Leviathan Fuzz

Rumbling out of the gritty depths, the Wampler Leviathan is a fuzz monster more akin to a hydra for all the sounds possible with the pedal. Featuring a toggleswitch for Germanium and Silicon fuzz tones, the Leviathan is a perfect choice for stoner rock, doom metal, and shoegaze.

From the rumble of the deep to the primal roar, Leviathan brings together the goals of having a focused, cutting tone while still providing massive but controllable fuzz and distortion. If this is your rst fuzz, the control setup should help you in exploring uncharted waters... but be careful, here there be dragons...To get the most out of your new pedal, you'll want to become very familiar with the controls. The Leviathan features controls for Gain, Volume, Treble and Bass, as well as a Rumble/Roar switch which changes the internal gain structure between silicon and germanium diodes (profound effect on the sound – I'll explain shortly!). Flexibility is a key feature, as usual, and the controls on the Leviathan are intentionally very interactive, so experimentation will go far. As with all Wampler Pedals products, the Leviathan includes a high-quality true-bypass switch which takes it out of the signal path when bypassed. Experiment and enjoy...

Bypass Switch – A true-bypass footswitch ensures solid, mechanical removal of the circuit when it isn't wanted, meaning you don't lose any tone when the pedal is off.

Volume – This control adjusts the output level of the Leviathan. There's plenty of volume on tap in either Rumble or Roar mode, so whether you want to go farther than your input level or just make sure it can do unity volume (the same level of signal going out as you feed it, when active), you're covered. The Gain, Treble and Bass knobs, and the Rumble/Roar Toggle all have an impact on total output volume level, so you're probably better off waiting to adjust the Volume until you've dialed in the other controls. Re-adjustment might be necessary if you get it to the desired level and still need to tweak the sound.

Gain – This control, in conjunction with the Rumble/Roar Toggle, lets you dial in anything from a smooth fuzz with overtones of drive all the way to screaming, blasting high-gain fuzz monstrosity. The Gain is strongly interactive with the Rumble/Roar toggle, because that switch totally changes how the signal is fed to the fuzz engine of the pedal! You'll want to experiment between the two modes to get a feel for how they work. Also make note of the change in gain behavior at extremes of the EQ controls. With the Bass knob cranked up, you can get a buzz-saw ferocity to the low frequencies that's just a total blast to play. Set the Gain knob lower for classic fuzz sounds. This pedal will do nearly any of them, and more.

Treble – This adjusts the frequency emphasis on the highs. It interacts substantially with the Bass knob. Start with the Treble at Noon and adjust from there to your preference. Roar mode has more inherent "projection" of the treble frequencies, so adjust accordingly when dialing in your sound. Rumble mode is darker, and may benet from raising the Treble to ensure effective cut-through when playing chords and especially single-note runs.

Bass – This adjusts the frequency emphasis on the lows. It interacts substantially with the Treble knob. Useful for dialing in more thunder and punch, but past a certain point it rolls over into a ailing fury of fuzzy low-frequency ferocity. Again, experimentation is key here, because the interaction with the Treble and Rumble/Roar Toggles are huge.Rumble/Roar

Toggle Switch – This switch allows you to easily shift between the SI and GE gain modes of the Leviathan. Roar is louder and more "raw" sounding, easily capable of transforming (with judicious adjustment of the other controls) from classic sounds reminiscent of the old, famous Tonebender fuzz to more modern, hard-edged, raspy fuzzes. Max the Bass out on Roar mode and it turns into something different yet again. Rumble mode has lower total volume output, but has a more powerfully rened voicing, with tonal control usually reserved for distortion pedals. Make no mistake, Rumble is heavy... But Roar can get there, too.