I think it would absolutely rock with a blues song.
Burgs, why didn't you use Open mode on the Ecstasy? I find Crunch useless -- way too gainy. Like you, I think these pedals have very little in common. I have both on my board. Cheers.
I had an Ecstasy,,,,very complicated to obtain a great sound, Don´t like,,,I sold and continue with my old TS9,,simple and glorious,,,,But now I´m looking for the Blue Note,,,Seems to me, closer to the TS9 and more versatile,,,will see
Slightly frustrated waiting for Brett to try the "open" setting on the Ecstasy, which is where it really shines. I have both pedals on my board, bought the Ecstasy a while back then tried the Rockett at GC and was immediately sold thanks to its beautiful clarity and warmth while maintaining the tonal character of the unprocessed signal. (I keep the switch down, the "hot" setting boosts the mids too much for my taste.) The Ecstasy in the "open" setting is a whole different animal than in either "smooth" or "crunch", neither of which I find useful. Plus, I BARELY add bass, it gets thick and muddy quickly, really gotta keep the bass low, treble maybe 10 o'clock, no need for much more. Gain maybe 10 o'clock also, not pushing it hard, then volume about noon or a little higher as desired to get a little boost over bypass level. GREAT "country hot" sound to my ear, as close as I've gotten to something resembling Paisley. (Except then I get to embarrass myself trying to find a glimpse of his actual playing...too late for me!) Bear in mind, I start my chain with the Wampler Ego Compressor, by far the best comp I've ever owned. (Sold my Keeley 4-knob, retired my Philosopher's Tone, neither can touch the Ego.) It stays on always. So that is feeding all drive pedals. But damn, the Ego feeding the Ecstasy plus a little 160ms slapback ain't a bad picnic! As for the Rockett, I push the drive pretty high, maybe 3 o'clock, treble and bass at noon, maybe back the bass off a hair, and it's a really nice amp-like drive, subtle, no TS mid honk which I can't stand. (Maybe I never owned the right Tube Screamer? Just can't deal with the loss of bass and the mid hump, not to mention the muddied high end.) The Rockett is great for moderate-gain solo stuff without abandoning my basic tone. Just for reference, my high-gain sounds come from two other pedals, a Weehbo Plexdrive dual pedal (clean boost AFTER lead channel) and an MXR Modified OD which I almost gave up on but have somehow come to love. Can't get a better Marshall-sounding pedal than the Weehbo that I know of, it smoked the Wampler Plextortion which had to go bye-bye. The MXR is a thick, rich OD that needs to be massaged but it's fun once you get it dialed in. Whoops, got carried away here. Upshot: don't waste the Ecstasy on high-gain stuff, it's a GREAT slightly boosted transparent drive pedal that is really natural. And the Blue Note DOES sound, well, "bluesy", i.e. like a good tube amp cranked. See ya!
What the hell have you done to the ectasy to make it sound like this? I own it and its nowhere near as fizzy and gainy, its beautiful through my hughes and kettner
AHH!!! So many pedals and such little time!! After attending several 12 step meetings for musicians with G.A.S. I am happy to say I've been free of pedal buying for several....oh wait, except for today I had a Barber LTD SR delivered(No kidding). I like the Blue Note better...doesn't sound like a pedal to my ears, very natural overdrive which I AM NOT going to get!!! Peace.
The Blue Note is NOT 'more transparent' than the Wampler. Had Brett been doing a transparency comparison, he'd of put the Wampler in the "open" position and it would have won. That's what the open position is for, transparency. The Euphoria/Ecstasy is an extremely versatile OD.
I called my sponser....The Bastartd was at GC trying out Lovepedal's, it was bad.He was eventually kicked out of the store for salivating over all of the pedals and making some sort of whimpering type sound.So I just stayed in all day playing my newest aquisition...a Barber LTD SR/very interesting cool pedal!It's staying on my board. Peace.
I just bought the Ecstasy (=Euphoria) and have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I can get a lot of tones from it, some of which are good but still struggle to get a tone that I would actually use. The Blue Note sounds much better to my ears.
Blue Note does feel more natural and true to the original tone, The Ecstasy sounds more aggressive and also more versatile, maybe. In the end it feels like a tie to me.
Yeah, the guitar's a killer. I'm lucky to have it. GFS? No, I haven't tried any of their gear but if they want to shoot some over I'll be glad to demo it. Cheers, B.
Your friend must be deaf. Also the Blue note is not a Tube Screamer and according to J Rockett is not based on a Tube screamer. I replaced my Tube Screamer with the Blue Note. I do think the BN is similar to a Hermida Tiki Drive.
I sent them a message asking whether they would consider sending pedals for you to review. I'll contact you if they surprise me with a positive response.
These two are nothing alike. I owned the Euphoria for a few days and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. The Blue Note sounds much more natural and much better. The Euphoria/Ecstasy has an unnatural "fizzy" breakup to it and there was no way to get rid of all that bass!
+Larry Lachmann Agreed. Some people just don't have the ears to discern certain things when it comes to the tone and character of a wide variety of subjects pertaining to gear...from amps, tubes, speakers, pedals, cabling, buffers, true bypass, pickups, even strings...some people just hear the same thing no matter what variables you change.
That is absolutely not a good pedal comparison if the settings have to be completely different! To me, the Blue Note is far superior for what it is which is extremely organic, open, and transparent. The Wampler pedal sounds more like a distortion pedal on higher gain settings, very raspy! Why would someone want a pedal that completely disguises the tone of the guitar and this is what the Wampler pedal does?
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Not to take anything away from the Wampler, but that Blue Note has such a wonderful sound, still really clean and articulate even when driving it hard... lovely stuff
Great video. I love how you explored the settings on both pedals. The Blue Note was the winner for me. I loved being able to hear the clarity of the notes even when using higher gain. Thank you again..Great job!
Just ordered the blue note a day before I saw your video and was driving myself crazy hoping I made the right choice. Based on your great video, I definitely made the right choice. Beautiful guitar!! Love those P 90’s
Wamplers always seem to have an artificial compressed sounding "fizzyness" layered over a clean sound. The blue note sounds a more realistic overdrive.
I love the smoothness of the Blue Note and how transparent it can be. The Ecstasy is a bit too rough for me. To me the Blue Note remains the golden nugget of pedals.
This Blue Note Continues to Impress Me. It is Really a Nice Open-Sounding Pedal, with great individual string retention. It's not-at-all Fuzzy. Great Demo Brett ( as always / from you ). Your videos Help alot. - Michael Caz - NYC -
To my ear, the Blue Note offers something pretty unique, a very mild overdrive that can be always on and just give a little extra edge. The Ecstasy sounds like a standard overdrive/distortion. Lots of gain and fuzz which is fine if that's what you want.
Hi Brett, I've opened up the Ecstasy and checked the circuit. It's basically a modified Tube Screamer design, with different clipping options, and post gain additive Bass control. At a guess, the Blue Note could well be another very similar design with just way less overall distortion/gain adjustment, without post gain Bass control. For those who say the B.N. is a smoother sounding pedal, I say just try adjusting the Ecstasy Gain Pot up to
The Blue Note over the top with Smoothness, loving it! The Ecstasy is a completely different gain structure altogether, very RAW loving it as well!
***** The blue note initially was designed by Brian Wampler. In spite of having similar circuit structure, the Blue note is a very low gain drive unlike the ecstasy. If you match their clipping and gain values they might sound similar (smooth mode on the Ecstasy and normal mode on the Blue note I think). I would say it would be easier find a resemblance with the gain pots all the way down as the ecstasy gain pot has 10 times more gain
Clean tone is great. Blue Note sounds better to me just my opinion.
The Blue Note sounded much better to my ears.
Strange settings on the Ecstasy. Even Wampler says to start with the bass at 0 and dial it in until it sounds warm. Setting the knobs at noon makes very little sense for comparison sake IMHO. All that bass is making the Ecstasy sound gainy and fizzy while the Blue Note is Clear and Transparent. Drop the bass and put the pedal in open mode and you'll have a better comparison.
Yep, I agree with all of that. Subtlety is the key with the Ecstasy. It has a severe amount of tonal versatility and needs to be explored with that in mind. Fabulous pedal.
I like the Organic feel of the Blue Note, It seems to leave the natural guitar signal intact. Very Impressive, me like ie!
The mic is a Violet Design "The Amethyst Standard" I place it dead centre on the V30, about 3-4 inches away. It feeds an AVID Mbox 3 Pro and I track with Pro Tools LE in a Mac i7 iMac. The ProTools master output has a Wave L316 limiter of it to keep levels in check. Cheers and thanks for your support. BK.
Hi Brett yes the clipping stages and compression on the wampler sound edgy with more grit at most settings it really did sound less transparent and condensed compared to the Blue Note. Both pedals sound great are they similar if played with single coils or does the Blue note have smoother attack when the gain is increased.
Great demo, great playing Brett. I've had the pleasure of owning both of these pedals with me choosing the Ecstasy(Euphoria). The output of the Blue Note didn't cut it for me as well as the low gain output. The Euphoria on the other hand, with the right settings dialed in gave me great tones in all three modes. The Blue Note is a well made pedal, just not powerful enough to make an impact for me. The Ecstasy is a God-send for my Fender Deluxe 410's clean channel.
The Blue Note is on my board in a low gain setting, and it's always on. Makes everything in the chain behind it sound better, maybe except my mad professor little green wonder. Can't imagine playing without it.
For me... 4 knobs, clipping switch and on/off switch - that's where the similarities end. Sound like totally different gain circuits - both great, and as usual, super vid from ya Brett!!!
It's actually really interesting that you thought to compare these two for a couple of reasons.
Wow ... the Blue Note is so much smoother then the Wampler Ecstasy, I'm kinda shocked ...
Good demo as usual my friend ... thank you
Seems like the BP Wampler would be more in line with the Blue Note in comparison ...
Ya think maybe?
I couldn't agree more. It was simply a thing said in passing that I decided to publicly explore when I had some spare time. I like both pedals but they sure are different. As for disguising tone, that's what many effects boxes are designed for - to give you tonal versatility. Transparency with dirt is one thing, frequency focus, grain and dirt are another. There is plenty of room for both in my arsenal.
Thanks a million, Brett. I own Ecstasy/Euphoria and am considering replacing it with Blue Note for more transparent and bluesy OD.
At this point my choice is between Blue Note and Sick As. I want to put mild OD in front of Black 65 (that gives me my clean tone) - that would be capable of covering both Kenny Burrell and BB King territory on different settings. Perhaps you could demo Sick As and Blue Note side by side?
Wow, I'm very impressed by the blue note!
I'm prolly biased here as I own the Blue Note. Love Wampler pedals but the BN does a lot- it's really a "thickening" agent for anemic single coils and and beautiful light OD for buckers. This vid really showed the pedals being pushed but I run mine a lot on slight break up and also as a stacking pedal with a germanium boost. Also, the Blue Note is build like a tank.
The Blue note is the superior pedal. Totally natural sounding with a loose feel and it distorts in a very nice way...on the other hand the stiffness of the Wampler (once again) makes me remember (but not reminisce) the good old days when I was 16 (24 years ago) and all I could afford were the cheaply made boss pedals...this is what the response of the Wampler sounds like to me, a Metalizer in a low gain setting. once again Wampler VS Rocket 0:1
Hi George, how strange, I immediately preferred the Ecstasy as it's more nasal signature seemed to me a great 'punch through the mix' tone for leads and melodies......I guess that's what's make the world a wonderful place, and jeeps pedal makers in business '!!!!!
Georgios sorry.....auto correct fail.
Each to their own Ben. If the Wampler is the pedal you like, this is the one for you to buy. I was just talking from experience and based upon how the pedal responds, not just what you hear...btw the nasal "quality" doesn't cut through anything. Mid mids make a guitar disappear in the mix, this is why mahogany type (PRS style) guitars tend to get a bit lost in the mix in a gig situations and swamp ash kind of guitars really do cut through the mix due to their tight low end and bright character. Anyway, as I said each to their own
Hey Georgios. Wow I have to say I totally disagree with pretty much everything you stated, in a totally respectful way, after 20 years of gigging and recording I find mid are the true voice of the guitar, and ( tone wood fallacies aside ) have found swamp ash guitars ( through pick up composition and construction) to be a bit washy and indistinct in a band situation compared to PRS/Gibson style instruments. HOWEVER... They say the tone is in the fingers and my fingers work best on a gibbo/prs guitar. I prefer that sound so I think I hear it better'. What type of guitar do you play? I am sure it's no surprise that I play a PRS and a Les Paul lol.
But differences are what make the world go round.
ok Ben, I didn't want it to come to this as It's a veeeery long chat but here we go. I'm the managing director of Zivory Custom Guitars (a small custom shop in London U.K). I dedicated 5 years of my life to testing unconventional "tone-wood" v the cheap firewood all the big companies have been using for over 5 decades now. In total I've tested over 320 species in all combinations and with all the hand-wired pickup you can imagine. If you want a more in detail chat it will have to take place either through email or through our FB profile which is very easy to find. I've mentioned Swamp Ash a this is the sort of wood people can relate to as all most people know are 4-7 species more or less. We've discovered a vast number of other wood species that are far superior to all of the commercially used ones. If you would like just visit our website, look through what superior tone-wood is...also read up on the different characters of non conventional tone-wood species and if you have any further questions just friend request us on FB or send us a direct email. All the best, George
I think so too. Blue note is shockingly beautiful and smooth, but too bad we don't hear it much at more "aggressive" settings to see if it's capable of rockier tones (apparently yes).
I use the Blue Note quite a bit and my other pedals are getting dusty since I bought it. Sounds great with Toaster pickups into a Vox.AC15
I just bought the Blue Note ... LOVE THIS PEDAL !!! I tried the Ecstasy and I own the Ego from Wampler, but the Blue Note is SOOO transparent and clean, to me the Ecstasy was too dirty and had some fuzz ... not what I was looking for. Both are great companies and excellent pedals.
Hi! I've an ecstazy , and there is a position called "open" beetween "smooth" and "crunch" position, and this is my favorite, specially for low gain... I play with an old tele, and i don't want a pedal to hurt my tone, this one is my favorite overdrive pedal cause my guitar is my guitar with it! big sound very dynamic, my others are tchula and Cot 50 by lovepedal, tim by cochran, klon, all are great pedals, but my favorite is the ecstazy. thanx brett for yours videos, thats cool for use to make an idea . sorry for my bad english... cordialement
I have the Ecstasy and you should really think of the tone stack as zero, being not affected. As you turn the EQ-controls up into the higher registers you get that kind of fizzyness, but if you keep them below 'noon' you get some beautiful sounds. I rarley that the 'bass' control higher than 9 o' clock! The smooth-setting sounds best and more like the Blue Tone in the lower registers aswell. The range on its knobs is mind blowing!
Love the Blue Note for it sounds like Clean and Overderive at the same time on Noon setting
I use both of them to boost a slightly overdriven amp for solos.
Ecstasy ("open" mode) has lots of dynamics and bite and is extremely transparent and "jangly" when you roll back the guitar volume.
The texture of Blue Note is a little rougher with more growl. Like a TS it pronouces the mids a little and makes the guitar cut through. That's why i prefer it on stage.
Both are VERY versatile pedals, Ecstasy more "american", Blue Note more "British" to my ears.
Well done Brett .. thanks very much!!
I just recently tried a Wampler Euphoria, MP Sweet Honey, and the Rockett Blue Note. Wasn't even aware of the Blue Note when I walked into the guitar shop, the fellow there made me try it. There was no comparison. The Wampler sounded like a better quality distortion pedal than most, the Sweet Honey sounded like a Supro, and the Blue Note got put on my "Must Buy ASAP" list. The BN is the best pedal I've tried in years. Try one. Amazing feel, response, and sophistication. Great pedal.
ok, here's the deal. The Ecstasy can run extremely transparent as well! Brett isn't setting it to be so. On the ecstasy, unlike other pedals, when the tone and the bass control is ALL the way down, or as far left as you can turn them, you are at your guitar and amps sound. As in you aren't adding any bass or treble to it. so setting the bass control all the way down to the left is how you have to run it if you want it to sound super transparent. Also setting the 3 toggle switch in the middle to open, gives you a more transparent boost setting. Then just add gain or volume from there. I run the wampler ecstasy on all the time on my pedal board as a really transparent grit to my clean sound with those settings. boom! try it out. With the 3 way toggle switch pushed up on SMOOTH with the EQ settings this way, you get a very smooth slightly hairy (with the gain at 12 o clock or less) transparent dumble / two rock-ish awesome clean sound!
Yes absolutely agree
I understand tonal versatility but, in my opinion, not at the expense of diminishing the tone of an instrument. A good high gain pedal should still be very transparent and bring out the tone of your guitar. I've heard plenty that are and that's probably the one thing I really like about J. Rockett Audio pedals. Do a comparison between the Wampler Ecstasy and the Rockett Ten Ton Hammer for a realistic comparison as the TTH has that versatility for a distortion type pedal.
The blue note seems to have more real world applications and could be used fully.
The ecstasy is harsh to my ears in comparison.
Thanks for uploading.
I hear you. Sounds like they're on to a good thing. Cheers, B.
i don't think they sound too much alike but they both do sound great and i will have the 2 of them on my board soon.
Wampler got more Gain and compression. Would have been interesting to try lower Gain settings on the Wampler...
I love the transparent low gain mode on the Blue Note (2:20) and I doubt that the Wampler can do this.
Guess the Wampler is designed for more compressed high gain sounds.
Basic sound (without pedals) is already very nice in this vid. Guitar, amp and player!
Is it possible that Wampler had something to do with the BlueNote? He did with the JRockett Plexi Drive.
Thanks Brett. GFS is better known for their pickups, but some of their inexpensive pedals are quite good too. I have the Bluesdrive and the Black Hammer and really like both. Unfortunately it's not likely Jay would send any out for review. I also have a semi-hollow Strat-style guitar with dual P-90s from them that I love ($230 delivered in a hardshell case). I have no affiliation with them; I just like the value of their products so far.
Hi. I know very well both circuits and definitely are not the same. They're not clone each other. So the "all buttoms at noon" doesn't work for a comparison. The ecstasy has four times more gain than Blue note. BUT, in "open position" and a quarter of drive (perhaps less) you can achieve the Blue Note sound without many tweakings.
I think, when we have two diferents effects for comparison, we must look for similarities and not for differences witch, of course, must exist.
I like both pedals a lot, but I LOVE that guitar! Great video (as always) Brett. Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried any of the GFS pedals from guitarfetish?
Those two pedals are ships passing in the night when it comes to making them sound similar. The Wampler (owned it/sold it) - way more saturated. The Blue Note (buying it) - more open, articulated and jangley. No disrespect to Brian. He makes some outstanding pedals but the Blue Note eats the Ecstasy for dinner.
DrProgNerd he designed both pedals btw. He did the blue note and others while comissioned by J Rocket.
The two pedals are different animals. And I like the Blue Note better - which surprises me because I own the Ecstasy and I thought it would win. Now I have something to add to my wish list.
I think Brett could have gotten a tone much closer to the Blue Note's if the Ecstasy was set on the "Open" setting and the gain was at about 9 o'clock. I love my Ecstasy and I think it's so versatile in that it can give you that open, organic sound that you're talking about but it can also give you an almost distortion-like sound.
Great pedals, I'd love to have both, but since there's limited room on my board and budget, I'd have to go with the Wampler. It can be as light and clear as the Blue Note, which is how I run overdrive most of the time, but it can also be beefier or ballsier when you want, and at no extra cost. Just seems like a better value. But again, they're both really nice pedals.
Thanks Burgs, now I'm positive I want both!
I think the Paisley Drive would be closer to the Blue Note than the Ecstasy/Euphoria since they are both lower gain pedals and the E/E is higher gain.
Having once owned the Ecstasy, my recollection is that it sounded way less "buzzy" with single coils. Clearly different pedals, really liked the Blue note best here.
i think that the Ecstasy could get closer to the BlueNote when in "open" mode and starting with the bass boost off (which, to me, come usefull just in "crunch" mode to find some muff-like tone)
I honestly hear no similarities.
me neither
They're certainly different. The Blue Note is a mild overdrive perhaps better suited to Blues or modern jazz players, while Ecstasy works miracles with a Marshall or a Mesa - and humbuckers.
How are you mic(ing) your amp? what mic, mic placement??
Sounds great. Huge fan of yours
I own and like both. I don't hear them as being the same but similar of course.
Don't care for the wampler. It's sounds great, but more modern. Not to my taste. It suffers from the sleepies...can't dial out the zzzzzzzzzzz. A lot of pedals suffer this affliction. That's why I sold my dual fusion, and many other ODs. The blue note, while a completely different sound, sounds nice to my ears. And I likes me some med-high gain.
Blue tone, natural cranked amp sounding, and really transparent pedal. Ecstasy, more compressed, kinda like when you lower a gain on some high gain "pedal". So to me, there is no way that you can get Blue Tone in Ecstasy. You might get same amount of gain in it, but it won't sound as natural and transparent as Blue Tone.
I completely agree with DJ Shuffle
The Blue note is seems to be more transparent BUT you didn't use the Ecstasy in open mode! They've both got great tone no mistake, assuming in the open mode you can get the Ecstasy to sound more transparent it's the more versatile of the two...But yes you're correct you could use both of em on the same board!
I've never looked at one but I was under the impression that the Blue Note had a pre-clipping Bass control much like another well known OD boost.
I think you would have more luck comparing the Rook and the Ecstasy. I think that the BN and Ecstasy are both opamp based drive pedals with totally different tone stacks. Bass control is different on the Ecstasy for sure.
Definitely different, but I like both of 'em.
I personally like the Blue Note better, thanks for the video.
personally, I think you need to set your 7 stringer on 'Metal' and run it thru the Ecstasy. just my 2 pence. I do like the Blue Note. I think it would absolutely rock with a blues song.
Burgs, why didn't you use Open mode on the Ecstasy? I find Crunch useless -- way too gainy. Like you, I think these pedals have very little in common. I have both on my board. Cheers.
I had an Ecstasy,,,,very complicated to obtain a great sound, Don´t like,,,I sold and continue with my old TS9,,simple and glorious,,,,But now I´m looking for the Blue Note,,,Seems to me, closer to the TS9 and more versatile,,,will see
blue note of course, much more natural!
the blue is transparent and smooth, the W is too much gain for me
Bingo Burgs,different pedals.good demo!
Slightly frustrated waiting for Brett to try the "open" setting on the Ecstasy, which is where it really shines. I have both pedals on my board, bought the Ecstasy a while back then tried the Rockett at GC and was immediately sold thanks to its beautiful clarity and warmth while maintaining the tonal character of the unprocessed signal. (I keep the switch down, the "hot" setting boosts the mids too much for my taste.) The Ecstasy in the "open" setting is a whole different animal than in either "smooth" or "crunch", neither of which I find useful. Plus, I BARELY add bass, it gets thick and muddy quickly, really gotta keep the bass low, treble maybe 10 o'clock, no need for much more. Gain maybe 10 o'clock also, not pushing it hard, then volume about noon or a little higher as desired to get a little boost over bypass level. GREAT "country hot" sound to my ear, as close as I've gotten to something resembling Paisley. (Except then I get to embarrass myself trying to find a glimpse of his actual playing...too late for me!) Bear in mind, I start my chain with the Wampler Ego Compressor, by far the best comp I've ever owned. (Sold my Keeley 4-knob, retired my Philosopher's Tone, neither can touch the Ego.) It stays on always. So that is feeding all drive pedals. But damn, the Ego feeding the Ecstasy plus a little 160ms slapback ain't a bad picnic! As for the Rockett, I push the drive pretty high, maybe 3 o'clock, treble and bass at noon, maybe back the bass off a hair, and it's a really nice amp-like drive, subtle, no TS mid honk which I can't stand. (Maybe I never owned the right Tube Screamer? Just can't deal with the loss of bass and the mid hump, not to mention the muddied high end.) The Rockett is great for moderate-gain solo stuff without abandoning my basic tone. Just for reference, my high-gain sounds come from two other pedals, a Weehbo Plexdrive dual pedal (clean boost AFTER lead channel) and an MXR Modified OD which I almost gave up on but have somehow come to love. Can't get a better Marshall-sounding pedal than the Weehbo that I know of, it smoked the Wampler Plextortion which had to go bye-bye. The MXR is a thick, rich OD that needs to be massaged but it's fun once you get it dialed in. Whoops, got carried away here. Upshot: don't waste the Ecstasy on high-gain stuff, it's a GREAT slightly boosted transparent drive pedal that is really natural. And the Blue Note DOES sound, well, "bluesy", i.e. like a good tube amp cranked. See ya!
What the hell have you done to the ectasy to make it sound like this? I own it and its nowhere near as fizzy and gainy, its beautiful through my hughes and kettner
AHH!!! So many pedals and such little time!! After attending several 12 step meetings for musicians with G.A.S. I am happy to say I've been free of pedal buying for several....oh wait, except for today I had a Barber LTD SR delivered(No kidding).
I like the Blue Note better...doesn't sound like a pedal to my ears, very natural overdrive which I AM NOT going to get!!!
Peace.
The Blue Note is NOT 'more transparent' than the Wampler. Had Brett been doing a transparency comparison, he'd of put the Wampler in the "open" position and it would have won. That's what the open position is for, transparency. The Euphoria/Ecstasy is an extremely versatile OD.
I called my sponser....The Bastartd was at GC trying out Lovepedal's, it was bad.He was eventually kicked out of the store for salivating over all of the pedals and making some sort of whimpering type sound.So I just stayed in all day playing my newest aquisition...a Barber LTD SR/very interesting cool pedal!It's staying on my board.
Peace.
I just bought the Ecstasy (=Euphoria) and have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I can get a lot of tones from it, some of which are good but still struggle to get a tone that I would actually use. The Blue Note sounds much better to my ears.
Blue Note does feel more natural and true to the original tone, The Ecstasy sounds more aggressive and also more versatile, maybe. In the end it feels like a tie to me.
Yeah, the guitar's a killer. I'm lucky to have it. GFS? No, I haven't tried any of their gear but if they want to shoot some over I'll be glad to demo it. Cheers, B.
The ecstacy clearly has more gain at identical settings
Your friend must be deaf. Also the Blue note is not a Tube Screamer and according to J Rockett is not based on a Tube screamer. I replaced my Tube Screamer with the Blue Note. I do think the BN is similar to a Hermida Tiki Drive.
Love the Bluenote. John Scofield replaced his rat with a Bluenote on his current tour
I sent them a message asking whether they would consider sending pedals for you to review. I'll contact you if they surprise me with a positive response.
That's not a bass "tone" knob on the ecstasy. Of course it sounds hairer at noon that's what it's SUPPOSED to do
Without a doubt different
These two are nothing alike. I owned the Euphoria for a few days and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. The Blue Note sounds much more natural and much better. The Euphoria/Ecstasy has an unnatural "fizzy" breakup to it and there was no way to get rid of all that bass!
Comparison is not even close! The Wampler has way too much gain! Just like nearly all Wampler ODs
Burgs, your friend needs an ear doctor!! (lol No offense!!) They're not even close really.
+Larry Lachmann That's what I reckon too.
+Larry Lachmann Agreed. Some people just don't have the ears to discern certain things when it comes to the tone and character of a wide variety of subjects pertaining to gear...from amps, tubes, speakers, pedals, cabling, buffers, true bypass, pickups, even strings...some people just hear the same thing no matter what variables you change.
its very different . . . wampler is more hard really is heard that . .
I enjoy your demos but to me these pedals sound nothing alike. Two different applications.
Put the bass on euphoria in more than even 1 notch it's unusable fuzz territory. You needed to turn it to pretty much zero to even gauge it's sounds
That is absolutely not a good pedal comparison if the settings have to be completely different! To me, the Blue Note is far superior for what it is which is extremely organic, open, and transparent. The Wampler pedal sounds more like a distortion pedal on higher gain settings, very raspy! Why would someone want a pedal that completely disguises the tone of the guitar and this is what the Wampler pedal does?
The ecstasy is too damn harsh to me.
These pedals sound harsch bleh,Big Joe Empire is the one!
definitely different, the ecstasy is much more nasty !
Not the same at all.