Wampler Paisley Drive Deluxe

The Wampler Paisley Drive Deluxe, also listed by Wampler as the Paisley Deluxe and nicknamed "PaisleyDog" by Brad Paisley himself¹, is a dual overdrive pedal that puts two of Brad Paisley's favorite Wampler circuits in one enclosure: the Paisley Drive, his original signature pedal, and the long-discontinued Underdog²³. Wampler built it as "the ultimate Brad Paisley pedal," combining what the maker calls Brad's two favorite Wampler tones³.

Both channels are individually selectable and stackable, so a player can use either tone on its own or run one into the other for what Wampler describes as more harmonically rich drives³⁴. Brad Paisley himself uses it that way: in a Sweetwater demo he explained that he uses the Underdog side for the heavier stuff, the Paisley Drive side on its own, and both together⁴.

A Paisley Drive and an Underdog in one pedal

The pedal's two sides come from different points in Wampler's history. Channel 1 replicates the Underdog overdrive, a pedal Wampler had long since discontinued, while Channel 2 carries the same versatile, amp-like drive circuit as the Paisley Drive⁵. Delicious Audio described the pairing as giving a player "access to the Underdog's Nobels-like grit right alongside Brad's signature tone"⁵.

The two channels are voiced differently and controlled differently, which is the practical difference between them⁵⁸⁴:

The controls

Channel 1, the Underdog side, carries a full 3-band active EQ from Wampler², with bass, middle and treble controls plus level and gain, and the fat switch on the side⁶¹. That Fat switch "adds a gain boost as well as an EQ curve change," according to MusicPlayers.com's review⁸.

Channel 2 is a refined Paisley Drive with just Level, Gain and Tone controls⁸. The review notes it is basically the Paisley Drive minus that pedal's Presence and EQ Shape toggles, though the Deluxe adds a Voicing button; Gearnews describes this as a side voicing switch for mid-scoop and elevation⁸¹. The original Paisley Drive keeps its Presence and Mid Contour switches, along with Volume, Gain and Tone controls and top-mounted jacks⁹¹⁰.

For comparison, the standalone Paisley Drive lists at $219.97⁹, forty dollars less than the Deluxe¹.

Routing: 2>1, Separate or 1>2

A three-position toggle between the two channels selects the routing: 2>1, Separate, or 1>2⁸⁵. Each channel has its own input and output jack, labeled C1 and C2, with the channel inputs on the right side of the pedal and the output jacks on the left⁸⁵.

• 1>2: with both channels on, the guitar feeds channel 1 first, then channel 2. The guitar cable goes to the C1 input and the output cable to the C2 output⁵.
• 2>1: with both channels on, the guitar feeds channel 2 first, then channel 1. The guitar cable goes to the C2 input and the output cable to the C1 output⁵.
• Separate: the pedal works as two individual pedals, each using its own input and output jack⁵.

Wampler highlights that Separate mode lets each side run as an individual pedal, which the maker calls a good fit for pedal switcher-based rigs². Stacking in either order is the other half of the design: the toggle decides which drive feeds which, so a player can put the grit in front of the amp-like drive or the other way around³⁵.

History: Brad Paisley and the return of the Underdog

Wampler's relationship with Brad Paisley goes back to before the Paisley Drive existed. Paisley spent a few years using Wampler's Ego, Underdog and Faux AnalogEcho pedals before the signature Paisley Drive was built⁹. The Paisley Drive launched in 2010 with an introductory price of $179.97 for the first week¹⁰.

The Underdog itself was discontinued, and the Paisley Drive Deluxe brought its circuit back, this time as Channel 1 of a dual pedal⁴⁵. Paisley collaborated with Brian Wampler on the Deluxe as a signature pedal⁸, and the pedal earned its nickname along the way: Gearnews reported that "Brad Paisley calls it 'PaisleyDog'"¹. MusicRadar announced the pedal in November 2017 as available then at $259.97⁷.

What reviewers said

MusicPlayers.com reviewed the Paisley Deluxe in October 2018 and gave it an overall rating of 3.1 stars, praising among other things its relay-style switching and solid metal construction⁸. In the Sweetwater demo, Mitch Gallagher and Brad Paisley worked through both channels and the stacked settings, with Gallagher observing that there is not a lot of fizz even with gain coming out of them, that they are pretty tight and pretty thick, and that the pedal feels like a naturally overdriven amp; Paisley noted it suits the low end and gain character of bright British-style amps such as his Dr. Z⁴.

On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick covered the pedal's switching and control layout, noting the true bypass or buffered option and the bass, middle and treble controls with level and gain on the Underdog side⁶.

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