“A brand-new fuzz experience”: Why Wampler thinks its Swiss army Cryptid fuzz pedal is a “classic in the making”

Wampler has released an all-new, all-in-one Cryptid fuzz pedal which it says is destined to become “a classic in the making”.

While pondering the question of “What makes the perfect fuzz?” Brian Wampler – the ever-inventive pedal mastermind behind the brand – felt that too many of the market’s current offerings only focus on one aspect of what the effect can do.

But, by promising everything from “classic warm fuzz tones to glitchy, gnarly, gated madness, and even smooth overdrive-like sounds”, Wampler reckons the Cryptid Fuzz can do it all. Of course, there’s no shortage of top tier fuzz boxes out there, but the prospect of an ultra-versatile pedal from a maker as revered as Wampler is no bad thing.

The Cryptid Fuzz, then, is “not just another rehash of classic circuits”. Instead, it offers a unique circuit blending transistors, FETs, and an op-amp stage “designed from the ground up to provide a brand-new fuzz experience”.

The result is “a highly versatile, all-in-one tool designed for players who demand more from dirt and fuzz pedals”.

Yet, despite its scrumptious scope, its controls are fairly minimal, meaning you won’t need a degree in rocket science to get this thing to do what you need it to.

The Volume, Fuzz, and Tone dials are pretty self-explanatory, but the Character (Bias) control is on hand to regularly redefine the pedal’s fuzziness. Dialing it back offers a smoother, distortion-like fuzz with a warm sustain, while cranking it offers “grated, Velcro, glitchy chaos”.

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The pedal’s controls are completed by Chime and Tight mini switches. Chime adds three levels of harmonic sparkle to the effect while doing its best to refrain from super-harsh tonal territories. Tight, meanwhile, brings a trio of low-end response levels. These help players cut back on thicker, heavier tonalities for something far sharper and punchier that cuts through the mix like a hot knife through butter.

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“I’ve always felt something was missing from fuzz pedals,” Wampler says of the thinking that spawned the Cryptid. “I tried to get there with the Velvet Fuzz over 10 years ago, but I knew I could go further. The Cryptid Fuzz is the culmination of everything I’ve ever wanted in a fuzz pedal.”

And so, inspired by the vintage fuzz pedals used by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, the pedal can clean up and respond dynamically to a player rolling down the volume. Its quartet of dials can also be implemented to turn it into a viable overdrive pedal for adding a little more dirt to rhythm tones or boosts for solos.

(Image credit: Wampler)The Wampler Cryptid fuzz pedal is available now and costs $199.97.

Slide over to Wampler to learn more.

This time last year, Wampler was unveiling its Ego 76 pedal, which crams the essence of a legendary studio compressor into a pedalboard-ready unit.