Wampler: Plexi Drive Deluxe

Two days ago, I tried this pedal; it's Wampler's Plexi-Drive Deluxe. It's a deluxe version by virtue of an added pre-gain feature that boosts the primary signals in addition to being an independent boost function. This means, you can activate the pre-gain function even if you have the primary channel in 'off' mode. The catch is, that solitary pre-gain button is wired exclusive to the primary/ post-gain channel so all the 4 knobs above it have no controls over the pre-gain feature. Once you activate the pre-gain button, you only have the pre-gain knob to deal with.

The good thing

This works very much like having a Tube Screamer or any other light-type overdrive hooked onto your primary drive/distortion source: Guitar into boost drive into main drive into amp. That's putting it crudely. If we connect our pedals this way, we know that our boost drive (ie. the pre-gain push) would have zero influence in terms of EQ once the main drive is activated because the main drive's 'more powerful' being would reduce the pre-amp's function to supplementary status. That's how the pre-gain feature in the Plex-Drive Deluxe works; it's job is to boost gain by virtue of saturation, everything else doesn't matter.

The not so good thing

Thank you Wampler for making it as simple as it is but for the price we are paying ($345), having some other controls manipulating the pre-amp feature would be splendid. This means, we can further sculpt our tone without having to add another pedal to the set up. Also, we know of many 2-pedal combinations which lies below the $345 mark. 

On hindsight, the manufacturer would want the Plexi-Drive Deluxe to work this way because this is the most accurate way to manifest the tone of an amp with a boost drive in the pre-gain stage. I prefer the PDD's overall tone with both features activated- saturated drive with lots of picking dynamics complement. If you are not a Marshall fan, all this might sound over-rated to you because you can get away with a similar tone using other pedals for less money. If you know what 'Wampler' has to offer, this one is a very convincing reproduction. 

 

Thanks to the good people at SV Guitars for the warm accommodations.