Wampler Terraform

The Wampler Terraform is a multi-modulation pedal from Wampler that puts 11 custom-designed modulation effects in one twin-footswitch chassis, alongside 8 presets, MIDI control, an assignable expression pedal input and advanced routing¹. Each of the 11 effect blocks was designed and realized in-house by Wampler, inspired by modern and vintage individual stomps¹. It sits in the now-established genre of one-box modulation machines like the Strymon Mobius, Boss MD-200 and Eventide H9².

The pedal is digital, running at a 48 kHz sampling rate with 24-bit audio and 56-bit processing³, but Wampler pitches it at players who want modulation without deep menus: "If you love high quality modulations yet prefer the analog feel of a pedal instead of banks, menus and hidden features, then you'll love this"¹. Gearnews noted there are no annoying sub-menus and the interface is easy to navigate⁴.

Eleven modulation effects in one pedal

A large rotary switch ringed by LEDs selects from the 11 effects⁶: Dimension, Chorus, Harmonic Tremolo, Tremolo, AutoSwell, Rotary, U-Vibe, Phaser, Flanger, Envelope Filter and AutoWah¹. Delicious Audio described Dimension as a special kind of chorus probably inspired by some Boss pedals, and noted Auto-Swell as a non-modulation effect in the lineup⁷.

Several blocks have documented circuit inspirations, which Premier Guitar detailed in its review⁶:

The U-Vibe block goes beyond its inspiration: the blend knob offers more shadings than the original's all-or-nothing toggle, and the variable knob provides alternate modulating waveforms not found on the original⁶. On the harmonic tremolo, blend and variable dials provide crossover frequency and bandwidth options, greatly expanding the effect's range⁶.

Controls

Each effect gets extensive tweakability through five knobs: Rate, Depth, Blend, Variable and Volume⁸. The roles of the blend and variable knobs differ from effect to effect⁶. There are two footswitches, Tap and Bypass; holding the tap tempo footswitch down for three seconds brings up Preset mode, where you scroll through and load presets⁵. Tap tempo controls the speed of certain aspects of the selected mode⁸.

Alongside the 8 user-storable presets, each effect has a default preset, which Wampler describes as allowing instant recall of a classic sound to tweak from¹. Presets can be recalled via MIDI, from the preset button or via the stomps¹. The expression pedal input is fully assignable: it can control any of the five controls, with settable heel and toe points determining how much of the sweep is available¹.

Stereo and pre/post routing

The Terraform can run in full stereo or mono, and its pre/post mode is its most unusual routing trick¹. Using the secondary stereo input and output jacks, a small switch on the top of the pedal splits it in two, placing different modulation effects before or after the preamp section³. In practice that means you can split the mono signal so some effects go before your overdrive pedals or amp gain, with the rest behind them or in the amp's effects loop¹. Gearnews gave a concrete example: Auto-wah in front of the amp and chorus in the effects loop⁴.

Connections are standard: inputs for Mono Left/Pre and Stereo Right/Post, with matching outputs, plus the expression and MIDI jacks⁵.

MIDI

The Terraform is fully MIDI mappable, so any of the 8 presets can be assigned to any incoming MIDI patch change, with a TRS MIDI input/thru via the "TRS A" jack only, using a single supplied converter¹. The default is omni mode, giving an instant response from MIDI inputs⁹.

To set a specific channel⁹:

1. Power off the Terraform, hold the preset switch, then power on and release the preset switch.
2. The preset LEDs display the current channel number in binary plus one: channel 1 shows 0 LEDs, channel 2 lights the rightmost LED, channel 3 the third LED, and so on.
3. Press the preset switch to cycle up the channels.
4. Hold the switch for 5 seconds when the desired channel is selected; this saves the channel and restarts the pedal.

Gearnews observed that the MIDI implementation looks limited in practice: only 8 onboard presets, not expandable via MIDI, apparently accepting only PC messages to change presets, with no CC control of parameters or bypass state⁴.

History and design

Wampler shared the first news of the Terraform at NAMM in January 2019⁷. In a Guitar.com interview around that time, Brian Wampler described a lineup that included a couple of different types of flanger, a Uni-Vibe, a couple of different types of tremolo and chorus, and a slow-gear type of effect, though he noted the feature set was still subject to change¹⁰. The finished pedal carries 11 effect blocks, each designed and realized in-house by Wampler and inspired by modern and vintage stomps¹.

The Terraform marked a step for a maker known for analog dirt boxes: Delicious Audio noted it took a digital, multi-mode approach similar to what companies like Strymon, Source Audio and Boss had been doing⁷. Gearnews framed it as a potential "Strymon Mobius killer"⁴. Its design approach carried forward into the Wampler Metaverse delay, which Premier Guitar described as following the Terraform's advanced, feature-packed design. Gearnews named the Terraform among its top six guitar effect pedals of 2019¹¹, and it placed 26th with 1 point in Delicious Audio's best pedals of 2020 poll¹¹⁷.

What reviewers said

Reviews were largely positive about the sounds. Pedal of the Day called it "one of the funnest, most riveting modulation pedals we've ever heard"⁸. Guitar World's reviewer described "a great selection of sounds, particularly the vibe," which that reviewer found to be uber-luscious¹².

Guitar World's Matt found the pedal had a great selection of sounds, and described the vibe in particular as uber-luscious¹².

Gearnews offered a more measured comparison, noting that the Terraform appears to be a simpler pedal with fewer parameters than the Strymon Mobius, sounds similar to it, and that its filter effects did not blow the commenter away⁴. Premier Guitar's reviewer highlighted the pedal's compact size, about that of three nano-sized pedals side by side, as part of its appeal².

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