GEAR SPOTLIGHT
WALRUS AUDIO
WARHORN
REVIEW BY DAVID A. EVANS
STREET PRICE $199.00
Walrus Audio’s new
Warhorn is an overdrive
for the mid-range. It
delivers the bluesy,
electric tones that
conjure up images of
long leather coats, well-
played Stratocasters,
and concho-lined, wide-
brimmed hats. At times, I
also thought I envisioned
a 1933, hot-rodded Ford
coupe and long, red
beards. Yet the tone was
the important thing, and
the Warhorn had plenty of
good tone to spare.
One of the keys to this
famous “Texas tone”
is an emphasis on mid-
range frequencies. I
won’t say that my playing
50
GEAR SPOTLIGHT //
approached Stevie
Ray Vaughn’s level of
virtuosity, but when I
clicked on the Warhorn
and heard its sweet mid-
range tones, I could have
sworn that I also heard
those Texas floodwaters
tumble through the
arroyo.
The Warhorn’s controls
are what one might
expect. Its no-nonsense
array of Level, Drive,
Bass, and Treble controls
are complemented by a
small toggle switch that
controls the compression
level. Flip up the toggle
for what Walrus calls
a symmetrical form of
clipping. Flip it down
Walrus Audio Warhorn
for a less compressed,
asymmetrical clipping
that’s both a little louder
and more dynamic.
I first tested the default,
12 o’clock position on
all the knobs with the
compression toggle set to
up (more compression). I
was pleased. The Warhorn
cut out the boominess
in my clean tone by
elevating the mids and
the highs to greater
prominence. Strumming
an E major chord in first
position gave a well-
defined, slightly distorted
tone. This was just the
right amount of color,
I believed, for making
some rhythmic strumming