Chasing Tone - Guitar Podcast About Gear, Effects, Amps and Tone

Wampler Pedals

Welcome to the Chasing Tone Podcast! Join Brian Wampler, Blake Wyland, Richard Oliver, and a variety of special guests as they dive into the world of guitars, pedals, amps, and other guitar gear. From answering your burning questions to discussing bands, gigs, and the latest trends in the guitar world, we cover it all. Expect plenty of off-topic banter and a behind-the-scenes look at our work at Wampler Pedals. If you enjoy guitar podcasts that feel like hanging out with your musician friends, you'll love Chasing Tone.

  1. 2d ago

    643 - A good Vibrolux is hard to beat and Brian is quitting pedals...or is he?

    Brian, Blake, and Richard are back for episode 643 of Chasing Tone -  A good Vibrolux is hard to beat and Brian is quitting pedals...or is he? Brian is quitting pedals - again - after falling for his George Metropoulos-rebuilt Plexi, though Richard is ready to nail him into the workshop if it is required to advance the distillation of tiny tone boxes. Meanwhile, a forum thread accuses Wampler of going AI with the PedalHead so the guys set the record straight on what machine learning actually means in this context. What’s your ceiling price for an amp or guitar? A pricey, limited-edition Jimmy Page-inspired amp gets the guys talking about how much is too much. Blake explains why he’s been chasing a Vibrolux for years as prices keep climbing, and Richard is still hunting for a late-’80s Charvel. The guys pay tribute to Del Casher, the inventor of the wah pedal, and dig into how wahs actually work. Brian adds preamp tubes to PedalSpice and Richard weighs up a Strandberg to solve his one-guitar-for-the-band problem. The word cubular is used.  Internet-connected fridges, freeze-dried powdered mystery, a long-lost Rat and a JCM800, Fender’s F-hole Thinline, the Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul, and Walrus Audio’s Fundamental series - it’s all in this week’s Chasing Tone! We are on Patreon now too! Subscribe for an extra spicy episode each week! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Check out PedalSpice: pedalspice.com Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ Support the show The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  2. Nov 4

    642 - When did pedal companies sell out and is the modeling honeymoon over already?

    Brian and Richard are back for episode 642 of Chasing Tone - When did pedal companies sell out and is the modeling honeymoon over already? With Blake still on vacation, Brian and Richard take on a spicy Gear Page question - when did pedal companies sell out? The guys argue there’s a big difference between going corporate and selling out, and agree that nobody gets into pedals to get rich. JHS, Keeley, AnalogMan and Behringer’s budget pedal push all get pulled into the debate. Next up, are players falling out of love with modelers? A post about finally playing a real, cranked 5150 sparks a chat about the feel of tubes, whether the audience really cares, and why so many modern guitar tones sound the same. Meanwhile, Brian’s Marshall obsession deepens with a pricey history book packed with schematics. Wonderful, beautiful schematics... There’s plenty more too. Brian opens orders for the BB2 and BB3 breadboard stations at Wampler DIY and has bought a Keeley Tube Drive. Richard is down to his last Purple Ohm Fuzz, buys a magnifying nerd helmet, and lands in trouble with Mrs. Oliver over a very expensive truss rod cover. Billy Strings’ He-Man concert, a pedal-themed casino, the Boss Katana 25, Thalia capos, mismatched pickup volumes, Evertune bridges, a Mike Hermans demo, and the Mother Fuzzer - it’s all in this week’s Chasing Tone! We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Check out PedalSpice: pedalspice.com Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  3. Oct 29

    641 - A vintage Marshall steals Brian’s heart, Richard’s fuzz hits the big stage, and stop getting Wampler wrong!

    Brian and Richard are back for episode 641 of Chasing Tone - A vintage Marshall steals Brian’s heart, Richard’s fuzz hits the big stage, and stop getting Wampler wrong! Brian’s George Metropoulos-modded 1974 Marshall JMP has arrived, and he’s so smitten he’s threatening to quit the pedal business. Not really - but it has shaken him and he has consumed his body weight in hotdogs to cope. The guys wonder why battered, well-worn gear suddenly looks better than anything shiny and new, and Brian admits to a burning itch involving Marshall-style circuits. The Purple Ohm Fuzz did its thing on stage with the Boomtown Rats, right alongside a pair of Wampler pedals, and it has led to a new bucket list item. Meanwhile, Richard’s new DigiTech Drop, an out-of-tune “Basket Case,” and an under-rehearsed “Everlong” left him ready to hang up his guitar for good. There’s plenty more too. Brian picks up a Reverend Drivetrain and loads PedalSpice with a library of classic pedal schematics. The guys dig into vibe-coded games, Suno’s new tricks, and neural models built on Brian’s pedals. They also ask whether tonewoods really matter and why Fuzz Faces hog so much pedalboard space. Hot Dogs, Solar-powered Plexis, Magnetic flake paint, Nintendo cartridge pedals, Evertune bridges, Prototypes that never come home, and a black Turbo Tuner - it’s all in this week’s Chasing Tone! We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Check out PedalSpice: pedalspice.com Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ Support the show The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  4. Oct 21

    640 - A neon green tone machine, Brian gets a new amp, and Josh Scott sells pedals!

    Brian, Blake, and Richard are back for episode 640 of Chasing Tone - A neon green tone machine, Brian gets a new amp, and Josh Scott sells pedals! PRS has just released the Tekton range, and the guys can’t look away. There are Floyd Rose-equipped models, seven-stringed behemoths, silky satin necks and finishes that make Brian feel all warm and fuzzy. Richard explains how a Silver Sky SE, a Whammy pedal, and a capo became his one-guitar answer to his band’s endless tuning changes. The Purple Ohm Fuzz has landed with Brian and Blake, and Richard wants the honest verdict. Brian suggests the pipe-smoking guy on the box should smoke something different on every version. Meanwhile, PedalSpice moves to a buy-once, own-forever model, and somehow Revenge of the Mutant Camels is involved. There’s plenty more too. Richard has finished listening to his UFO audiobook and the stories blew his mind. Brian has a George Metropoulos-rebuilt Marshall JMP on the way. The guys also mark the closure of Steve’s Music in Toronto with the story of a Les Paul. Wedding Bells, Chicken in a can, Goats are strange, Richard’s 1986 diary, Glow-in-the-dark picks, the Chipmunks, and a mysterious 1967 offset - it’s all in this week’s Chasing Tone! Check out PedalSpice: pedalspice.com Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  5. Oct 14

    639 - Two dimensional pedals, UFO revelations, and Blake visits "the Secret Room"

    Brian, Blake, and Richard are back for Episode 639 of the Chasing Tone Podcast - Two dimensional pedals, UFO revelations, and Blake visits "the Secret Room" Richard is four chapters into a new book about UFOs written by a friend of the show and he’s hooked. Decades in the US military, the government’s UAP programs, Skinwalker Ranch and Project Blue Book all get a mention. Coincidentally, JHS has just dropped The Wanderer, a UFO-themed two-in-one pedal pairing Klon and Bluesbreaker-style circuits. Insert X-files riff here.   Blake takes us on a whistle-stop tour of Seattle’s independent guitar stores with his son riding shotgun. He is allowed into a magical place and takes a huge financial risk by juggling an expensive guitar or two in his beef-laden hands. Brian’s Way Huge pedal haul arrives but one of them got shipped by a music store in little more than a book mailer and he was lucky not to have mistaken it for a sandwich.  Richard’s confesses a teenage DS-2 obsession and Brian launches his 60-second circuit breakdowns for musicians rather than engineers. He also teases a PedalSpice feature that could bring old hand-drawn schematics back to life. Richard falls for new band Mary in the Junkyard, and Blake explains why most people don’t actually want 50s wiring in their guitar. Behringer’s mini Klon, a 10-string BC Rich, Russian doll pedal packaging, a black pudding drawing, hidden messages in schematics, the Amiga’s first virus, and fluted knobs that sound rude - it’s all in this week’s Chasing Tone! Check out PedalSpice: pedalspice.com We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ Support the show The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  6. Oct 7

    638 - Two is the magic number for dumbness, Brian has a Fat Sandwich, and drunk testing the PedalHead

    It's just the two of us this week as Brian and Richard hold the fort without Blake for episode 638 of Chasing Tone - Two is the magic number for dumbness, Brian has a Fat Sandwich, and drunk testing the PedalHead Brian lifts the lid on PedalSpice, the browser-based circuit simulator he's wanted to build for years. Slider-driven calculators spit out component values in seconds, saved circuit blocks drop straight into new designs, and neural amp models let you hear your circuit through a real amp before you've warmed up a soldering iron. Richard takes it for a spin, pitches a rival product called "Pedal Salt," and the guys get candid about building software with AI and why good results still take hard graft. And make your brain bleed. So. much. bleeding. Meanwhile, Richard has found a deeply suspicious internet list of the top 10 reasons to move to Indiana. Gas stations with gum, cities with friendly names like Gary, a state supposedly named after a dog - Brian sets the record straight. Then Brian confesses to a Reverb spree on Way Huge pedals and goes digging for the schematic of the discontinued Fat Sandwich live on air.  Richard invents the thermic distortion drive. Stu Mac teams up with Scotti Hill of Skid Row on a Rangemaster-style boost kit, prompting a live investigation into a mystery chip. Brian has been trying to destroy the new PedalHead.  Jim Unnay, Gibson's new Ghostburst, Keeley's new germanium pedal, YouTube drama fatigue, a candy parcel reduced to glittery dust, too many tunings - it's all in this week's Chasing Tone! Check out PedalSpice: pedalspice.com We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Check out Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  7. Sep 30

    637 - The worst time to start a pedal company, a Guitar Summit gear haul, and Fender cancels hum

    Brian, Blake, and Richard are back for Episode 637 of the Chasing Tone Podcast - The worst time to start a pedal company, a Guitar Summit gear haul, and Fender cancels hum Could you realistically start a pedal company and clear $50k in your first year? A Reddit thread and a 60 Cycle Hum livestream posed the question, and the guys have thoughts. Short version: this might be the worst possible moment to launch, but it doesn't matter if you love guitar gear. Speaking of falling in love with gear, Blake shows off a gorgeous player-worn 1965 Fender Mustang in Daphne Blue, and Richard gets genuinely misty-eyed over a 1992 Zoom 9002 ad that made him feel fifteen again. Then it's a proper Guitar Summit gear haul from Mannheim. Top of the pile is the Wampler Pedalhead, now tweaked and sounding mighty fine, alongside the upcoming Tone King Royce. The Boss EX-4 FX Expander gets the guys excited as a clever sidecar for small rigs - four effects at once, slow gear and slicer included - while the Two Notes Torpedo Captor X Pro is basically a Captor X thats been training with Arnie as it is pumped. There's also a jaw-dropping demo room that ping-pongs between sixteen heads and sixteen cabs at the flick of a switch - which Brian now needs in his life. Fender has announced it's "solved" single-coil hum with a secret metal plate under the pickguard - which, the guys note, looks an awful lot like a dummy coil that's been around for years (a humbucker plus twenty percent, as Blake puts it). Brian makes  a heartfelt pitch for a full retro mode on the Wampler website, complete with visitor counter and dancing baby Gifs. Knobless pedals, a skunk that smells like a Willie Nelson concert, missing out on both Google and Bitcoin, the BlackBerry movie, and Brian defending America's spelling one Reddit comment at a time...it's all in this week's Chasing Tone! We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Courses and DIY mods: https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com Check out Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

  8. Sep 23

    636 - Brian meets one of his guitar heroes, the YouTube drama llama, and a groundhog the size of a dog

    Brian, Blake, and Richard are back for Episode 636 of the Chasing Tone Podcast - Brian meets one of his guitar heroes, the YouTube drama llama, and a groundhog the size of a dog Never meet your heroes - unless you're Brian, who finally got to hang out with George Lynch this week. Even better, Brian handed George a Terraform to cover chorus duty, and George promptly threw it straight into his chain and out onto the stage before a gig, leaving Brian sweating bullets that his own duct-taped personal unit would pick that exact moment to misbehave. It didn't, the crowd loved it, and the guys land on a new mantra: distortion plus chorus equals glorious.  That opens up a wider chat about meeting your idols... Then Richard breaks out the drama llama. A guitar-YouTube storm has been brewing around negative reviews, clickbait, and undisclosed business interests, and it's snowballed into a whole situation. The guys pick it apart thoughtfully: whether building a brand on negativity is a slow-motion soul-crush, why you have to be upfront about the companies you're tied to once you're a public figure, and how algorithmic slop (Richard's phrase, and he's sticking to it) rewards exactly the wrong instincts. Blake offers the brand's-eye view - you pay a creator for their time, skills, and audience, never for a glowing review - and Richard, naturally, invents a website called Guitar Mafia to fix the whole thing. He's joking. Mostly. But definitely.  There's plenty more where that came from: PRS rolling out Land Rover Defender-inspired Silver Sky guitars, Guitar Summit season descending on Germany, a tiny new Vox AC mini amp begging to live in a camper van, and an Electro-Harmonix Echoflanger with Adrian Belew's name on it. There are also rumblings of new amps on the horizon that we can't say too much about just yet... Tiny Terraform typefaces, groundhog day, skunk squatting, Shatner of puppets, a Tesla driver busted for shredding, and the great A-Team van color debate...it's all in this week's Chasing Tone! We are on Patreon now too! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/chasingtonepodcast) Courses and DIY mods: https://www.bluesguitarmethod.com https://www.betterguitartone.com https://www.wamplerdiy.com https://www.guitarpedalcourse.com Check out Oliver Effects: https://oliverfx.co.uk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chasingtonepodcast Find us at: https://www.wamplerpedals.com/ https://www.instagram.com/WamplerPedals/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/wamplerfanpage/ The Starter | Music, Memory & the Songs We KeepYou hear a song, and a memory opens up. Personal audio essays by Stephen Hollowell.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Support the show

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About

Welcome to the Chasing Tone Podcast! Join Brian Wampler, Blake Wyland, Richard Oliver, and a variety of special guests as they dive into the world of guitars, pedals, amps, and other guitar gear. From answering your burning questions to discussing bands, gigs, and the latest trends in the guitar world, we cover it all. Expect plenty of off-topic banter and a behind-the-scenes look at our work at Wampler Pedals. If you enjoy guitar podcasts that feel like hanging out with your musician friends, you'll love Chasing Tone.

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