Boss PW-10 V-Wah

A little more complicated than your typical wah. Tons of knobs to tweak plus a bunch of presets... and it's a pedal that can easily sound bad. HOWEVER, if you spend some time with it, it can (and does) sound great.

I do have to admit that I had ignored the drive knob, and one day it got turned SLIGHTLY. Suddenly, I had slight distortion through the pedal- both on and off. Because I had never used that feature, I didn't recognize the problem and ended up collecting on the Guitar Center warranty. Before the check arrived, I was able to figure out that the drive knob was the problem... but it is an example of TOO MANY KNOBS. :-)

The advanced settings are not very user-friendly. Most involve powering down the unit, holding buttons while restarting it, and moving into convoluted modes that are not indicated on the pedal itself. The end result is that one requires the manual to even access these settings.

Basic use gets an 8 in ease, advanced use gets a 4 for being user-unfriendly.

I got this a few years ago- I had just had the pot go bad on my second Crybaby and was at Guitar Center trying to figure out a replacement. Something about the new Crybaby model (my two were both pretty old) just didn't have *that* sound- maybe they were revoiced at some point? I had already gone down the Morley route (my first wah was a Morley- great for solos, but not for that funky wah tone), already dismissed Vox as too subtle... and I was stuck.

The ever-helpful (when it comes to upselling an expensive pedal) salesman came out and suggested I try the PW-10. I had seen the pedal online and in magazines but had always dismissed it as a gimmick. Seriously- a programmable wah? Why on earth would you need that? Nonetheless, I still sat down with it and tried to dial in a classic Crybaby tone.

My mind was blown. I was able to dial in the Crybaby tone and so much more! The optical circuitry promised that I would never again have to deal with a dirty pot. That was enough for me, and I bought it on the spot.

For a long time, this was enough for me- a great Crybaby tone with silent sweeping. A few months ago, I actually sat down and explored the rest of the options.

The Morley sound is close, but not exact. The sweep is similar, but I wasn't able to get an exact match. The Vox setting was more upfront than I remembered, but is too similar to the Crybaby setting to be useful. The Univibe setting is cool, but I don't have anything to compare it to. The Voice setting is interesting, but I can't imagine a way I could use it. Advanced wah just seems to run the whole range of frequencies, but it didn't seem to be very musical. It might appeal to some, but it's not for me. I didn't spend a lot of time with the Bass Wah or the Custom settings.

The drive settings are interesting. To manually change the drive setting, one needs to access the hidden "drive select" mode (which involves resetting the unit while holding specific buttons). Instead, most users would modify the factory presets, as I did. I found a functional fuzz tone (supposedly modeled after a Big Muff fuzz), but that's all I've been able to salvage. I might dig a little deeper, but you really need the manual to help you get to it.

10 for the Crybaby tone, and no opinion on the other "candy".

Never had an issue, aside from my ignorance of that darn drive knob.

No opinion.

Perfect wah for the purpose I bought it for- a Crybaby simulator. The other settings are really pretty good, especially for an all-in-one unit.

I must say, though, it's a bit of a Catch 22. If you're not sensitive enough to care about the subtle differences between wah models, you probably won't need all the candy offered here (unless you care about the optical pot like I do). If you care about the subtle differences and want this many wahs, you'll probably be more apt to buy the real deal.

Theoretically I could use it as a multi-distortion pedal, but Boss drives have never really appealed to me. I'll use the fuzz since I don't own one (until my real Big Muff gets repaired), but that's probably it. The univibe setting is useful, but I don't know that it's an effect I need.

All in all, I'll still give it a 10 for being the perfect Crybaby wah for me. Everything else is gravy.

First of all guy just below me smoked a stinky one before writing I think! This pedal has 3 (THREE!!!) presets and one mode outside of memory which gives you 4 (FOUR) different sounds. (Pass it here man!) Anyways, it's easy enough to learn the functions but kind of a hassle to shift to the preset you want in the middle of a song, say for a solo. Other than that, it really is state of the art.

Sounds good with either single coils or humbuckers. I have way too many to list. And tried many different types and they all are good to go! Switching nice and quiet. Too bad the univibe's more like a Roland ap-5 or 7 phaser. And too bad the switching is at the tow end of the throw so you have to 'speed up' before you switch off, but at least this isn't the case when you use it in memory mode since the swiching is at the heel and you really can't notice the slowing that much. (One over on the Rotovibe!)
Not as lush as the original Univibe or even the Dunlop UV-1. I've read the revues for the Dunlop Rotovibe and it sounds like those are also more true to the univibe rotating speaker sound.
I have all the wahs this is supposed to model and must admit it's very close, but no cigar. The Morley doesn't 'nasal out' on the lower notes when playing cords like the PW-10. And the Vox mode is actually like a noisey version of the cry-baby. The 'voice' is useless. It actually will cut out at certain frequencies and I guess is really an anomoly they found in the R&D department and decided to keep it in the mix. But really isn't wierd enough and actually too wierd for any actual use! (Hhhmmm....make sense?)
But here's the kicker....I quit using a wah all the time back in the 80's because I got tired of the nasal sound with bar cords. Morely was best to avoid this, but I feel those really seem to steal the chunk factor from the rythm section and really prefer the vox/cry-baby sound. But this PW-10 has a dirty little secret!!! It has a mode called 'bass mix'. WOW man......there it IS!!! Woooo hooooo....The wah sound is there and very similar the the cry-baby sound, but when you hit bar cords the sound DOES NOT GO NASAL! Wow again. Good goin' Roland!
The other thing I want to relay to interested tweekers is that the sweep is adjustable and has to be the coolest feature. Although sweep still isn't enough to truly replicate the Morley sound as you Morley guys may very well know. Those old chrome stompers were just as much like treble boosters as much as wahs. But it's still nice to be able to limit the sweep just in case a beer bites my butt in the middle of a solo!!!
The other cool thing is you can customize your own wah sound (limited to what this wah can provide) and store it in the memory. (Just don't forget what color led it is!!!)
The distortion (?) boost sounds aren't really great, but then again not really bad and actually are nice to use in the memory as a touch of boost to an identical wah preset for a solo. (Just don't forget the color of the led! Should have had 4 or at least 3 different leds)
I give this a 10 just for the bass mix wah I like so much and all the other options would be different. The univibe I would have to rate at maybe 7 out of ten. The 'voice' mode maybe a 2+.

No problems yet. The only plastic I know of is the battery box contained inside the aluminum body and the battery door on the bottom. And the actuator arm that's also inside. (almost) So I'm not sure what the earlier comments were about this being a plastic piece of junk.

They've never contributed to my campain. Not the best support I guess! Oh wait....I think they may mean as far as repairs. You think? Never needed it and don't know.

This is becomming one of my regular wah buddies! I don't really have any regular guitars, amps or effects I use all the time. It keeps me interested by moving around alot to different sounds as I just mostly record and just plain 'ol jam anymore. You wouldn't believe it if I told you all the gear I own. This is a great wah!!!!!!!

Modeling Wah-Wah pedal, Cry Baby, Vox, Morley, Roto, ... with added Distortion modeling of the popular BOSS pedals available if desired. A couple of added special effects that are interesting but have limited use (voice wah?). OPTICAL OPERATION, no pysical linkage to break/wear out. Features an EFFECTIVE range control of Wah EQ. 2 programable settings + bypass = 3 onstage sound options. Easy to program if you have a manual and can READ... I'm kind of amazed at the number of hairless monkeys out there willing to admit THEY can't handle it and STUPID enough to TELL THE WORLD about their problem. This is NOT a lazy mans wah-wah, not "Guitar GOD in a box" if you want to sound GREAT you will need to work at it a little bit. It is a "Professional Players Best Friend." It's very quiet, very precise, and very dependable. It offers an extremely wide range of options, which is handy in the studio. AND it provides several hands free sound alternatives on stage.

I have a lot of different guitars and amps... The pedal works well with all of them. I think the modeled wah sounds are pretty faithfull to the originals (only quieter). I'm particularly in love with the ROTO simulation and the way SPEED can be varied with the pedal. I also appreciate the ability to set the Sweep Range EQ right where I want it, I can avoid those low end deadspots typical of most Wah-Wahs. I'm not real impressed with the distortion models and have found little use for them thus far, but I don't normally rely on OD pedals anyway.

No Problems. Seems to be well constructed and TOUGH.

No experience. Roland/Boss has a very good Rep.

I think it's probably the best pedal available at this time for the player who wants variety. Recent Chinese Cry-Baby production has been very disappointing and the high priced "Signature" Wah-Wahs seem to be more HYPE and MARKETING in a pretty box, than Quality and Tone on stage. LAZY Wantabees should avoid this pedal and buy a chinese cheapy that will give them an excuse to visit the music store once a week for return/repair. Dedicated players will find it to be an asset that SAVES time and trouble in the long run and provides more options than they can use.

Well it is not as hard as people say to use, read the instructions. It does take some time to set up if you do not like the defaults, but it is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

Unplug the power, hold a button down, plug in change settings hold down button...you are done. Does it take time? yes Is it that hard? No.

One thing I love about this wah is that it has a light to indicate if it is on or off (as well as the distortion effects).

Now granted I stated it is not that hard to set, I do believe it could have been done better (eliminate the issue of disconnecting the power). With that in mind I reduced the score.

I tested this unit with a small 30W fender amp, a Peavey Bandit 112S (awsome gig amp), and a Marshal Valvestate 100 with a 4X12 cab. I also used a stratocaster, a les paul, a Charvel, and a Peavey wolfgang.

I will say that I am amazed, the Crybaby setting sounds very good. I tested it with my original crybaby and it was very...very close. I was very impressed.

I then tested it with the vintage way (yes I have one of thoes too) and it did pretty darn good (but not as good as with the crybaby.

The Morley sounded nice but I do not own on to properly compare it to.

The univibe sounds very nice...I was impressed.

The distortions are usable but not great, I would recomend only using them in moderation.

I did not notice any major tone loss, in fact it was much less than my classic wah pedals.

It seems to be build well. Yes I know it is plastic but lets be honest plastic is much stronger than it used to be. This unit seems very sturdy.

I will gig with it, and not bring a backup...if it breaks I will go without for the gig.

N/A

I play and record almost every style of music.
I have been playing and recording for over 16 years.
If it were stolen I would replace it.
I love that you can store 3 presets and have a manual one giving more stage flexibility.

I wish the unit would have the ability to store more settings, and that you could have all of the distortions available without having to unplug the power and change it every time...but it is a wha peday not a multi processor.

It will be a great help on stage.

You will hear alot of things about this pedal. The first is that it is impossible to use, not enough buttons, etc. But what it must be judged on is the ease of use of the wah component. IN this respect, its moderately easy to use; plug it in, select dunlop, morley, or vox, and you are pretty much there. Easy as pie. Tweaking any further requires a few tries. Finding the distortion and setting usable presets requires can seem to require an electrical engineering degree. But is all that what you bought a wah pedal for?

As a modeling wah pedal on the dunlop , morley and vox settings, its killer. I run it on the front end of a pedal board- just before a DS-1 pedal, a tuner, a daddy-o distortion pedal, an Ibanez ts-9 and an EQ pedal, right into a 1965 Magnatone vintage all tube 65 watt M15a.

With the range at about noon, and the crybaby setting on, with the onboard distortion off, it sounds- acts, and behaves like a really well built wah pedal. In fact, I think boss really got it right. Any "digitized sound" issues are counterbalanced by the fact that it can be noisy like a real wah, or quiet like a Noise reductioned wah, it makes your harmonics sing. Don't believe the hype. It is not a tone stealer.

Its built with some sort of aluminum, rubber and plastic. I believe its just about as tough as it could be. Let me tell you a story about reliability. I have owned a dunlop crybaby that only lasted a few years before the bottom fell off; I bough another one, and abused that a few years, and it got a hiatus when I got a vox valvetronix built in wah set up. I found the dunlop, did not work after all these years.

When I went to buy a new wah, I bought a used Morley pro series from a well known used music reseller. Got it home- never worked. LOts of metal- no working pedal. I went back in and tried a dunlop. It worked but the switch was broken and it had to be turned on manually- useless. also a "snarling dog" super bawl" whine-o wah was in the case. Hearing good things I asked to try it- guess what- broken! So I tried a new ing demon. It was a cool pedal with a lot of neat things- but ultimately I settled on the used boss.

not yet; but I would probably give it away befoire I tried to fix it.

OK- so I was with this sales guy who said he was a blues player, a reformed death metal blues player. He said, try the weeping demon. I did, but it wasn't sounding like a real wah- it was better for metal licks and sweep picking and not really for bluesy soloing. He said the boos was too digital. That may be so- it may not be as analog and tone satisfying as a top of the line dedicated vox, crybaby, morley or fulltone/boutique wah- but for what it is, it is killer. DOn't be fooled. Use it right and its a pro tool. And unless you are doing soundtracks for seventies blue movies, who really uses a wah pedal more that 2% anyway?

Pretty hard to use and setup, though it can be quite versatile and all-in-one pedal. I used the 4 patch banks in the following order: booster, clean, vintage overdrive, turbo overdrive. This allowed me to use the effect at the gigs only with moderate pain:) while switching between the effects.

I would say it sounds good for the money. Wah works pretty well - I'm using Cry Baby setting most of the time. With the clean sound and only wah on it can be very good for recording. As to drive effects - it can be OK for a gig if you do not have or do not want to bring the whole rig and you find the right algorithm:) to switch when playing, but I never recorded with it - either used amp internal drives or other pedals, like RAT, DOD etc.

I' ve had it for 4 years already and played dozens of gigs with it and had no problems so far. 6 AA batteries last pretty long.

never needed to deal with them

I would say it is a nice wah pedal which can be used as a backup drive effect as well.

Presets are average. The presets are on par with (in my opinion) just about every other stompbox/effect in it's price range.

Changing a patch could be more simple if, as some other reviewers noted, there were maybe one or two more knobs. To change a preset, it only involves 1 button, and if you cant plug in the power adapter more than once, I don't think you should be using this pedal without proper adult supervision.

I bought mine used, and as such, it did not come with a manual. My dad however, bought one later, and although still used, had the box and power adapter etc. For my own use, I downloaded the manual from Roland's website, and found it relatively good. It was certainly better than most other pedals I have used that aren't made in a country where English is the native language.

In short, it could be a little more simple to use, but it could also be far, far worse. If you can't figure out this pedal, I think it's time for you to step up from playing Iron Man, Smoke on the Water, and Stairway to Heaven (If you catch my meaning).

Currently I am using this with a Fender Mexican Standard with Texas Specials in it and I put the PW-10 before a Peavey Classic 30 or Transtube EFX, depending on my mood. Nothing else is in the loop, except on the EFX, I find that coupling the Uni-Vibe in the wah pedal with the onboard auto-wah get an amazing funk sound with the neck pickup.

The wah effects are awesome, especially for what I use them for. Before I say anything about the distortion, let me say that I bought this as a WAH PEDAL. Not for distortion, or for a phaser or anything else. That being said, this review is almost strictly on the Wah aspect of this pedal.

However, if you are looking to get a sort of all-in-one pedal, my recommendation would be to try and find some place where they would let you try this out, and have them show you so you can decide for yourself on the distortion. I don't use it, and can only say that it's a little too "processed" sounding for my tastes. Also, I don't use the noise gate type thing, as I like pickup hiss and 60hz hum, especially for that raw, bluesy sound.

As a wah: 9
As anything else: 6.5

As others have said, this is a Boss. It's built to last. On par with Peavey's stuff. I don't gig outside of the occasional party, but if I did, I would definitely use this without a backup only if I was using a power supply (This thing can eat through batteries if on for long periods of time like 4-5 hours).

Never dealt with Boss/Roland, but the fact that all of their software updates and manuals are available for free on their website, I'd say that they are pretty adept.

I play everything, mostly rock/blues oriented but some influences for me include:
Blues (Robert Johnson, Skip James)
Country (real country like Hank Williams Sr. and Jr., Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot)
Blues Rock (SRV, Johnny Winter, Hendrix, Allman Bros.)
70's/80's power metal and rock (Dokken, Maiden, Preist, Van Halen, Extreme, Bon Jovi)
Rockabilly (Hellecasters, Stray Cats/Brian Setzer)
And anything else centered around guitar (Santana, Satch, Dream Theater)

Now...with all of those influences I mainly use this for Blues and Satriani-type stuff. The one preset almost nails Satriani's sound. It's pretty good for those, but as one other reviewer stated, why try to copy someone? The one preset almost nails Satriani's sound. Make your own tone and stand out from the "14-year-old-on-a-saturday-afternoon-at-guitar-center" crowd. (before you think I'm some old fogey (no offense to anyone) I'm going to state that I am 18, and still cannot stand most of the other players in the 14 to 20 age group)

I have compared this to other wah pedals, including a Crybaby and a Weeping Demon. For ease of use, this comes in close but last, with the Crybaby leading there (come on, one knob? how simple can it get?). However I'd say this wins only for the sheer difference in tones you can get with some work. Keep in mind that I didn't pay anything near the actual cost for this unit, and would give it a 10 at the price I got it for. At the usual, new price, I'd give this an 8.5 to a 9.5 only because it beats most other modeling Wah pedal in that price range. I might say, if you're a big fan of one artist, and really want their sound (also useful for cover artists) Spend the 50$ more and look into Digitech's signature wah pedals, like the Hendrix model. Hell the Hendrix model is good for general classic rock too, but you'll always be labeled as another Hendrix tone-clone.

Awful owner's manual. distortion/drive is so hard to access I would never use it live. 4 of the 7 wah modes are so similar they are a waste.
The Univibe is cool but something to be used once in a blue moon. I can get the same effect by tweaking my chorus or tremolo together.
No true bypass here so I did an a/b switchbox comparison and when off, this still sucks the tone out of my setup. Needless to say, the PW10 is outta here, replaced by a modded Crybaby with TB.

setup- custom US strat -> modded comp Boss CS3 -> pw10 (replaced by TB modded crybaby)-> Keeley brown modded ibanez TS9 -> FZ2 -> Keeley modded TR2 -> CH1-> DD3-> Mesa Boogie Rocket 44.

Needless to say, the PW10 is out of the chain. Not sure why Boss are doing this COSM stuff, since any COSM I've tried sucks the tone right out of my rig.(the COSM FZ5 Fuzz has to be heard to be believed - it's that bad)Boss pedals have been great down the years but they have gone down the wrong road with COSM. MAYBE PRODUCTION IS EASIER AND CHEAPER BUT THEY ARE DRIVING REGULAR USERS AWAY AND DON'T KNOW IT

The effects - Univibe and crybaby settings are the only thing I would use IF I kept this. The rest is either filler or too cumbersome to access on the fly during a gig. Do guitarists really need all these hard to access drive settings when 90% of the time they'll have an overdrive/distortion pedal in their existing chain???

BUILT LIKE A TANK SO YES IT IS DEPENDABLE AS ALL BOSS PEDALS ARE. I WOULD NOT EVEN KEEP IT AS A BACKUP BECAUSE OF THE TONE ISSUES.

For a big company, Boss is fairly responsive.

I got this on ebay for cheap, just to try it out. I play rock, blues, reggae, a bit of rnb...have done so for 27 years or so.
This is the most disappointing wah - Boss loaded it with what could be great features, but dropped the ball on the basics. A tone sucker, what more can I say. Mass production at its worst.

I will admit, having to unplug, turn knob, hold button, plug in, turn knob, push button, etc...isn't the most user friendly. But in all honesty, as I look at this thing, where was Boss supposed to put all the knobs and switches while maintaining it's size? The side may have been in option, but really, you know you're buying a modeling pedal, expect some work to customize it.

I run a strat, lp, x2n equipped RG, and a 7 string in to the pw-10 to a string of reputable dirt boxes modulations, and ended with the eq-20 and ns-2 all to a Peavey Classic 30, which just recently replaced my Marshall VS65R.
I read a lot of the low rating reviews and decided to stick my Crybaby 535q right next to the PW-10 and a/b them. With the heel down, the PW-10 is a little bassier then the Crybaby, but through the rest of the sweep...identical. This was with my Crybaby on the second setting, and the PW-10's range at about 10:30. I've never used a morely, vox, or univibe, so I can't compare really, but they sound good and are very usable.
As for the distortions. I got this b/c I needed a wah pedal...don't use 'em. Wouldn't suggest using them either.
Also, the noise gate is a bit of a paradox for me. To me, turning on the wah and hearing the noise is part of the appeal. I don't like having my signal get quieter when I step on the wah. Fortunately you can turn it off, and I do.

Unlike what everybody else says, I've had/have several boss pedals, and have had issues with many, and I'm a bedroom player, so my gear isn't getting abused or beat up.
With that said, this one has not been one of them yet.

I've dealt with Boss a couple times to get replacement components for other pedals. A decent experience outside of sending me the wrong part one time, but it was replaced quickly and for free. Did you know that potentiometers cost less then plastic knobs?

I play a bit of everything, which makes this wah a good fit. I've been playing for 8ish years, and while I don't go for the overpriced boutique stuff, I'd like to think I have a good ear for my gear. I only have it b/c I wanted a replacement for my 535 when it's switch broke (dunlop? broken switches?). The best thing in comparison is no click, and no bad switch to go bad. If it got stolen, I still have my 535, I'd probably just get a new switch (yep, it's shoddy again) and stick with the crybaby for the sheer fact it's there.
Overall, I think it's a mighty fine wah, does what it should and more. I especially like being able to save settings, and have four presets at my disposal with the rock of my heel.
I think some of the features are extraneous, and those that gave it poor ratings based them on those, rather then the wah it's self.

Easy to use as a wah as long as you don't step on the rear switch to engage a drive preset. If you do, you'll end up with a drive sound way too loud for the level of your manual mode. Drive mode is a nightmare until you get the hang of setting it up and even then there's no level control to balance your clean tone level against the drive channel - only a noise gate control and a gain pot. Very poor design from Boss in this area.

Wah sounds are generally good although not particularly good models of what they're supposed to be. If you take it as it is and use as a wah, the sound is fine. Drive mode is very poor quality. There is a lot of noise from the unit after your sound decays or is muted. It's bad enough with the noise gate engaged. It's positively unusable without the noise suppressor. A very poor effort from Boss in the drive mode - nothing like as quiet as a separate Boss pedal. I'll stick to driving my amp with a Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 pedal.

Very well made and I've never had a problem with Boss gear before. Unlikely to break unless you throw it under a truck because of the piss-poor sound quality from the drive channel !!

Never had to.

A frustrating bit of kit this. Could have been fantastic as a multi-effects unit, but unfortunately will need to be used only as a versatile wah pedal. Still good, but given that you can buy a very good Behringer multi-wah now for about ??30 (GBP) I'd say the Boss is looking very expensive now. But Behringer or a Crybaby instead and save yourself: (a) a few quid, and (b) a couple of days messing about trying to get good drive sounds out of this. Trust me, you can't.