Boss AW-2 Auto Wah

Don't let those four little knobs fool you. Read through the manual once and then put it back in the box. The way to check out this pedal is to experiment. Every guitar and amp combination will be a bit different, so there are no "dial in and sound like Hendrix" settings.
Play around with it. I was not to impressed at first, but after spending some time with the pedal I found some cool settings.

I play Peavey Wolfgangs through Peavey Ultra tube amps and run this with my other effects through the effects loop. When on and not playing it makes a "whooshing" sound, sort of like an old flanger pedal. I never have it on when I'm not playing, so this is not a problem. I play in a cover band that does 50-90s rock. I am horrible at using wah pedals, (OK, I suck) so I bought this to get a wah sound on some of my solos. Having said that, the positives: 1. Sounds great when I kick it in for the solos on "Foxy Lady", "Sweet Emotion", and "American Band". 2.I can concentrate on the solo and not see-sawing my foot. 3.Can still move around while soloing 4. Since I don't use a wah that much, it is smaller and takes up less space on my pedal board 5.On/Off switching is a breeze. The negatives would depend on the player and his/her expectations. My friend G is a wah master, and has several vintage as well as new units. He has it down. So, the lack of control while playing would not suit him, plus, he likes the physical aspect of using a wah. I gives me a similiar wah sound, not as good as his, but better than if I was using HIS gear. And finally, 99% of the crowd doesn't know the difference, if not 100%. (Although our bass player says I'm "cheating"!)

Here is a big advantage. The reason my before mentioned friend G has several wah pedals is that the old ones are not reliable. Everyone is aware of the Boss reputation, so enough said.

I can't say, as I have never dealt with them.

Overall, I would say an 8.5. I use it as a coloring effect, just something to use on few solos to set them apart tone wise, since we might play 50 songs in one night. I like it, as I can get a wah sound better with this pedal that I can a Crybaby. If you have a good wah and are accomplished at using it, you probably will be happier with that set up. I got one used for $50.00, and it certainly has been worth that. I think new at $90 or $100 would be a judgement call. I see them used alot, though, so look around before you buy new. I think people expect the pedal to give them the perfect Clapton, Hendrix, Hammett, etc. tone, and are disappointed. It won't do that, but with a little time on your part, you can come very close.

It takes some time to find a good sound, especially with the 'manual' knob ( Boy, it takes a lot of patience to handle that little knob ). It's hard to find the GOOD starting point of the wah sound. And about the 'sens' knob, it DOES sensitive! I never set the pedal with the 'sens' knob more than 1/5 position. I would like to replace the pot with the smaller value, because beyond the 1/4 position it's hard to spot the wah sound.
The manual does help, but it need some more experiment of your own to find one that suits you. Afterall, it's an auto wah -not manual.

My guitar is a Mexican Strat with S-S-H pickup configuration and I use Peavey 208 Studio Chorus for the amp. The wah sounds amazing with both the clean and distortion channel on my amp. On the distortion channel, I can play Hendrix's Spanish Castle Magic with it. But I do notice a wah-ing sound even when I'm not playing on the distortion channel. I guess it's because the channel gain's too high and creating a noise and the pedal is wah-ing the noise. So, I suggest turning it down when you're not playing.

The metal casing is perfect for gigging. I use it live for several times and it's very durable - because I -accidently- kicked it hard once - and it sounds perfect on the stage.

Never deal with'em

I play Jazz, Rock, and Pop. It really suits me when I play funky jazz chords and even on rock guitar solo. I've been playing guitar for 5 years and it's the second effect that I own. My first effect is BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone and I usually use it to play rhytmn, I use the distortion channel of the amp for solo. If it's stolen-I would be deeply shocked and after a week of recovery, I buy another one. What I love about this pedal is the wah sound, it suits my playing especially the depth control. I hate the 'sens' knob because it's too sensitive, I wish BOSS would replace the pot with the smaller value 'cos nobody pick a string with an AXE. I've never use other auto-wah pedal so I can't compare it with another. I recommend this product for you who want a wah sound on your guitar with low price. It's not a manual pedal, but after you find your setting, you'll love it...trust me!

The manual gives some cool settings, but just screwing around with will get some mad effects going.

I got an esp f-205 bass, a peav amp, and some other pedals. The sound range is amazing, I've gotten straight wah to a completely weird sound, the only problem is the constant vibrato going on.

BOSS pedal

Dunno

It's a phat pedal, I play metal/hXc, and it manages to sound good, rare for a wah pedal to do so.

It's a stompbox! I keep the Rate set to Zero (or just a hair up), Depth set at about 1/3, Manual set just above Zero, and Sens at about a quarter - produces a nice warm sound (not quite the MUTONE by electro harmonix, but it works for the price).

Very clean and responsive, see my settings in the first section

As long as the battery is good, so is the pedal.

Don't know

If you are looking for a good, warm envelope filter, but don't want to spend $200.00 or more, this is the way to go.

Its one very confusing pedal. Very hard to figure out what the knobs do to your tone.

I got this because this is one noise maker. Combine this with heavy distortion and you get this awesome feedback sounds. If used alone its sounds good also. It wah's up your guitars bottom end really well. But The constant wah gets preety annoying sometimes. And Dont expect it to do hendrix tunes though cause this one wont do it. Get a real wah for that one.

Its a BOSS. Built Like a Tank.

If you want to create some weird and interesting effects, include this pedal on your setup. Get a Crybaby if you want a basic good sounding wah tone(for hendrix/zeppelin/clapton etc. tunes) For funk, i think this is a good pedal for it since i dont play funk that much. This is a good pedal if youre looking to create your own tunes. Combine it with other effects and youll know what im talkin about.

The manual comes with some good examples to choose from but it doesn't really do a great job of explaining what each knob does. I still don't know what the MANUAL knob does! Once you play around with it a little you will be able to adjust it how you want it to sound. There are basically to modes that I use: modulation wah, and automatic wah. Everything else is pretty much just variations or combinations of the two. You really need to give this pedal a little time though because it is definately one of the more confusing BOSS pedals but it will come eventually.

I personally really like the way it sounds. I thought that it might just have modulation wah but you can set it so that every single note you play will automatically be wah-ed. It is noisy when you use the modulation but the cool effect makes up for it. You can also control how deep you want the wah to go. The mod is definately a cool effect but I wouldn't use it for long time periods, like a whole song becuase it does get kinda annoying. Sounds GREAT if you use it sparingly. The mod wah will sound great with distortion but the automatic wah doesn't sound so hot with my distortion (BOSS OD-3, BOSS FZ-3).

Of course this pedal will never fail you-except maybe the batteries.

Must be good if I never have to call them!

I play rock/ska but I like to add this effect every once in a while to get a more funky effect. Works great for playing disco/funk and everything in between. I have been playing for 2 years and so far I have three pedals: BOSS FZ-3 Fuzz, BOSS OD-3 OverDrive, and BOSS AW-2 Auto Wah. If any of these got stolen I would call up the music store and order the exact same items and I would gladly pay full price. I always loved the "wah" effect but I didn't like playing tricky rythms on the manual foot pedal. My favorite part of this pedal is that it does all the work for you. The only thing I hate is that it uses batteries pretty quickly and as the battery gets weaker, so does the effect. I listened a little to the Ibanez Auto-Wah but that seemed to have a little distortion to it. The only thing this wah may do to your sound is increase your tone a little when it is on. It has everything I could want and more. It gives me a lot of new ideas for songs and sounds great in solos.

Very weird to use if you are looking for an envelope filter. 4 nobs, speed (a sign this is a REAL automatic Wah wah), depth, manual, and sensitivity. I got it used so I didn't have a manual to work with, but I tried it out at the store and found the sound I was looking for. I use it as a modualtion effects with the speed set high. Some of the nobs seems as the really don't work, or don't do what they should, but I found my setting for it an I am happy. Others who use this as an envelope filter might have a hard time with it.

For the way I use it, it gives me a full on weird effect. I am not sure what noisy exactly is, but it will definietly change your set-up tone (but that i swhat it is supposed to do). I am into Sonic Youth, Garbage, Mudhoney, Devo, Pixies, Ramones, and this pedal really is used for my more Sonic Youth type stuff. I have it in my set up in this order: customized strat style guitars - DOD FX90 Analog delay - Ibanez CP-9 Compressor - Arion Stage Tuner - BOSS AW-2 - Sovtek re-issued Small Stone phaser - Big Muff - Fender Bandmaster Reverb amp. It sounds great in this order, but it really depend swhat you use it as. I noticed an lot of change by simply moving it around in my effects chain.

Its used, so maybe some of the nobs are a bit fried, but it still works.

I HATE BOSS!!! There are only a few pedals that they make that are actually good in my opinion. I would trust them with any help. I had a used PS-3 that didn't have a manual, so I called them and asked if they could photocopy one and send it to me. They seemed irritated at my call, but said they would do it in the next week. At the end of the call, the person then told me that it would cost $12 fo rthem to do it. $12 for a sheet of paper!!!!!!!!! T

I play more experimental music+old alternative stuff, and this pedal is weird enough for my effects loop. Like I said before, it is really dependant on position and how you use it, but for my weird use, it sounds great. Like i said before, mine might be a little out of wack, because I can't really hear to much of a dfference with my manual nob, and the sensitivity has to be set below 8 o-clock on the dial to really work. mayb ethey are all like that, I don't care, I got my use out of it.

I bought my AW-2 used and as a result didn't receive any instructions. The unit isn't particularly intuitive - unlike many of the other BOSS pedals, so some guidance is definitely required. I checked out the settings suggested in the BOSS Effects Catalogue in order to get an initial feel for the pedal - however it took me a long time to discover the various sounds that can be achieved using the AW-2.
There are four controls for Rate, Depth, Manual and Sensitivity, but I guess finding the right settings is in some ways a case of trial and error. Depending on your playing style you can create a variety of wah sounds, but the most common ones are picking wah, modulation wah or a combination of the two.

To be fair to BOSS, they really produced this pedal for use with electric guitar. I bought the AW-2 for use with a bass guitar though because BOSS suggest the AW-2 can help create a 'modern bass' sound in their catalogue. I had previously had a go at building my own Auto-Wah unit because I love the sound and wah-wah is back in fashion again.
When I first started using the AW-2, I was extremely disappointed with the adverse performance when used with a bass. However, I later discovered a faulty connection with my BOSS PCM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch was responsible and once this was sorted out, I started having fun with the AW-2.
Used alone, the AW-2 can produce a rich bass sound when fingered, and when slapped the wah effect is awesome. Even better, is when I connect my CE-2B Bass Chorus after the AW-2 - this really brightens up the sound and really does give the 'modern bass' sound which BOSS describe in their catalogue. I also play keyboards and I've had a lot of fun when using the AW-2 together with the guitar sounds on my Roland synth.

The AW-2, like every BOSS pedal, is built like an armoured car. The knobs feel robust and the pedal has a solid action. I would always rely 100% on a BOSS pedal and do not see the need for a backup.

I contacted Roland/BOSS in Germany and asked them to send me the original instructions for the AW-2, which they have promised to do. I have always found them to be helpful in giving product advice and sending brochures etc.

There aren't many effects pedals which are suitable for bass guitar. However the AW-2 is a useful addition to your bass setup as it allows you to create a totally different sound which cannot be achieved by other means. It took me a long time to get to grips with the AW-2, but eventually it was worth it. I don't recommend that you use the Auto Wah all the time, but it brings a refreshing change to your sound when used from time to time.
If my AW-2 got or lost or stolen, I would probably try and replace it with another secondhand unit. I bought my AW-2 as an ex-demo in good condition for approx. 40% below the regular new retail price. I wouldn't like to pay any more for an AW-2 pedal and I think that the full new retail price is a little bit expensive - especially considering that the pedal has a somewhat limited usability, when say compared to a Bass Chorus pedal which costs less and is much more versatile.

This pedal has 4 knobs: rate sens, manual and depth. The knobs can get confusing a bit, but when you get to be familiarized with the controls you'll get more comfortable with playing with it. I gave it an eight because the knobs are set-up in an unusual way, meaning that a person usually expects effects to be turned way up if it is turned clockwise all the way over, like the last two knobs: manual and sens.
AS I've said you have to play with this pedal in order to really get the full potential of this. it comes with manual.

I use two amps, a Charvel that came with my Jackson and a Roland GC405. I use a Les Paul, Jackson, and Fender Tele. One of the cool settings and effects combination i use is with the distortion, DS-1 or HM-2, with the RV-3. With the correct settings you can get radical sounds. The only thing that i don't like about this is that the Wah doesn't stop when you've stopped strumming or picking the strings, even with the delay off. - 2 points.

It's a boss! I may take a Vox Wah but other than that...nada!

Havent dealt with them yet

Its a very cool pedal if you know how to use it. Mix and match!

The AW-2 did not get good sounds when I used it. You kind of need the manual to figure out what the hell the pedal is trying to do (many of the controls seem to work backwards). The manual is descriptive, and the example settings are good illustrations, but it's just not my kind of thing... I guess. I didn't like it at all. I thought the settings were weird, and the sound was bad. Worse still, it sucked my tone away. All Boss pedals do this to some degree, but the AW-2 was the worst yet. While I was looking for something different, I was dismayed that I couldn't find a reason to keep it. This is highly unusual, because I'm a gear packrat.

Yuck. I didn't think it was possible for my gear to sound bad until I added this pedal to the equation. I use a customized circa 1940 Epiphone archtop through a late-60's Fender Twin. A bigger sound is hard to find. The AW-2 could be used as a cheese pedal. Dial in more "suck," when necessary. It was noisy, thin, and hard to control. I wish I hadn't bought it. I'd return it, but I got it via an online auction. now I'm stuck with it, unless I can trade it or sell it. At least it's got the original box & manual. I pride myself in staying away from the extremes when rating something, but this was the worst pedal I have ever owned.

Solid as a Boss can be. "Boss solid" should be a standard by which other pedals are rated. I would use any Boss (stompbox) pedal without a backup.

N/A

I'm a utility guitarist. I use a lot of different effects to enhance my arrangements. I was looking for some kind of Envelope Filter. The AW-2 was just awful, in my opinion. Ironically, it will probably never go "bad," because Boss builds their stompboxes so well. I have no use for this gizmo. Admittedly, this isn't the TYPE of pedal I was looking for, so I can't grade it on its usefulness to me. But my goodness, it sounds bad. I can't believe the decision-makers at Boss chose to discontinue the Slow Gear pedal, and actually manufactured this turd. What a tragedy.