Wampler Tumnus

The Wampler Tumnus is a mini-pedal overdrive built as a take on the Klon Centaur, the circuit MusicRadar's editors call "that iconic Klon tone" squeezed into "a tiny footprint"¹. Designed by Brian Wampler and made by Wampler, it carries the same three controls as the Klon, a worn gold enclosure like its inspiration, and a buffered signal path rather than true bypass¹². Guitar World's Paul Riario called it "a wonderfully inspired overdrive and welcome mini-pedal variation of the legendary and larger-than-life Klon Centaur" when it launched².

The pedal is named for Mr. Tumnus, the friendly faun from C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, a name that later caused the original artwork to be retired³. Wampler describes the Tumnus as having "withstood the test of time and held its own in countless pedal shootouts, often coming out on top even against the original Klon pedal"⁴.

What it does to your sound

The Tumnus works the way a Klon-style circuit works: as a stand-alone overdrive, a slightly dirty boost to push the front end of an amp, or a gain stacker in front of another drive pedal. MusicRadar's editors found "a subtle hint of compression, plenty of rich midrange, and that hallowed touch response that reacts to your pick attack," and their verdict listed it as "transparent as a boost," with "excellent touch response" and "fantastic sustain," while noting it "doesn't do high gain"¹. Delicious Audio described the V2's tone as "remarkably faithful to the original" in its mini format⁵.

On That Pedal Show, Mick and Dan found it particularly suits players at real-world volumes⁷:

That Pedal Show, Mick and Dan⁷

GuitarPlayer's Rob Laing named it "the one pedal that will never leave my board," running it always-on with the gain dialed down for its mid push, stacked with a Funny Little Boxes 1991 for heavy drive, and cleaning it up with the guitar's volume pot¹².

The controls: gain, level and treble

The Tumnus keeps the Klon's three-knob layout¹:

Guitar World's reviewer described the three controls for level, gain and treble as quick to dial in, and found the construction "bulletproof and reliable," like all Wampler pedals². Premier Guitar's reviewer noted the pedal occupies "a tiny AA box like the NUX Horseman, but it's even a bit smaller," with no battery compartment³.

Power and bypass

The Tumnus runs on a 9V DC power supply, and there is no room for a battery in the enclosure⁹³. It is not true bypass: the signal is buffered, the same approach the original Klon took². Sweetwater's Don Carr pointed to the buffered path in his demo, describing it as "buffered like the original"¹³. Players who want the option of true bypass can find it on the larger Tumnus Deluxe, which adds a side-mounted switch for choosing between the buffer and true bypass¹⁴.

Clipping diodes: silicon versus germanium

The standard Tumnus uses surface-mount silicon diodes rather than germanium, as Premier Guitar's reviewer noted³. The Klon is widely reported to have used germanium diodes, and the limited-edition Germanium Tumnus versions, beginning in December 2023, brought vintage-specification germanium clipping diodes into the circuit, which Wampler describes as giving "extra bite and sizzle"¹⁵¹⁶⁴. MusicRadar framed the Germanium Mini as answering the question of whether the germanium kind "reportedly used in the Klon" makes it better or just different¹⁷.

History and versions

Pete Thorn demoed the original Tumnus, calling it "a certain mythical overdrive circuit type pedal" and the smallest of this circuit type he had seen⁸. The Tumnus has since "held its own in countless pedal shootouts, often coming out on top even against the original Klon pedal," in the words of one reviewer⁴, and the family has since grown:

The graphic change

The original Tumnus artwork was retired in July 2019 after the estate of C.S. Lewis and the C.S. Lewis Foundation asked Brian Wampler to stop using the Tumnus graphic, and it was replaced by a clock-face style graphic¹⁵.

The Tumnus Deluxe

The Tumnus Deluxe is a full-size overdrive pedal in the Tumnus line, and where the mini keeps things simple, the Deluxe adds a high gain setting as well¹⁴. Guitar World lists the Germanium Tumnus Deluxe among its overdrive categories²⁴²⁵, and one reviewer described it as "indeed a pretty special overdrive"²⁵. The Spooky Tumnus Deluxe is a Halloween-themed version of the Tumnus Deluxe overdrive²⁰. For players who want the Tumnus circuit with more tweakability, the Deluxe line is where Wampler has expanded it¹⁴.

What reviewers said

Reviews of the Tumnus family have been consistent over a decade. Guitar World's 2016 review praised the build and the Klon-inspired circuit². MusicRadar's shoot-out against an actual Klon Centaur concluded the latest Klone "does itself proud"⁴. Guitar World's 2026 listing gives the Tumnus at $149, calling it a pedal that "delivers a similar sound as the original Klon for a lot less cash," working well "as a boost, gain stacker or standalone drive," and more compact than most klones¹¹. GuitarPlayer reported a Sweetwater Cyber Week price of $127.47, a 10% ($14.53) discount, in December 2025¹².

Pete Thorn's demo video walks through the circuit type and its size:

Click to load

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

News

Questions