Wampler Wong Compressor

The Wampler Wong Compressor, also sold as the Wampler Cory Wong Compressor, is a dual-function compressor and boost pedal from Wampler, designed in collaboration with guitarist Cory Wong and launched in April 2023¹. Two soft footswitches run the two halves independently: the left "Compress" switch operates the compressor, the right "Boost" switch controls the boost². What makes it stand out in Wampler's range is a balanced XLR output, a first for the company, which lets you plug the pedal straight into a computer interface, mixing desk or PA²¹.

Wampler positions it as a dynamic toolkit that shapes your tone with sparkling cleans and responsive compression, either direct to your amp or straight into a recording interface³.

A compressor, boost and DI in one pedal

The compressor side gives you Volume, Sustain, Attack and Blend knobs, plus Brian Wampler's signature Tone control¹. The Blend control is the one players coming from simpler compressors should notice: it mixes your uncompressed dry signal back in with the compressed one, so you keep some of your picking dynamics and, on bass, the low-end character. Attack sets how quickly the compression grabs the note, Sustain sets how much leveling you get, and Volume sets the output level of the compressor side itself.

The boost side is built on classic MDX Strat boost-style circuitry, the midrange-boost approach once favored by Eric Clapton¹. Because the two footswitches are independent, you can run compression alone, boost alone, or both together, which is the "dual functionality" Guitar World described at launch¹.

A single main LED tells you what state you are in. Gearnews reported that it changes color depending on which side is active: green for the compressor, blue for the boost, and purple for both effects together⁴. Delicious Audio described the both-active state as the LED turning rainbow white⁵.

The pedal comes in an aqua blue finish with white knobs and chrome detailing⁶.

Power and connections

The left hand side of the enclosure carries the XLR socket for going direct to a PA system or mixing board², along with a Ground Lift button to wrestle with unwanted ground noise¹. The ground lift breaks the ground connection between the pedal and the PA or desk, which is the usual fix for hum when two pieces of grounded gear are tied together through your signal chain.

The pedal uses a high quality op-amp buffered bypass², so your signal stays buffered even with both sides off. Wampler does not publish a battery option or a specific voltage or current draw for the Wong on its product page; the company's Ego Compressor, the circuit it is based on, uses a battery connection and a 9V power jack with top-mounted input and output jacks⁷.

Origins: the Ego Compressor and Cory Wong

The Wong Compressor grew out of Wampler's Ego Compressor, a five-knob compressor the company has offered for years⁴⁸³. Wampler says the EGO has been a big part of Cory Wong's signature tone for a long time, providing the light touch his rhythm playing needs³. Gearnews described the Wong at launch as looking like a tweaked version of the Ego⁴, and Guitar Pedal X later called it the "enhanced and evolved" successor in the company's compressor line, which runs from the Ross-inspired original EGO through the Wong to the Ego 76⁹.

Wong is a Grammy-nominated artist known for groove-heavy playing across genres, and Wampler built the pedal as his signature model². He described the design goal in the launch announcement:

The design work was done by Brian Wampler and Cory Wong together¹, and the pedal is built in the U.S.A.². It launched on 25 and 26 April 2023, priced at $270 in the US press coverage¹⁴ and EUR 299 MSRP in the European coverage⁴; the two figures are the same launch price stated in different currencies.

How it differs from the Ego Compressor

The Ego Compressor is a single-function compressor: five knobs, top-mounted jacks, battery or 9V power, no second footswitch and no XLR⁷. The Wong keeps that compressor circuit at its core but adds three things the Ego does not have:

• An independent boost side with its own footswitch, based on MDX Strat boost-style circuitry¹
• A balanced XLR output for going direct to a PA, mixer or interface, a Wampler first²¹
• A Ground Lift button for the XLR connection¹

For a player who only wants compression on a pedalboard into an amp, the Ego covers that job in a simpler box. The Wong is aimed at the player who also wants a boost on tap and the option to skip the amp entirely and go straight to the desk or interface⁸¹⁰¹.

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