One of the draws for the industry crowd at Winter NAMM is the appearance of many notable musicians. Sometimes they’re there to look around at the gear but most are there to perform and demo the latest gear (the things with their name on it), meet people, and sign autographs. This year Steve Morse played for Ernie Ball, George Lynch played for ESP, Greg Koch played for Fishman, and Mickey Mouse brought the whole darn Disney Marching Band for the opening ceremony. People lined up to get selfies with Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, and Corey Feldman. Yes, people lined up to meet Corey Feldman, the guy from The Goonies and Stand by Me. He’s in a band. Who knew?
Warm Audio, the leading manufacturer of faithful recreations of legendary recording gear and guitar pedals, today announces the release of two new pedals. Introducing the WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato, a faithful recreation of the most celebrated chorus in guitar pedal history with a 100% analog preamp and additional no-compromise features for exploring legendary modulated tones. Additionally, Warm Audio is releasing the Pedal76, an all-analog, transformer-balanced FET compressor pedal that accurately reproduces one of the fastest and most powerful studio compressors of all time known for ultra-responsive dynamic control with rich analog tone. The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato (MSRP $189 | 219 € inc.VAT | £189 inc. VAT) and Pedal76 (MSRP $269 | 299 € inc. VAT | £259 inc. VAT) are available at launch at authorized retailers worldwide.
“This launch is exciting and unique for us. We’ve applied the Warm Formula to deliver the OG ofbold chorus sounds and we’re thrilled to authentically bring that tone back to pedalboards. Additionally, we’re leveraging our 10-year expertise in 76-style studio compression to create a compressor pedal that not only delivers premium studio performance but is loaded with additional features & controls to make it a heavy-hitter in its own right,” said Bryce Young, founder & president of Warm Audio. “The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato not only brings back that iconic, lush chorus sound and rich, three-dimensional vibrato, but the high-quality preamp inside delivers pure, all-analog tone that just can’t be replicated by digital emulations.”
Young continues, “With Pedal76, we’re excited to bring the high-quality circuit and premium components of our WA76 studio compressor to pedalboards for controlling dynamics on stage without squashing character. With the added features and stage-friendly circuit, we’ve ensured that Pedal76 plays nice with both your rig and a live sound mixing board, while providing additional boost as needed. We’ve intentionally designed Pedal76 to be the ultimate all-analog compressor pedal for guitarists and bass players.”
WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato
The WA-C1 is built upon a true-to-original circuit design and a premium, 100% analog preamp that lives up to the demand for ultra-responsiveness on stage. Matched to the renowned original, the all-analog preamp features level control that adds bite, depth, and even some natural compression to guitar tones, even in bypass mode. The chorus setting features separate depth and rate controls to expand beyond the limitations of vintage units while preserving the legendary tone. These separate controls (vs. the vintage “intensity” control) allow for adjusting depth and rate independently to dial in more depth and slower rates for even richer chorus tones. Just like the vintage units, the WA-C1 delivers lush midrange depth and detail associated with proper Bucket Brigade Device analog chorus pedals and has a stereo output. When it’s time to add true wobble, the vibrato section of the WA-C1 is authentic to the original pedal delivering added speed and bounce to the tone. Leveraging a modern BBD chip recreation with other premium components and boutique build quality, the WA-C1 is carefully clocked to match the depth and rate of the original pedal to reproduce the detail expected from the most sought-after vintage pieces.
While maintaining true-to-original tones, the WA-C1 delivers some modern upgrades to the experience. The WA-C1 features a selectable impedance on the back panel to select between the vintage input impedance of 50k ohm and a 1.1M Hi-Z setting that allows players to compensate for higher impedance of guitars vs. keyboards and to add clarity to the high-end on guitars, if desired. This switch also works in bypass mode to maintain clarity. To deliver the appropriate voltage associated with the original, the WA-C1 is supported internally with a dualDC-DC voltage converter to deliver robust power when using a standard external 9V power supply. The WA-C1 adds a flashing LED for effect monitoring, showing which setting is engaged along with the rate of the modulation.
Introducing WA-C1 | Stereo Chorus & Vibrato Pedal With Depth & Rate Controls - YouTube
Pedal76
For over 10 years, Warm Audio has been building a premium, award-winning 76-style studio compressor, the WA76. With expertise in building this circuit and knowing what drives the sought-after tone of the most coveted dynamic control, Warm Audio now delivers truly professional, full-feature compression for the pedalboard. Pedal76 features a custom CineMagtransformer that is spec’d to duplicate the performance and tone of the studio units in a pedalboard-friendly format. Premium capacitors, resistors, and transistors round out a circuit that cuts no corners in delivering an authentic studio experience on stage. The added harmonic depth from the FET circuit and rich tone preservation from the custom transformer blend perfectly to recreate the ultimate compressor for guitar and bass players. Pedal76 features Attack & Release, Ratio, and Input controls, critical for taming unwanted changes in volume on stage. Pedal76 also has added features optimized for live performances including an external switch for true and buffered bypass operation, ensuring the compressor plays nice in your rig. Switches for input sensitivity, ground/lift, pad engagement and high/low gain modes (both for DI operation) provide added utility at gigs or in the studio. The separate balanced (DI) out also sends proper signal to the mixer or live recording rig, with the high gain mode adding grit and rich transformer tone.
For more information, please visit warmaudio.com.