Akai W1 VariWah

Easy to use. Manual is complete if not boring. The sweep is poor and I use the last half of the sweep because if you rock back (to the low end) it gets real deep. So I stay at half pedal to full forward. In that context as a manual wah, it works fine. I use the auto-wah for a project I was working on, that is why I bought it.

Pretty Good. The components are all good mil spec, the boards are phenolic, though. All the internal screws have paint on them and all wires are wire-tied. As I have said, the full throw of the pedal is just too bassy. I added 150K ohms to the tone circuit and moved the center frequency back a little.
I suspect there is a quality problem or the guys complaining of noise are hearing their equipment and blaming it on the wah. Mine is completely noiseless and non-tone sucking. True bypass.
For the money, it can't be beat.
I am using a Fender Custom Shop Tele with hums and played through a variety of amps, mostly a Crate VFX 5112 which has been modified by Bob @ Eurotubes.
Within the range, it sounds very well. No complaints.

All aluminum. Hi Tech parts. Quality construction.
I gig with it and use a power supply.

Don't know.

Overall, I give it a good rating as it works well for me and even though I have two other wah pedals, I tend to swap back and forth.
I love the top end clarity, hate the super low end when the pedal is rocked back. Just not enough sweep.
Compares to my Hi-Watt and My CryBaby. Hi-Watt sucks because of its reverse polarity power plug.
Wish it had more sweep or even adjustable sweep. The resistor I added helped but not enough. More resistance will just change the filter.
If it were lost or stolen I would not get another. I would stick with the CryBaby.
For my Country Rock, this pedal does OK.

Just an update for this underrated pedal.I also had noise problems when using an a.c. adapter.HOWEVER, I tried my adapter for my digi rp-50 (PS-200R-120) and found NO DIFFERENCE IN NOISE COMPARED TO 9 VOLT OPERATION!!It's rated @ 9.6 volts, so frying the wah should NOT be a problem.It does suck a battery down pretty fast, so it's a good investment.Again, have some patience with it (manual mode is best)& you'll have an awesome wah!!

Pretty easy to use if you have some patience.

Running a Charvel Model 2 through a variety of distortions & effects.No noisier than any other wah pedal.Fender 1x12 tube combo.Not quite as expressive as a vox, but very close.Always sounds great.

Very dependable.Mine is made of aluminum,I would guess they all are.Would gig w/o a backup.

Never had to deal with them.

Compared it to many other wah pedals,glad I bought it.Only use it in manual mode.It does go through batteries fast,checking for a regulated power supply.Have some patience with it,it does have a narrow sweep,but has many sweet spots.Very happy with it.

Auto wah/filter with 5 interactive parameters to adjust does take some time to find what works with your setup. The manual is helpful if you already understand filters. It's most versatile when used with a fuzz before and a tube screaming like OD after. Even though I have experience with analog filters, it still took 30 minutes to get it working for me. Even though it's an "auto filter", it's not plug and play like a distortion box.

G&L ASAT, F100 > CC2 Oct/Fuzz > Arion stage tuner > Arion Octave > buddawah > E.B.volume > akai vari wah > Mesa bottle-rocket OD > Akai shredomatic > Ibanez Ue405 > CC2 pro vibe > akai intelliphase > line6 DL4 > marshall DSL401 & fender bandmaster.

This pedal works fine people, especially at $35.00. No noise. I use a godlyke power-all with great success. The manual wah held it's own with my budda wah but the budda wah smokes everything in that deptartment. It makes a fine on-board back up for the budda wah for sure. To address issues from previous reviews...All unity gain wah devices reduce the volume of a clean guitar signal people, it's a EQ filter. Simply put a mild OD after the wah to enhance and beef up the filterd tone to taste. Now add a fuzz in front of the filter and you got sounds unique to you.

This pedal is smooth and watery in the fine analog tradition. I'm guessing it is an optical functioning filter like a morley wah or the new maxon reissue AF9. Thats why it is not the most exciting manual wah. This is a less detailed wah tone compared to the budda tone for sure, but it is perfect for auto wah and filtering edgy clean or fuzzed single coils. Gotta have a mild OD though if you want ANY auto wah to sound better.

With a volume pedal between the fuzz and vari wah (auto mode) I can get great analog synth pad sounds. This turns the volume pedal into an expression pedal for the auto wah. Simply adjusting the sensitivity and the attack time yields envelope following along with the filtered tones. These volume swell synth tones are very unique to the player and their rig and feeding a delay especially an analog delay is just a lot of fun.

The LFO depth and speed knobs are also very useful to give your filter mahem even more motion. No it's not random like the seek wah but your playing dynamics or volume pedal swells will get moved around kinda like a phase shiter.

The offset knob works a lot like a combination of both a "frequency and "resonance" knob of a traditional filter. This on won't blow speakers or your ears out like my filter queen. And Yes, it holds it's own with the filter queen as a guitar effect as the filter queen by-pass destroys passive guitar signals especially the delicate tone of germanium based fuzz.

The assignable expression pedal is also very handy and worth the extra space. This box replaced my line6 filter modeler which replaced my flter queen on sound quality alone.

Solid metal box. Nice true bypass switch too. Made in Korea.
Feels solid but not too heavy.

Akai is a corporation so they automatically SUCK..

Very versatile. Lots of cool filter sounds to be discovered here.
Filters take time to make sound right. Once you have it though, you are only a few tweaks away from more unique sounds. It will take ordinary fuzz into freaky and funky realms of kaos and gives fuzz another life as a tone generator to create vintage synth tones. Filters are a really cool way to open the guitar up to other new territorry besides Grateful Dead noodling and funk grooves. Get one

I bought the Akai VariWah from an ebay customer a week ago. I've been looking for a decent wah for my warwick thumb five--this was the wrong pedal to choose. So, no, I haven't used the pedal extensively, however; I tinkered with it enough to know that it completely sucks (undoubtedly why Akai discontinued this product!). Contrary to what certain members of this message thread have written, this pedal sucked the low end from my bass quicker than a hooker for 50 bucks. Seriously, it was terrible. Although i do understand that this is primarily a guitar pedal, I actually trusted what members of this thread had to say. So, after that long-winded circumlocution, it's impossible to get a good sound out of this pedal--at least for bass. I purchased from ebay and didn't receive a manual or an A/C adapter.

Warwick to Variwah to Ampeg B2R to a Genz Benz 4x10. My favorite bassists are Verdine White, Rocco Prestia, Maurice Fitzgerald, Geddy Lee and Stuart Zender.

The construction seemed cheap, but since I only messed with it a couple of days, I'm not an expert on the subject. I wouldn't use this pedal for a gig.

N/A

I'm in two fusion bands, and a contemporary Christian band: Jakob's Night. I've been playing bass for ten years. I have the aformentioned Warwick Thumb five, a Carvin AC50F acoustic/electric fretless and the Ampeg amp and Genz Benz enclosure I mentioned earlier. It won't have a chance to get stolen b/c i already traded it in for an Electro-Harmonix BassBalls, which I know is a different sound, but at least it doesn't suck the life out of my bass. I hated this pedal thoroughly.

Not easy to use straight out of the box, you need to read the manual and play with it for some time to get the best out of it. I was looking for a manual wah but I'm always attracted to things which are a bit different. I find it helps to get a more individual sound.

I actually use an alternate pedal wah setting where you set the selector to offset, turn all the controls down and then adjust only the width and offset controls to taste. This gives a more mellow sound than the straight pedal mode it comes with.

It makes a hissing noise when turned on with a lot of gain on the amp but in my band context it's unnoticeable. I tried it in the effects loop of my amp and it sucked big time.

I use it in a switchable loop in front of my Trace Elliot Super Tramp with a Patrick Eggle Berlin Plus with twin humbuckers on the font end. The loop lets me leave it on all the time and just switch it in from my MIDI pedal when I want it.

It works for me in my rig but I can understand people trying the straight pedal mode and just going "YUCK". You need to work with this pedal and find out if there is a sweet point for it in your rig.

It suits me so the Variwah gets 8 (2 points deducted for unnecessary amounts of hiss and poor main pedal wah mode).

I just made it through my first gig with it on a brand new battery. Never again, it's been on a wall wart ever since.

Construction wise, it seems pretty solid, and it's already survived one a-hole in the audience dropping beer all over it.

I gig without a backup, because if it went down, I don't need a wah, I just like having it there, not that it's shown any signs of going down.

Never dealt with them.

I like it because it's individual, and it works for me, but I can understand people not liking it. You have to give it a serious workout, after which it will either be the best thing since sliced bread or a complete pile of dog turd. I'm luckily in the former category.

Would I replace it? Depends. I'm currently looking for an all in one rack processer with a wah function controllable by Midi Expression Pedal so if I had that I wouldn't bother to replace it unless I came across a second hand one dirt cheap.

If I don't get the rack, I wouldn't be worried about rushing out to get another wah because as I said I like having it, I don't need it. I'd like to replace it but I don't think they are made anymore so if I came across one cheap secondhand and hadn't found something else in the mean time I'd try and pick it up.

It's very hard to get good wah sound by using this pedal.

Manual wah sux.... Variwah is noisy and effects are weak except the autowah. As an amplifier i've been using my soundcard's amp and sometimes i use my little Crate 15w combo amp which is much worse.

I wouldn't use it on a gig.

When I bought my Boss GT-6 i realized what kind a piece of shit i've been using... Don't buy it unless you play bass.

The AKAI has a lot of parameter controls and is far from being "stomp and go" like a Dunlop Cry Baby. It has an autowah mode that is nice, and the adjustability is a good thing once you've fiddled with it long enough. If the wah seems to do nothing, keep turning knobs and it will eventually.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A WAH FOR BASS, this is a superb choice. The Dunlop Bass Wah and other wahs suck the low end right out. The AKAI does not. Another review here mentioned the lack of low end sucking and that motivated me to buy. Sure enough, it wahs fine and leaves my low end intact. Not vintage sounding, hence the bass still being present.

I haven't noticed any noise with the wah, and the bypass is fine. I wish it had yet another knob for volume when switched on, as it drops the preceived volume when switched on as wah pedals tend to do.

So far so good. Seems well built. I don't live on the wah so if it gave out (I'd be surprised) i'd just remove it. No biggie.

None needed.

There is probably not a better wah for bass guitar on the market. It doesn't hurt your low end and it still wahs. As mentioned before, the Dunlop bass wah is awful about sucking out low end. It isn't the easiest to get set to sound like you'd want but once it's dialed in all is good.

The autowah mode is nice, and I use it a good chunk of the time.

I like this wah, and won't be looking to replace it. I think someone could make a better bass wah (which is why it gets an 8), but I don't know if they ever will. For $60 with power supply, this is bass wah winner worthy of a 10.

Using the autowah modes is pretty easy, until you try to use the pedal to control the parameters in realtime. The pedal is way too sensitive, and it almost seems like the sensitivity changes across the sweep of the pedal; a tiny change in the middle can completely screw your sound, and a tiny change at the bottom of the sweep is barely perceptible.

I read a lot of people complaining about the pedalwah mode, so I spent a lot of time trying to tweak it into a useable range. Unfortunately, some genius engineer decided that all the controls should be bypassed for manual wah mode, so it is my opinion that there is NO use for the pedal wah mode on this box. If they ever make the controls global this could be a great wah, but the present pedal wah on this is nearly useless. There is no slow sweeping on this pedal, just mud for about the first 75% of the range and then it instantly becomes nasal and piercing.

My rating for this category also takes into account for the "manual" that came with the pedal, which is possibly the least informative piece of technical literature I have ever seen. Had they just not included a manual I would have scored the pedal about 2 points higher.

Actually, in spite of its limitations in manual mode this pedal gives a wide variety of really good sounds in autowah mode. Fairly low noise when in use, even on a tube amp with the gain cranked up to a healthy level, and when it's off it's REALLY off thanks to true bypass switching. If I was a true wah player I'd give it low scores for the useless manual mode (and for anybody looking for a conventional wah pedal, I cannot stress enough how utterly pathetic this pedal is in that mode), but since I bought this pedal mostly to use in automatic mode I give it a solid 8.

Actually, when I bought it by catalog I was a little afraid it would be a wimpy little thing because, well, it looks really fragile and plasticky in pics. In fact it's a lot more solid than I would have suspected, and the switch feels like a Fulltone. Don't know how the knobs will fare in the long haul, but so far so good.

OK, I am not a big time wah pedal guy. I bought this because my band was working on a reggae tune that required an autowah, and have since found some use for it in other solos as well. It does what I bought it to do... but I'm still disappointed a little because I was hoping I could cultivate some actual wah skills with this pedal. That dream has officially died.

Did I get a bad deal paying $70 for a true-bypass pedal that I can get some use out of? No. Would I buy another if this one crapped out or was stolen? Also no. Conceptually this pedal is a great idea, but clearly something went awry in the implementation.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
Depends, this is a complicated pedal, for a wah.
Maunual mode sucks, no definition, no noticable sweep.
Auto Modes are good, when you figure out how to set the knobs and switches. This took a couple of days of futzing with it to get MOST of the sounds I was looing for.

How about Editing patches? - NA

How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
Manual is fair to good, will help you at least get started.

Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded? - NA

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
Samick strat come PRS Clone Humbucker in the bride, Single Coil in the neck, Humbucker is very bright, very trebly (Seymour Duncans).
Dean Del Sol, 2 Dean Humbuckers, very nasty sounding guitar.
Ibanez Destroyer, 2001 reissue, 2 power sound Humbuckers, good all around guitar, a bit on the neck heavy side though.

Is it noisy? On what settings?
Here is my bitch:
With the battery installed, you get a nice clean sound out of this unit.
Problem #1: This thing EATS! Batteries, like there is no tommorow.
Problem #2: Noise !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Using a 9 volt wall wart, you will swear you are at the ZOO in the "Sknake Pit" Hiss, Hiss, Hiss and more Hiss, Hiss, Hiss
And then more Hiss piled up on top of this.
!!! Did I mention that this thing Hisses !!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I know all pedals have noise to one extent or another, but this is unbearable.

What amp are you using it with?
Fender Bassman 50 through a Crate 2x12 open back cab.
Fender (Hot-Rodded) Bassman 70 through a Sonic 4x12 closed back cab.

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they? - NA
Are certain effects (distortion, chorus,) good? bad? - NA

Can you depend on it?
NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gig with it, what! are you kidding?
I don't even use it at home !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hell I won't even sell it on ebay.
I would not GIVE this peice of Crap away!!!
It is in my junk box awaiting gut removeal.
It is a crying shame!
I have 2 other Akai pedals:
"G-Drive" love this thing, never turn it off.
"Shred-O-Matic" "A One Trick Pony", I do stomp it every now and then.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
Not An F'ing Clue
Emailed them about the noise.
Stated in my email, that I had tried 4 different wall warts.
Stated the voltages and current ratings for each wall wart.
9Vdc@400mA, 9Vdc@600mA, 9Vdc@800mA, 9Vdc@1.25A

They replied, was thwe wall wart a 9Vdc wall wart ???
Did I miss something, or did their email server convert my question "In English" to, What? martain!

Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired?
NO. Repaired, I could not get through to them, In English anyway.
Mark it up to experence, and then tell everyone in the world:
"Do Not Buy This" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
Rock & Roll, Well if it was not so noisey.

How long have you been playing?
close to 30 Years

what do you love about it?
the auto settins
What do you hate?
It EATS Batteries, With a wall wart IT IS Extremlly Noisy.

Anything you wish it had?
Quite-ness

Does it help you make music?In an odd sort of way, just bring batteries.

Or does it get in the way?
Please See: notes aboiut Noise

Anything else you'd like to share?
If this had been the first Akai pedal I had purcased.
It would have been the last Akai pedal I would have purchased!!!

Not easy to use at all. The included instruction say nothing about
how to use the auto wah,or the swell wah. Much harder to mess with than other pedals.

This wah's tones aren't that bad if it wasn't for the hiss. And
I mean HISS. I know snakes that don't make this much noise. With
a battery or an adapter--same issue!

NA

NA

Too bad Akai blew it the first time out. Some reviewers don't seem to be having noise problems, which mean either they can't hear, or
the consistantcy of this product is shit. That sucks, cause it seems
like this could have been a decent Wah minus the noise.

First up: the manual wah is really poor! You don't get any change in sound until the pedal has been rocked forward about half way. Even then the change from bass to treble is far too fast.

The auto wah effects are good in taht they do actually give more sweep than the manual pedal wah.

I've used this pedal with various guitars (Pacifica 112, Tele, DeArmond 7-string and more recently a Maverick) going through 4 effects pedals (Marshall Jackhammer --> Boss MZ-3 --> Danelectro Phaser --> Boss DD-3) into a marshall combo. The only thing I can say about the variwah is that when engaged it produces a very loud white noise hiss kinda like an amplified single coil hiss.

Sound wise as I mentioned above the pedal wah really does suck due to its lack of expression in the lower frequencies.

Basically too noisy for my liking when engaged. Possibly the best feature about the pedal is its by-pass as it is really quiet then (thank god!!)

This isn't the sort of pedal you can kick round a stage. It looks well constructed from the outside but taking a peek into the depths of the pedal you notice that the jack plugs are soldered straight onto one of the circuit boards with no support at all.

Tried using it at a couple of gigs but again it was far too noisy - even over a band behind you.

Never dealt with akai. Don't ever intend to.

I've played lots of styles of music from indie to funk to megadeth-style metal all of which could use a little wah here and there but I soon stopped thinking about wah after buying this pedal. Its unreliable and noisy and if it got stolen I'd hope that the guy who nicked it wouldn't use it!

I've now bought an original Dunlop Crybaby which has alot less knobs to fanny around with and produces very good wah - used it for a couple of gigs and it hasn't played up once! Buy a dunlop or a vox instead.

I still have the Variwah so if anybody desperately wants one let me know!

Not the most intuitive product on the market considering it is a Wah pedal. I saw prior reviews about difficulties mastering this puppy off the bat and they're correct.

It's by no means impossible, but compared to a dunlop pedal it's far more complex. Thankfully, there's an upside.

Noisy? No! Very quiet. Bypass is excellent.
The wah has plenty of power behind it, and it can be dialed back.

I'm using it for bass guitar and guitar. Works well for both. It's very sterile for a wah, which is especially excelent for bass since the low end doesn't get robbed like it does with a Dunlop Bass Wah

Seems well built. I've had it for about 3 weeks now with no problems, but that's not a sufficient test.

Haven't delt with AKAI.

An excellent wah for bass players or guitarists that don't want to drop low end. The included autowah modes are useful.

This is not a vintage wah. If you're looking for that, go elsewhere.

Fairly easy to use as there is only knobs to manipulate, but learning what those knobs do is the real trick. Some of the features eluded me for quite some while and now that I do understand them, I have found they are virtually useless. Instructions are inadequate.

I play through a Crate GX-2200h, and a nice custom set of celstion vintage 30's. The Vari-wah gave me good noise-free operation, but failed to give me any other kind of noise worth the money. The effect is weak and I had no need for it.

It is a well built piece of equipment. It appears to stick together fairly well. I'm sure it would stand up to giging. Usure about electrical reliability, but I had no problems.

I play hard music, and this things sucks. Get a Crybaby 535q or the new boss TW-10. Both are virtually priceless to me and anyone with a ear for good noise. It was in and out of my effects line and back on ebay in about a week and a half. My honest opinion: Don't Bother!

No real problems - you can just fiddle around until you find the sound you want. The instruction sheet, however, is barely adequate; for example, it fails to define terms like "Attack Time" and "Offset", leaving inexperienced users with no clear guidance as to why and how a particular parameter might best be used. Overall, no real problems in use, but better instructions would be a bonus.

I'm using mine with a Fender Strat through a Fender Princeton Stero Deluxe amp. I use a fairly bright, clean tone, so there is some evidence of digital noise when the W1 is switched in, but it doesn't present any real problem. In short, sound quality is good - certainly a lot better than the wah effect on the Zoom 4040 unit I previously owned.

No problems to date. Construction seems solid, although the plastic bits probably wouldn't stand a lot of kicking around. Pedal has a good "quality" feel.

Not had cause to call on them.

Play in a church band doing contemporary gospel stuff. I bought this primarily for the auto wah features, since I don't like having to "pedal" continuously to get a wah sound. Very happy with its ability to do what I want in this respect - once you get the parameters right, it's just hit the "on" switch and adjust the speed with the pedal. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a quality wah with plenty of adjustable parameters.

This is one very cool pedal! Extremely easy to use. 6 six knobs that control everything you'd ever need to control. Manual is there but you just don't need it.

OK, this has got to be one of the coolest wahs ever made. I tried about a zillion different wah pedals and envelope filters before finally purchasing this one. I play chill out, trip hop, and lounge-core music and I was looking for something to give those old school 70's porno wah effects as wells mutron type of sounds. This baby does it all! I play an older model PRS through a 76 SF Twin Reverb, BTW. The auto wah is great. You can assign what you want the pedal to control (ie:depth, speed, etc.). This makes for some very interesting sounds. It has a setting in auto wah mode that allows the wah to continue and sustain as long as you are holding the note. This makes it just too easy to get that loungey, smooth, continual wah sound. The manual wah is very nice sounding as well. It takes a bit of messing around before you can get a good frequency range assigned to the pedal but then it is very responsive and expressive. I haven't really figured out how to get the swell wah working yet but I've only had it two days. Overall the sound is excellent. Very analog without any digital high end or hiss. Also, It has true bypass which is excellent. I give it a 9 instead of a ten only because there seems to be a very minimal drop in output when the pedal is on but it is hardly noticeable.

Well unfortunately it is not as heavy and sturdy as it looks in pictures. It is rather light and what looks like metal in pictures is actually plastic. It is put together well though and should last a long time if taken care of properly.

haven't needed it... yet.

Excellent multi wah pedal. Highly reccomended if you are looking for those classic mutron sounds as well as some new sounds. Very good manual wah sounds as well after some knob tweaking. I love it. I bought this after bringing back a Zoom GF8 multi FX pedal which was completely digital sounding and the wah was just dreadful.

way easy to use, you plug it in and go, there is several knobs that took me a bit to figure out how to get the sound i wanted but i did so in a matter of minutes

I play bass, and all the bass wah pedals i played sounded like crap till i played this one, for once a bass wah that doesnt drop bass out of the sound. but it has its own kinda cool sound to it and you can get this kinda variable tremelo sound too with some of the different types of wah

i honestly dont know, i just got it and, i know that akai samplers are supposed to be good and reliable so i am hoping this will be too but they are new at making effects as far as i know

never had to deal with them

over all i give it an 8 cause although it isnt everything i want in a wah pedal, it was the best i could find though, for some reason all the wah makers that i tried seem tho think that bassists dont want bass in the signal, ie the dunlop