Here is a review of some wahs that I have been toying with the last few months. I have been on a personal wah mission to find the perfect wah for me.
Some wahs I considered but ended up not trying:
MDS EQ-2 – sure it looks shiny and probably sounds great, but $375 is an ass-load of money for a wah.
Fulltone Clyde Deluxe – Probably would have bought it if I could have found a deal on a used one or if one of the wahs below didn’t work for me.
Teese RMC3 – gets great reviews, but the price (both the RMC3 and the fulltone are $270) and the months long wait period eliminated this from the shootout.
Some results were very surprising; others were exactly what I expected. I hope you guys find this informative and helpful.
Sorry, no clips – I’m not set up for them and I can’t tell you how many times I have purchased a pedal because the clips on my computer sounded great, but with my set up in a band situation, the pedal just was useless.
Disclaimer – all of this is my opinion; thus I am not typing IMHO all over the joint!
VOX V847A
Save you some time here – it just doesn’t work with bass AT ALL.
Morley Dual Bass Wah (PBA-2)
Details – Spring loaded Switchless (if you like that, I think it’s cool)
Two wah modes – vintage and funk
Volume boost/control
Bypass – I can hear a difference in my true-bypass loop, but not huge.
Long treadle throw
Frequency sweep - marginal
Simply put – makes an expensive paperweight. In the vintage mode the wah is almost inaudible. Funk mode the effect was more pronounced, however in a band setting, you still would be hard pressed to hear it. I think it is because the lowpass filter on it is too much. You can kind of hear that something is happening to the sound, but not much. NO vocal quality to the sound at all. The position of the treadle is just uncomfortable. Toe down is exaggerated. Toe up and your foot is almost parallel to the floor. Poor ergonomic design.
Morley Power Wah (current PWO)
Details – no pot, it’s optical
Bypass switch not true bypass – I can hear a difference in my true-bypass loop, but not huge.
Long treadle throw
Frequency sweep – Average
An OK wah. No lowpass filter like the PBA-2, an in this case, that’s a good thing. Noisy as hell in the toe-down position. NO vocal quality to the sound at all. Treadle position has the same problem as the PBA-2.
Morley Power Wah (Chrome vintage PWO)
Details – no pot, it’s optical
True bypass – at least this one was…may have been modified at some point.
Extra Long treadle throw
Frequency sweep – ridiculously wide.
Shinny chrome
THAT EFF-ing AC CORD!
Far better than it’s decedents. Still no real vocal quality to the tone. The lesson here is that the Morley sound is not a vocal one…which explains why these things are pretty much a non-issue in the vintage wah world, and with few exceptions, the current market. The physical sweep is ridiculous. At fist, I thought that I would love it, then, after some time with it, I realized that the sweep is just too long for most people’s ankles to move quickly and precisely enough. Also, the frequency sweep was designed to work is synths, bass and guitar…and it shows. Starting with toe up, the first two fifths of the throw are below what is usable for bass – just plain mud. The third one-fifth of the throw is the sweet spot for bass…but it is such a small amount of the range as to be a real pain in the butt to use. The final two-fifths of the throw were just hissing noise…maybe they work for guitar, I don’t know.
Finally, that stupid cord is the ultimate deal breaker.
Also, for the record, I was not overly thrilled with any of the morleys when used in conjunction with distortion or fuzz…they all sounded like on/off switches when used with a fuzz – the sound was either ooooooo OR eeeeeeeee
Snarling Dogs Bowl Buster
Typical Dunlop/Vox switch at the toe
True bypass
Three position range knob on the side
Volume/boost knob
Red LEDs for the dog’s eyes…
Long treadle throw – equal to the two current production Morleys, except the treadle position is at a much more ergonomic angle.
Frequency sweep – average within each of the three ranges. The sum of the three ranges is very wide.
This is my second favorite sounding wah out of the ones reviewed here. Nice vocal quality and each position is discrete and well voiced. Sounds like a wah. Great plug and play factor. Very pronounced wah effect. Will be heard in a mix. Unfortunately, Snarling Dogs wahs have a reputation for crapping out after a few months. That was enough for me to return the pedal.
Will not work with a fuzz.
Ibanez Weeping Demon
HIGHLY adjustable – frequency peak, Q, lowpass, volume, switchless or switchable, effect-off delay time adjustment.
No true-bypass, but the tone suck was minimal when placed in the true-bypass loop.
Treadle throw – on the shorter side…similar to the Dunlop/Vox variety, but a hair shorter.
Frequency sweep – second narrowest of the wahs here.
Very vanilla sounding pedal. Despite all its adjustments, I really couldn’t coax the tone I wanted. It certainly is usable, but I found the narrow frequency response very limiting and frustrating. Not really vocal, but more so than the Morleys.
Dunlop GCB-100 (Old bass Wah)
Typical Dunlop/Vox switch at the toe
True bypass (I modified it for this)
No adjustability
Treadle throw – typical average Dunlop/vox
Frequency sweep – Narrowest of the bunch
Actually, this pedal didn’t sound so bad when compared directly to many of the other wah’s here. It’s fatal flaw is that the sweet-spot in the narrow frequency sweep is tiny. Which basically rendered the pedal useless in most situations. And as such, it was discontinued.
Will not work with a fuzz.
Dunlop 105Q
Switchless
Q and range knobs
Internal effect-off delay adjustment
Treadle throw – slightly longer than the typical Dunlop/vox as there is no switch at the toe down position.
Frequency sweep – above average.
Buffered bypass – this had the poorest bypass of the group. Fair amount of tone-sucking when placed in the true-bypass loop.
Overall, an excellent pedal, save for the poor quality of the buffered bypass. Nice vocal quality. If you want wet…like boot stuck in the mud wet, this is your pedal. For the funk players, this is your wah. Very pronounced wah effect. Will be heard in a mix. This wasn’t the sound I wanted, but that doesn’t mean it’s not well executed. Very good pedal, and I love the switchless functionality. I didn’t get to try this with a fuzz, but it should work due to the buffer.
Wilson Effects Bass Q-Wah
True-bypass
Toe switch
6 position range knob
Vocal sweep knob
Internal Midrange trimpot
Internal Bass/gain trimpot
Treadle throw – typical average Dunlop/vox
Frequency sweep – Broad within each range position
Buffered output – yes, it will work with a fuzz after it, and is still a mechanical true-bypass. Buffer has an output trimpot.
About $100 less than it’s true competition – Fulltone Deluxe wah and the RMC3.
Have you ever listened to classic recordings of Hendrix or Clapton and said to yourself – I wish I could get a killer wah sound like that on my bass…? If so, than this is the wah for you. Super vocal quality to the tone without being to funky and wet sounding. Wide sweet-spot in the frequency sweep. Clear cut winner of these wahs in the tone department. Very pronounced wah effect. Will be heard in a mix. This is my keeper.
Soundclips from the Wilson Website:
Clean Q Wah progressing through the 6 range options:
http://www.wilsoneffects.com/files/0...qwah_clean.mp3
with overdrive:
http://www.wilsoneffects.com/files/0..._overdrive.mp3
