Duh Dah Duh Doo Duh Deh Duh WAAH - Thoughts of a Morley PWB

[andvari7]

Chapter 1

The finer things in life are well-seasoned. When I spice up a dish, I prefer to go to my spice merchant (whose name, for advertising purposes, will be witheld) for whole nutmeg, large quantities of smoked paprika, and Grains of Paradise, rather than the supermarket for the econo-tubs. True, age has its detrimental effects – Diane Rehm springs immediately to mind - but where would we; where could we be without the summers on the ledges of Andean walls necessary for proper charqui, or the minimum of two years Parmagiana Reggiano is aged?

This, however, is not why we are here.

So, rather than bask in the glow of a whale-oil lamp, prattling on for ages about aged whiskey casks and Brazilian Rosewood furniture, I'm going to detail vintage effects. Or, the latest batch of the older effects I somehow managed to find. Today, I speak of the oldest, and certainly the most hard-searched box I've ever owned. And, best of all, I am choosing not to regale you with my pathetic delusions of San Franciscan dentistry, for the betterment of all of our ears, minds and hearts.

For many moons, I have wondered what wah pedals had the longest physical, if not tonal sweeps of all. I was rather clueless, save for a myth. When first introduced to the world of effects, I knew of a Bad Horsey wah, but nobody in Madison had them. The name, though, stuck with me for all eternity: Morley. It wasn't enough to arouse my curiosity, and I wanted a real Vox box, and not some hack company with would-be guitar gods attaching their names to squealing tins of annoyance. I must admit, at this juncture, that I was all of twelve, and I could scarcely tell Shinola from the other stuff, let alone an optical wah from a traditional. However, I did research some bassists, and the word came back. Morley. That name. Morley. That name comes into focus, as I delve further into my mid-teenage attempts at serious musicianship, and I ultimately concede defeat, for it had taken my very essence to task. Morley. I surrender to thee. Morley. I Google thee. Morley. Beginning in the 1970s, a chrome giant loomed on the horizon. But, nobody had them. Nobody. Years pass, and some considerations have to be made, in order for me to avoid referring to a certain bassist from a certain band who used this pedal.

Which brings us to two weeks ago.

It had been some time since I gave serious consideration to the pedal, and an encounter with a Chicago Iron Parachute renewed my interest in the long sweep phenomenon. I yearned for the opportunity to compare and contrast the characteristics of no small number of wah pedals. Unfortunately for everybody involved, I live in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is known for cheese, beer and ginseng, rather than for effects. Thus, I am restricted to the following options: Dunlop CryBaby, and all of its fourteen extant progeny, Vox V847-A, Ibanez Weeping Demon, Ibanez WH-10, maybe a Fulltone Clyde, and the modern Morley Steve Vai Bad Horsie. The sad fact is, I've either owned, or had extensive shop time with all of them, save for the CryBaby Cantrell, and not one has a long sweep. Nope; that meant going Chicago Iron, or going vintage. Since I absolutely will not spend $400 on an effect pedal that isn't high on my list of acquisitions, and then give an additional 65% to Pat Quinn's election campaign, I had to rule out buying a Chicago Iron Parachute from the only shop that will sell one to me. That meant I had to go for a vintage Morley. I realize, at this point in the story, that not only am I being deliberately obtuse, but that I am also running long. Please bear with my long-winded writing style; I must show Stephanie Meyer that I, and only I, am the One True God of Purple Prose.

But, I digress.

[andvari7]

Chapter 2

One drunken night this previous fortnight, I decided to peruse the eBay for a vintage Morley Power Wah Boost. Long story short, I won. So, the following morning, I paid the requisite $112, which is surprisingly cheap, considering the pedal was built in 1976, and waited for its arrival from Denver. After a very short Sunday, having spend the previous evening covered in other people's bodily fluids, jumping up and down to the glorious sounds of “Over the Electric Grapevine,” I was fully expecting my parcel from Colorado to come within six to nine days. Monday: long day of hauling a minimum of thirty-thousand pounds of lead-acid batteries from one warehouse to another, stacking them on pallets, and wrapping them for shipment, per Rayla Hood's (yes, I am aware of the mistake; no, I will not correct it) new guidelines for shipping batteries to be recycled, and I received Squidbillies, Vol. 2, from Netflix., but no wah. Tuesday: more of the same. Wednesday incorporated driving a 28-foot box truck, 100-degree and 100% humidity-laden warehouses, broken pallet jacks, and very wet, heavy clothing. But, between the General Tso's Chicken, and the judicial lunacy of Mentok the Mind-Taker (I did forget to mention that I do also have some Harvey Birdman discs, as well), I noticed a suspiciously large FedEx box. In it, the most awe-inspiring pedal ever to have graced this great planet: a Morley Power Wah Boost.

I now realize that it has taken me nearly one-thousand words to mention the specific pedal. Now we, and I do stress that this is a collaborative effort, get to the part where you might want to buy one. Well, my friends, be mindful of the following:

1. It's very, very large. 11x6½x5”, and that is when it is at its tallest. I read once that the modern-day Morley will not reissue this pedal, because its physical dimensions caused ligament damage.
2. It uses a built-in electrical cord. One that is not grounded. One that might kill you. One that might start your house on fire.
3. When the wah function is not engaged, it's a very good volume pedal. I am told that modding it for true bypass will eliminate this function. Therefore, I will not modify my pedal.
4. The boost is loud. Very loud. I recently ran mine through a Roland JC-55. My guitarist was running his POD through the PA, and the drummer was three feet in front of me. Although I was the weakest, I could hear what I was doing at all times.
5. The physical sweep is the longest I have ever used. I thought it was extended at the heel, but it's the toe end where things start to get long. Normal wah pedals stop when the treadle is roughly parallel to the floor. The PWB goes an additional thirty degrees, which makes a significant difference in the high range.
6. It has a bat switch at the toe, which turns the power on or off. I don't exactly like this arrangement, but it works, and it isn't switchless and/or spring-loaded, which I absolutely detest.
7. It was built with very thick steel. It will last you for quite a while.
8. The light bulb in there will eventually burn out. I'd recommend buying some from Morley themselves; while they are a different company, they do carry these bulbs on their eBay store.
9. It was packed very well, with absolutely NO packing peanuts. You may not be so lucky. When you are shipping effects, do not, under any circumstances, think about using packing peanuts. They do more harm to electronic components than good – I once saw a burnt-out UPS that had a bolt stuck within the copper windings of a transformer, which bridged it all together, and when the phases went out of sync, boom. Packing peanuts will melt, and they're particularly bad on a board level, which is something I have also seen in my line of work.

The sound is where the guidelines no longer apply. I recognize that sound quality is a matter of personal taste, but I rather like this wah. It's somewhat orthodox, but just weird enough to make a strange combinant for any other modulation effects, and the obvious Big Muff. In the interest of full disclosure, I state here that I use a green Sovtek. No, I will not do that song. Don't ask me about it again. Anyway, if you add the boost to the wah, it becomes the bass wah to rule them all.

In closing, I rather like this pedal. I say this with great frequency, I'll admit, but I have just found my favorite wah pedal. It does everything I could possibly need in a wah pedal, and it cost about $150 less than I had expected to pay. Would I recommend you get one? Unless you have no girlfriend, a bottle of Tomatin 12-year-old single-malt, and a desire to spend money that would be better spent on an apartment, yes. If, however, you meet those three criteria, then you are me, and you should kill yourself right now.

What? You want to know what song it is that I refuse to mention? I am sorry, but as a result of your incessant pestering about certain Bay Area sellout ex-thrashers, I am afraid that I must terminate this review.

[MEKer]

you sent me to Ennui

[andvari7]

Originally Posted by MEKer

you sent me to Ennui

Thank you. I take pride in my work.

[Marco A. Mayer]

tfl;dr

[andvari7]

Two weeks in, and I have some issues to report:

It was very squeaky. A little synthetic bike lube applied sparingly was the fix, but it wouldn't stay in a fixed place. Tightening the screws seems to have fixed the problem. It does highlight an obvious flaw: the plastic bushings are probably stock. This pedal was made in the mid-1970s, and the plastic is A. worn, and B. rotting. I will have to replace them, the nuts, the spacers, and the screw itself, but until it will no longer stay in place, I will hold off on doing so.

I also cannot stress enough how much I do not like the AC cord. I'm less worried about it catching fire from an errant spike than I am that errant spike, along with all of the other inconsistencies in the grid, damaging the pedal on a chip level.

[Willem]

Loved reading your story!

Do you have a ric? Would love to hear some samples with it, the muff and the wha

[AndyLES]

Post of the MONTH.