The Wonderful Audio Technology Ranges Preamp is a touch-sensitive overdrive and preamp pedal built around cascaded op-amp and JFET gain stages. It sits in the preamp pedal and overdrive territory, with a full three-band EQ and four two-way toggles that reshape its filters, gain and response. Guitar Pedal X reported it available for orders at $265 as of July 20251.
Controls and the four toggles
The pedal carries seven knobs and four two-way toggle switches. The knobs are Volume, Presence, Gain, Bass, Middle and Treble, giving the Ranges Preamp a full EQ section on top of its drive controls1.
| Toggle | Up position | Down position |
|---|---|---|
| Bright | Bright | Stock |
| Voice | Focused | Full-Range |
| More | 4 Gain Stages | 3 Gain Stages |
| Tight | Tight | Thick |
Together, the four toggles cover the pedal's filters, gain stages and response. The More toggle is the one that changes the circuit itself: in the up position it engages four gain stages, and in the down position it drops to three, which alters how much cascaded gain the signal passes through1.
Circuit and design
The Ranges Preamp uses cascaded op-amp and JFET gain stages, a topology that pairs an op-amp drive section with JFET stages, and Guitar Pedal X describes the result as touch-sensitive1. The enclosure comes in a blue colorway with white silver-top, Boss-style knobs1.
Guitar Pedal X counts the Ranges Preamp as the third WAT?! pedal to date, alongside the Ancient Echos Delay and the Fuzz Lands1.
What reviewers said
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson reviewed the pedal at its July 2025 release. On price, he wrote:
"where it goes for $265 - which I feel is a fair price for this circuit"1
Stefan Karlsson, Guitar Pedal X1
Demos and availability
At the time of the Guitar Pedal X review there were only a couple of demos of the pedal: one from Grahm Baker of Boring Gear Reviews, and one from Sasha Ivantic, whose video had encoding issues1. The pedal was available for orders from the WAT?! Webstore, priced at $2651.
Videos
ambienttrash
Sasha Ivantic
Buddy Blues
Questions
How much is the WAT Ranges Preamp?
Guitar Pedal X reported in July 2025 that the Ranges Preamp goes for $265 from the Wonderful Audio Technology webstore. The reviewer felt that was a fair price for the circuit, given the cascaded op-amp and JFET gain stages and the range of filtering and voicing options packed into the pedal.
What does the Voice toggle on the Ranges Preamp do?
The Voice toggle switches between a Focused setting in the up position and a Full-Range setting in the down position. It is one of four two-way toggles on the pedal, alongside Bright, More and Tight, which together cover the pedal's filters, gain stages and response.
What gain stages does the Ranges Preamp use?
The Ranges Preamp uses cascaded op-amp and JFET gain stages. The More toggle selects how many of those stages are in play: four gain stages in the up position, three in the down position, which changes how hard the pedal can push into overdrive.
Where can I buy the Wonderful Audio Technology Ranges Preamp?
As of July 2025, the Ranges Preamp was available for orders from the Wonderful Audio Technology (WAT?!) webstore, at a price of $265 according to Guitar Pedal X.
Sources (1)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2025-07-03