Boss PW-10 V-Wah

Easy to get great wah sounds. But very hard to set the distortions.
You absolutely need the manual because it is a case of holding this
whilst pressing that and holding this whilst turning that.
And of course 90 percent of the manual is redundant such as....
be sure to put the batteries in right.....and.....plug your guitar into the input...and.......don't use it in the bathtub... and tucked neatly inside all the BS are obtuse, anal, butten pressing regimens that you would not find after 10 years of trying to do without the manual... I mean setting the distortions is harder that Nick Cage finding the NATIONAL TREASURE!!!! But do this..... get what you like in manual mode and then save it to 1 - RED then redo the manual mode and save to 2 - GREEN then reset the manual mode and save to 3- YELLOW then again
reset the manual mode to what you would most like to use.

It is wonderful, super. But I suggest you sit down and TRANSLATE the manual into COMMOM SENSE which is what I had to do and then all was well with the world and this wa.

Seems very HEAVY DUTY.

I just don't care.

Take the time to read and reread the manual.
First I crossed out all the redundant Bull Crap, such as...
plug your guitar into the input jack... DUH Then I copied down all the vital programming steps. Then I rewroted those steps in my own words. Then finally I was able to rock with this thing.

oh, it's easy, plug it in and go, too bad it sucks!

1?!? more like -100!
I've never heard anything worse in my 15 years as a pro rock guitarist, this thing sucks. I'm shocked that it's on the market. Barely any play, I listened close and there are only 3 degrees of tonal switch! I can get a better wah sound out of jumping up and down on my eq pedal.

Well, I threw it out of the bus window once, my bass player got mad and said "hey, I could have used that!", I said "pal, if you wanna go look for it, it's yours." So we turned around and went back for it... it still worked!!! He hated it, i think he's using it to prop up his small amp at home.

They didn't take well to my cursing on the phone, meh.

Man oh man, I wish I could say something nice here other than I failed when trying to destroy it. It's gotta be the worst thing Boss ever released, barre none.

The most difficult to use pedal I've ever encountered, and I've owned about 40 here and there.

I can't believe the ratings people are giving this pedal! I got it recently, and I'm going to use it for noise purposes here and there, but come on people! This thing sounds pathetic! The wahs all suck, they all sound exactly the same, the pedal has no sweep, no range, nasal-sounding. The noise supprossor barely suppresses anything, the Uni-Vibe is barely audible, the talk think sucks. There is nothing good about the sound of this pedal. Sorry. Wish I hadn't bought it. Last wah I owned was a Hiwatt custom wah. Blew this thing away, and I didn't even like it that much.

Seems ok

I play rock guitar, I've played for about 16 years. Over that time I've used Dunlops, Crybabys, Vox, Morley, Hiwatt and now this wah. This one is by far, by miles, the worst of them. I can't believe Boss let this thing out into the market. Maybe there's something wrong with mine, I dont' know. All of the functions seem to work, but they all suck too. Oh well, the search continues.

This is an extremely easy peice of equipment to setup. I'm 16 and a first time Wah Wah pedal user and i didn't even have to look at the manual, though after setting it up i referred to the manual just for a gander and it was very well explained. Only problem here would be the difficulty to make your own sound.

My rig is from a Dean Baby ML --> Zoom 707II Multi-effects bank --> BOSS PW-10 V-Wah --> Marshall AVT150 --> Computer.

Im not getting any unwanted noise...it has actually got rid of that inscesant buzz that was there before hand. Nice!

These effects really do do the job! You can get Hendrix, DimeBag, Satriani, Vai all the greats! Only downfall would be the distortion! But any respectable guitarist should have another distortion and i pity the fool who doesn't!

Footswitching is difficult sitting down, but very easy when standing.

Only got it today, but no problems so far, unlike the Dime Cry Baby i bought and had to take back cos it was bust! I would most definetly use in a gig without a backup, unless the back up was another PW-10!

Phone number is supplied in the booklet and i haven't had to call!

I play all sorts and this matches every genre! I've been playing for 3 years and the gear i own is:

Dean Baby ML
Gretsch Electromatic (Custom)
Tanglewood BS800 Electro-resonator
Westfield SR838 Electro Acoustic
Fenix Strat (Fender Copy)
Peavey Milestone III Bass Guitar
Zoom 707 II
Marshall AVT-150
Seinheisser Evolution Microphone
And much more...!

The build quality and look of this thing is awesome, matches my guitar! And this pedal inspires me to make more rock music than i ever have before this BOSS truely has earned its name!

Is not as some people say it's complicated to use. Setting it up might be a little bit tricky but once you set this guy up, then you are on your own with a very easy to use unit. The manual is clear and easy to understand.

I use a roland cube 30 amp and a godin exit 22 guitar. Is not noisy at all. The built in effects are amazingly good, specially the distortions. I can easily get the sound of Dream Theater guitars as far as distortion and I can also get the wah wah from the cure. Check my bands website for a music sample so that you can hear how tis unit works.

I would use this unit on a GIG no problem without a backup.

I haven't dealt with them

I play heavy rock music and this unit fits perfectly in it. If it was stolen no questions I would buy another one. Something I love about is that is Boss. With this monster you won't ever need another wah pedal ever.

To use this pedal as a regular wah is easy as any other wah. You just press the toe down to turn it on or off just like a Dunlop. To use it any other way can de a bit challenging. Switching between the different presets and editing the presets is easy too. When it comes to saving those presets or creating your own, it's like a puzzle you might see in the movie National Treasure. I love figuring out gear and have been knw to spend hours on end just programing gear like old Digitech 2101's and Roland stuff. This pedal was just ridiculously un-intuitive. Once I got it to do what I wanted it was great but figuring out how to do that was NOT easy. The manual was written well enough but it's obvious that the manual was written to explain the technology and not written to establish an ideal method for the technoloigy to be designed around. To my knowledge there is no firmware/software versions.

My rig was a Music Man Silhouette with EMG pickups, the Boss PW-10 and a Mesa rig witha Triaxis preamp, 2:90 power amp and a Mesa Recto 4x12. I put the wah between my guitar and the Triaxis with no other gear in the chain.

The unit is inherently noisy but a simple turn of the threshhold knob for the silencer virtually eliminated all noise. Made a handy noise gate for general use too. Once adjusted the pedal is pretty much silent.

The pedal sounds GREAT! I've only owned one other wah, a Dunlop 535Q, and I was not impressed at all. The Dunlop had a weak range, considerably mild effect and the little boost button on the side broke off in a week and I didn't even use it. The Boss is built in their usual tank-like fashion... The wah effect from the Boss is unmistakable and totally dominating. Regardless of where in the sweep the pedal is you can hear the wah effect. The distortion on the pedal is cool for boost I guess but with no other controls for it but gain it's not very useful as, say, a "distortion with wah" pedal. It's definitely a great wah with some distortion in it. As for the accuracy of the modeling of the various wahs, I can't vouch for that but each model does sound notably different, all sound good and are very useable. Anyone wondering if this thing has a good range? It's range is nuts! I wanted a pedal with lots of range and I found myself using the controls to decrease the range more than to increase it. Also, the smoothness of the sweep is perfect. There are not hot spots in the sweep range. Overall, I say this is a perfect wah pedal.

This pedal is about the same size as a Dunlop wah and suprisingly heavy. I would definitely consider this pedal reliable. I knocked mine off the top of a full stack and it had no affect on the pedal. It's an all metal chassis and very solid.

Never needed it...

One last thing I thought was sweet was the ability to tighten the bolts that hold the pedal on to change the stiffness of the motion. Totally cool feature! I can't imagine anyone not liking the sound of this pedal. It's definitely a bitch to use if you wanna do all the fancy stuff it does but as a simple wah it is really easy to use.

I've been playing various styles of metal for about 18 years. I've seen lots of gear come and go and I consider myself a pretty picky ( pun intended ) gear head ( pun also intended ). If stuff doesn;t feel sound great, I dump it and move on. This pedal is a definite keeper.

I would buy another one of these if it were stolen, although I'd most likely buy the Boss GT-8 since it has this pedal and way more but for the money, if all you want is a great sonding wah, get this.

Again, as a distortion pedal, it sux. There are no tone controls and the distortion, despite being described as several different types, sounds like one OK pedal with just a really wide range of gain. As a wah, it's phenomenal.

As for features I wish it had? A more intuitive system for editing. With all it's ability it seems like it needs a USB port and a PC editor. They have too much in this thing for just three knobs and a couple of buttons.

For it's presets, it's very easy to use. You will have to read the manual or look under the pedal to customize your own settings. However, it's nothing too complicated.

It's just like most other pedals out there (minus the noise supressor). The emulation of the various pedals is decent but it really shines in it's double resonance feature. I also LOVE the Q and band frequency controls that this unite offers. The noise supressor is nice little tool that can really come in handy.

For a Boss Pedal, this feels a bit weak. I haven't had any problems at the moment, but the input for AC adapter is a little bit loose on my unit.

I've never needed to deal with them

It doesn't provide the best emaulation of various pedals but it does have it's own unique sound. It can somewhat emulate an analog synth filter with the use of the Uni-Vibe and double resonance features. If you want something simple that can accurately emulate vintage pedals, this pedal might not be for you (try a tesse mccoy). If you want something to experiment with (and don't mind programming in dual layers), then this pedal is perfect for you.

It does take a few tries to get this pedal set up. A little effort goes a long way. The manual is ok. Needs more steps and need to drop the "turn off/turn on amp" in every paragraph. The distortions need a tone control and a volume separate from the drive. Also, need a variable for the input so the wah's don't distort with a hot pickup.

I using this with a Marshall DSL 50. With the Wah engaged I was getting distortion when playing on the clean channel. The manual says roll down the volume on the guitar. I did and it cleaned up nicely. The distortions sound ok. I like the overdrive on my amp a lot better. I bought it for the Wah pedals, not the overdrives. I will try a few as a boost for the red channel on my amp but so far I can't use them. I am using all four channel with zero drive. I like being able to pick different Wah pedals. It gets the job done.

I don't know how reliable it is. I took it apart and it looks pretty solid. I don't use a Wah much so I don't need a backup.

The website had the manual to download. So that was helpful enough.

Overall, I like it. It will add another dimension to my playing. Hopefully, not a gimmick. I have been playing for 18 years and this is my third Wah. I had the original bad horsie but took it back. If I lost it I would try something else.

Using it as a standard wah pedal is easy enough, but the custom configuration takes alot of concentration and patience.

The bottom line is that you will eventualy figure out how to save the pedals settings in three states in addition to however the knobs are set at that moment, and they provide access to them by foot either in on/off fashion or 1/2/3/off fashion so that's much apreciated.

Unfortunately there is a one second delay kick in when activating the memory so that's a huge disapointment if you need to kick in the effect at a certain measure.

Also the full width of the wah seems to be encompased in the first half of the pedal's rock, the upper half of the rock is in it's peak position. Recalibration didn't fix it. I'll probably tighten the pedal and see if that helps control the wah in a shorter range of movement.

It's truely amazing that the designers though it was a better idea to make the controls as difficult to use as they are rather than add an extra knob and an extra button to spread out the functions. It's obvious that this pedal style is going to become increasingly complex like other multi effects pedal with digital readouts and multiple rockers because there's so much un realized potential in this model alone.

This pedal is realy good for blues or classic rock players because the incorperated overdrives sound realy good but switching between the effects is kind of risky, and with classic rock there usualy isn't as much switching as with modern music which relies on effects to create its highs and lows. I just set the OD1 or blues driver effect to it's fullest and reduce the effect with the volume knob on my guitar and no effect switching is neccessary because at about "5" the sound is pretty clean and plenty loud. With this pedal I can probably leave my oem tube screamer at home because the nobody will realize the difference.

The Big Muff distortion is very convincing but unless you want Big Muff from begining to end of a song, good luck trying to seemlessly switch it on or off since it takes a second for the effect to kick in.

I also have a Crybaby pedal, and it's true that the real thing is a bit richer in tone but the difference is superficial and it doesn't sound bad by any stretch of the imagination. It should be good enough for anyone and if it isn't I question their motives. In general, I can't realy hear a significant difference between most of the classic wahs. The modern wah options are fun to mess with, they might make for interesting lead guitar tones some day.

Here's another big plus, the univibe effect is a convincing chorus if you set it realy low.

It's fine as long as you configure the heel switch to be in toggle mode becuase if you accidently hit it you don't want to have to figure out how to get back to the last setting or potentialy have to press it three times to get to any particular effect.

n/a

It's great if you look at it for what it can do for you right now and ignore the lost potential it has to be so much better. It's especialy good for classic rock or blues because they were nice enough to throw in several overdrives.

I spent about half an hour playing with this at my local guitar shop today. I've been trying tremolo and vibrato (leslie effect attemps) pedals all week, spending about 45 min./day.

Get this -- I tried this pedal because of its UNIVIBE effect implementation! I also wanted a wah pedal, but wasn't planning to get one for a while -- I was planning to wait for the Behringer Hell Baby pedal to come out in May or June or July or whenever. The Behringer will cost $39, honest to God.

But I tried this Boss pedal. The Uni effect was pretty good, I thought. The wha sounds were frickin fantastic.

Over-all it was an amazing pedal, just in terms of the sounds it made. It's QUIET. It has a broad, clear, rich sound, with plenty of low end.

I love the way you can set the range of the wah.

It is built like a metal brick. If someone climbed in my window to steal it, I would beat them to death with the wah pedal! It is a weapon. You could kill several people, wipe off the pedal with a damp rag, and then play all night. (Ok, I am making all this up. I have not killed anyone with this wah pedal. I am using a sort of literary license to communicate the build quality of this product. Please do not contact the police. Thank you.)

I think I'm gonna buy it. It was the sound, which is what I think should matter most.

The unit is very easy to use. Until you want to program it, because then things get more complicated.
I would say you can operate it on two levels:
Level 1: out-of-the-(stomp)-box mode: no problems, great sounds
Level 2: a bit more complicated, more interesting sounds

Given the complex nature of the unit's operation (compared to normal wahs), the manual is pretty accurate. And there's even a manual on the bottom plate!

The way one has to change settings is simply ridiculous. You have to remove the power plug, fiddle around with some buttons, insert the power plug again while keeping a button depressed &c.

I use the unit with a 6120 and Stratocaster. Both sound quite good through this versatile baby.

It gives a very sturdy impression.

The actual pedal is a bit shorter than normal wah pedals, but that's not really a problem.

Problem: On most stomp-boxes, you can adjust the balance between volume and distortion. Not on this one: the more drive, the more volume. This renders the drive function useless to me, because I like to play clean and with drive at the same volume (an extra level control would solve this problem). If this problem would be solved, I would gladly get rid of my tubescreamer and use this one as my sole (!) effect box.

This pedal is not easy to setup, but once setup is dead simple. Many people have complained about how complicated it is to switch between the various options. True, but how many voicings do you go through in the run of a session? Set it up the way you want it and just use it.
I have programmed mine twice, and now have exactly what I want and will probably not change it for several months.

Programmability - 5
Use - 9

The Wahs are good.

Distortion/OD are good, but do not provide for on-pedal tone control. I use BD, MT-2, Pi, and booster. They seem to be pretty good models of the originals and suit my music. The booster does seem to add some colour, however.

Noise suppression is ok.

This is a pedal, the rest of my gear is irrelevant. Try it with your own as "sound quality" is subjective.

So far so good. Saying it is a "Boss" doesn't carry much water for me as this is a firmware based unit, not analog. Boss analog, however, is a sure bet and speaks well about their products in general.

Certainly would gig without a backup. It seems fine, and if it dies.. well that's where the fun starts..

Reliability to date is a 10.

Not used it.

Use it wherever you would a wah pedal. Find your own sound. Why does everyone want to sound like someone else anyway?

I program it to be switchable between MT-2 and booster with the foot switch. You can still access the other two memories with the button.

I get a single, useable, footswitchable distortion and the wah I want. The boost manual setting is "clean" and allows me to select another wah with the turn of a dial. If you need more than one wah voice in a song, I think you are probably over-doing it.

I would replace it immediately.

Used as a straight wah, it is very simple. (Toe switch turns the wah on and off.) A heel switch cycles through 3 memory locations. Both switches are stiff, and very difficult to operate from a seated position. To make use of the distortions and memory functions requires some reading of the manual, and changing distortions is fiddly. Manual is perfectly adequate (Handy to have some of the instructions on the bottom panel)

However, a previous reviewer said that only one distortion can be used at a time, and that the drive knob controls the level regardless of the memory setting. This is not true.
You can save up to 3 different distortions into memory, and have 1 more on the manual setting. You just have to change the distortion to a different type before you save to a given memory setting.
Also, the manual clearly states that if you do not have the drive knob turned up past "0" before getting ready to save to memory, you will not be able to adjust the drive level in that memory setting prior to saving.
Thus you can actually have 3 memory setting with different distortions set to individual drive levels, enabling you to switch to a memory location with the heel switch and call up a distortion type by itself (with the wah turned off).

My setup is Gibson LP Standard---->Boss TU-2---->CS-3---->PW-10 Wah---->Marshall JCM 601 combo---->DD-20(in effects loop)

I've tried the Wah before and after my Boss compressor, and it sounds better after the CS-3. There can be a little noise with the distortion drive turned up, but judicious use of the noise suppressor virtually eliminates hiss.

The wah models certainly give you a chance to experience a few of the classic wahs. Not having any of the original pedals, I am reluctant to swear to their accuracy, but you can hear the distinct differences in each setting, and the pedal has a great range. My favourite is the Vox wah; works great with clean and dirty channels.

I didn't buy the pedal for the distortion models, but again, it is well worth trying the various types. In use I just keep one memory setting with the Blues Driver (drive set to 3-4)and use it with the wah off (mostly) Sounds really good on the clean channel of my amp. Picking dynamics are clearly heard, just like the real BD-2 pedal. However, I wish those reviewing this pedal would stop making comments like "the distortions are a weak imitation of the real thing" Actually the distortions are quite accurate; what you don't have is the ability to tweak them to the same degree as on the individual pedals. {Seriously, if anyone reading this knows where you can buy a modelling pedal of any kind that actually puts 5 or 10 or 15 exact replica pedals in one small electronic package, with a stunningly simple user interface,for a fraction of the price of the originals, I would like to know.} Depending on your guitar, amp and other pedals, you can certainly find at least one good distortion here to fit your sound. You just can't expect to tweak all 8 models to perfection.

For live use the 2 memory setup is preferable so you are not cycling between 4 presets, as there can be a slight noise when switching through the 4 positions. The 4 memory use is better for trying out several different settings quickly (ie at home).
I find the sound quality very good, and the V-Wah is very quiet. The ability to adjust the wah frequency range makes it easy to fit the sound to your equipment, and prevents an extreme trebly sound (eg. on the Crybaby). The Univibe is just okay, but I don't use the other settings for the custom and advanced wah, or voice.

The pedal is mostly metal, and appears very robust. However, about 11 months after buying it, I started having a little trouble when switching between memory positions. It kept wanting to switch directly to the manual setting. A quick trip to Boss service (in Toronto) resulted in a software upgrade (IIRC; apparently the problem was not unheard of) and now the pedal is as good as new.

I've dealt with Toronto CS on a couple of occasions, for this pedal and my GT-3 (software upgrade); they are always prompt in returning calls and so far turn-around times are quicker than stated. They have always been very helpful.

I'm 45, still into classic rock, and trying to learn some blues. Think Gary Moore, SRV, Boston, VH, Aerosmith, Journey, etc. Played on and off 28 years. I bought this pedal to avoid having to work my way through a few wahs to get a perfect fit. I think this pedal works best as a sampler of different sounds, with the ultimate goal being to settle on your favourite 1 or 2 setting/s. The user interface is too complicated to make big changes in a live setting, but once you are dialed in, this pedal works great. No noise, no faulty pots, and I find almost no difference between bypass or user mode.

Don't like - 2 second wait for bypass, noisy and stiff switching
Like - built-in noise suppressor, frequency control, distortion options

If lost or stolen I would probably replace this pedal. Pretty hard to find another wah this versatile for the money, and I do use the distortions. The versatility is what makes this a keeper!

it not to hard to use. it is a boss pedal and you really dont need to be an engineer to figure it out.

ok this thing dose not sound good at all in my opinion. all the wah sounds are weak though it is pretty quiet and dont seem to suck tone like an unbypassed wah. but there is not enough sweep to the pedal and no matter how hard i tried i just couldnt find a sweet spot i liked so am sending my old crybaby out to get modded true bypassed.
gear wise i am using a 1963 strat with a twin silver face dont ask me what year it is with analog man modded pedals.

it is a boss i doubt that it would break unless ya threw it out of a building several floors up. and if it sounded good i would use it without a back up.

never dealt with boss never had a pedal break on me and some of them i have had since 1990.

well the only reason i gave it a 4 here is the fact it is dependable and it not to hard to use but the sounds on it are weak. a person is probably better off buying a wah and having it true bypassed and would have much more tonal qualities than with this pedal.

i agree with the comments about programming the distortion, i never use it (though i might try it this week so.....)
everything else is a no-brainer

it sounds great doing what i want it too plus it wont crap out on me like the cry babies do (ive had 3 die on me)
i can get the sound i want so it gets a 9

built like a tank i would have no need to take a back-up

i have ;lots of roland stuff and have always found them great at support

i play everything from thrash to jazz (lots of funk especially)
i would definately recommend this thing

As easy as a normal pedal wah: rock back to increase bass & forward to increase treble. The true-bypass mode is a bit of a trouble though, u hav to hold it like for 2 seconds, which is really not anything u're gonna waste ur time w/ in the middle of a song. There's also another additional wah bypass which only disengages the wah (not od/ds) when used. And ya, these switches r only possible to activate when standing up (yup, really that hard). Overall the normal sweeping is as easy as 1-2-3 period.
So,
Normal use :8
Other purposes:5

The wahs r definitely tasty & almost true to the original. But the wacka-wacka stuff is not possible though, it just couldn't do the kwa thing & also the reverse wah sweep (imagine aaoouu like in Joe Satriani's Souls Of Distortion). The wah is sweet but if u put it on the down position, it just goes oooomph, which is a bit of a disappointment. The wah itself produces no noise though....but when u put in the od/ds, everything goes hhhhhmmmmm (due to static hum)& when sustaining a note, it goes a bit eeeeeeee (no, not a harmonic, just somekind of a statical tonal degration) on the high end & really sucks! The built-in noise-supresser is nowhere as good as the renowned NS-2 & adds on to the eeeeeeee of the od/ds.
So my advise is to use it ONLY as a wah pedal & don't think twice to consider the od/ds.
Wah :8 (I'm reviewing this only)
OD/DS:4
NS :2

Reliable ONLY as a stand-alone wah pedal. Forget about the od/ds it also has, remember that u can't switch the whole thing into bypass easily. Only relied it as a wah pedal during gigs

Never needed it, the whole thing is tough as a tank & believe me, I've seen a Boss pedal w/o the cover (my friend's) still work as if nothing happened to it before.

As I said, only good as a stand-alone wah & nothing else. But the better thing compared to normal wah pedals is that it catches no dust in its systems & produces no noise (wah ALONE).
Overall it is a good product but I think Bosscorp should put more work into the swithching system & od/ds.

If you use it only as a wah, it's simple, but if you are using all the other things, like the heel switch to select among your own saved presets, then it is a little more complicated. Turn the knob to select which wah or any of the functions, turn the wah range knob for obviously the range of the wah, and the drive knob to add in some distortion or volume boost. Selecting different distortions if very stupid like others said, they should have came up with a better idea for that. It's very easy if you just use it as a wah, don't use it for saving presets or whatever else.

The wahs actually are pretty good, they all sound somewhat like the ones they are simulating. Just tweak the wah range to get the wah sound you want, it's that simple. Really, don't use the other functions that this pedal has to offer, they aren't that great. The distortions are weak, you can tell which one each is. The voice mode is too wierd, and the uni-v is pretty good, nothing to really complain or really talk about. You will get an annoying noise from the wahs if you don't have the noise suppressor turned up a bit, not feedback, but a swooshing sort of noise. You can really get any range and sound you want from the selection of wahs, from very wide and deep, to very thin.

I've had mine for about a year, it's a Boss pedal, it will keep going. If it did break or something, I have a lot of backup gear, so I don't need to worry. But, the pedal doesn't seem to be a cheap, low quality pedal, buily nice and sturdy, you can even adjust the footpedal itself, how loose or tight you want it. You can't do that with most wah pedals can ya?

You are either going to like the pedal or not, just try one out, it's very versatile. I do wish the distortions sounded better, they are too weak, and there should be an easier, more convenient way to change the distortions. Also, the voice mode is kinda wierd, they could have done without it. Overall, the pedal is a nice thing to have, it can compare to the Dunlop 535Q wah in some ways, but it isn't better than the 535Q wah.

In order to operate this pedal and use many of it's functions, is so dumb! It does have the regular toe switch like most wahs, but it also has some stupid heel switch, which I never wasted my time to figure out. The manual is very helpful, explains everything, but there is so much. Also, the manual is condensed on the bottom of the pedal, so if you forget something and are crazy enough to use this pedal for shows, you just flip the pedal over and check out what you want? Yeah, sounds pretty stupid, and you'll look like an idiot doing it. Rating it a 5, because there is too much to the pedal, you don't even need what's on it, it should have just been a wah, not all this other crap it also has on it!

I will start with everything other than the wahs 1st. The voice mode is quite a bad idea Boss had, you can use it if you want, maybe just to fool around with, but definitly not for anything else. The Uni-V isn't bad, but leave it to Boss to ruin a classic. The onboard distortions and overdrives are literally a JOKE! I at least thought before I bought the pedal that, since it's a Boss pedal, the distortions shuld be really good like all of there compact pedals... But, wow, they are so bad! They are weak copies off their own pedals and a few other companies. You can get them to sound decent with an EQ, but why? Ok, onto the wahs. I never used or tried out the custom wah, so I can't say anything about it. The advanced wah is like an enhanced wah, the wah sound will be more pronounced and be heard better over your other pedals, but not by much. The Dunlop wah is the best on the pedal, it's the best sounding and best overall for the pedal, can't even compare to a real Dunlop wah. You can get a really nice range with the dunlop wah. The Vox wah sounds nothing like a real Vox, it sounds just like the Dunlop wah, but with a little bit of added mid. And no, you can't get a Hendrix-y sound (opening part of Voodoo chile-slight return) out of this pedal, not with any of them, even with a lot of tweaking, not possible. The Morley wah is wierd, it is a deeper wah than all of the wahs on the pedal. They have the Q/Range knob for tweaking each wah. I own, or have owned each of the wahs this pedal emulates, and none of them can compare. One thing, if you use a Dunlop GCB-95, or any of their other wahs, when playing it, you get the constant wah-ing sound (if you want to know what I mean, listen to Joe Satriani's Souls of Distortion) evening when you let a chord or a note ring out, but with the Boss wahs, once you let a note or chord ring out, the wah dies out. I have a bunch of wah pedals, Vox V847 and V846, Morley Vol/dist/wah and the Vai Bad Horsie, and a Dunlop GCB-95 and 535Q wah. I bought the Boss wah before buying the 535q, i thought the boss wah could have been good, but it isn't. ALso, there are I think 3 or 4 memory locations you can use, but it's really not necessary. If you buy this to use it as a wah, only use it as a wah, keep one one, and just turn it on and off like a regular wah, don't waste your time with all the other crappy features on the Boss wah. I rate it a 6, because the distortions, voice mode, Uni-v, and most of the wahs suck on this pedal.

I bought mine when this pedal came out, not sure how long ago that was, but it still works like new. It's a Boss pedal, it's going to last you a long time. I have plenty of good wah pedals, I don't even consider bringing this pedal to shows as backup. If this is your only wah pedal, it should be reliable, I just don't bring it because I don't really like the pedal. I rate it a 10, because nothing went out on me yet, and shows no signs of wearing out when I actually bring it out for whatever reason.

They are a great company, I have called them up to get demo's of some of their stuff, they are very quick and helpful.

Overall, this pedal should have JUST been made a wah pedal, they should have kept out all of the other functions, I bet the wahs would have been much better. This is one of the more expensive wahs out right now, not even my Dunlop 535Q wah cost more than this thing!? I don't think this pedal should cost how much it does, it's really not anything great. Like someone else said, if you can pick from a bunch of wahs, don't go with the Boss wah. If you are willing to dish out $150, or whatever this pedal goes for now, buy the Dunlop 535Q wah, like $30 or $40 less than the boss wah, and is a TOP of the line wah, 10 times better than the Boss wah, more versatile, and sounds so much better. My Boss wah has been sitting in my basement with a bunch of my unused pedals. I rate it a 6, because for the $, you can get something way better.

- It's hard to get a good tone, because in order to customise a new wah setting you have to turn off the power (pull the plug), hold a button down while you plug it in again, then fiddle with the knobs. When you're done you can save the settings. Also, in this mode you only have access to the wah Q and presence settings, so you can't adjust Q and range simultaneously.

- This is a giant pain in the ass. If they ever make a PW-20, it should have all controls available all the time. Basically I want something like the 535Q, where you have a wah range and Q control right on the box. I would gladly pay more for the pedal if it had twice as many knobs that could make it so much easier to use.

I'm using an Ibanez JS1 into a Peavey JSX with a 4x12 XXX slant cab.

- The modelled wah sounds are excellent. You have access to every wah tone you ever wanted, plus a huge range that you never thought were possible.

- The distortion sounds are OK, but they don't compare to the dedicated effects they emulate. They are also hard to use for the same reason as the wah: you have to pull the plug, enter a program mode when plugging it in again, then adjust some of the settings, save, adjust other settings. Stupid.

I've only had it for a couple of months, and I don't gig.

This pedal can do it all. It's just so damn hard to use!

I've had this pedal for at least a year, it isn't the simplest pedal to use when you first start off with it. I really didn't like the heel switch or whatever it is, I never used it for the entire time I used the pedal. One really dumb idea about this pedal is how you have to change the distortion on this pedal. You gotta take the power supply out, turn the knob to a certain wah, hold down the memory button, and put the power supply back in? Pretty stupid, and not worth wasting your time over, because the distortions aren't very good. I did have to check out the manual when i first got it to find out how to do a few things, cause this pedal is more like a multi effects pedal, rather then a wah!?!

One thing I don't get it how Boss calls it a wah pedal when it has other, not needed effects? The wahs on this pedal sound kinda good, but I took this off my pedalboard to put my Dunlop 535Q wah back in, that is a wah pedal for ya! But, the Boss wah has all these other things on it like the "voice" mode, I think it is pretty stupid, it doesn't sound good at all unless you use the onboard distortions, which also aren't too good. The voice mode is pretty bad when I tried to use it with my own distortion pedal, you can't really hear it, and when you do, it just sounds bad, no reason for the voice mode. There are a few distortion to pick from, but all sound pretty bad, you can throw in an EQ after this pedal, but it's a wah, (or supposed to be) not a distortion pedal! There is also the uni-v, it's ok, but another unecessary effect. I won't say much about the uni-v, cause it really shouldn't be on this pedal, along with most of the other effects. Finally, onto the wahs... It is a pretty quiet pedal, they say there are no pots or anything to wear out, and so far that seems to be true. The custom wah is just terrible, doesn't even sound like a wah, I have no idea where Boss got that sound from, or even why they put in on this pedal? When I did use the pedal, I only used it for the "crybaby" wah, it worked for me while I was working on my Vox V847 wah and while I was saving up for my Dunlop 535Q wah. Now that I bought the 535Q wah, that's been on my board and will never leave my board unless I need to fix it or replace it. The Vox wah on the Boss wah sounds like a cheap emulation, which it pretty much is. The crybaby and the vox wah on the Boss pedal sound almost the same, which it shouldn't. The Morley wah on this pedal is just a deeper wah. They all sound almost the same, they each have their own small difference in sound, but are almost the same, just different wah ranges.

This pedal was my backup while I was working on my Vox V847 wah, and while I was saving up for my Dunlop 535Q wah. I had to make the wah work for me while I was out of a good wah pedal, it worked to an extent, but just couldn't give me the sound I needed. Luckily, I have a few wahs, I have a Morley wah, I don't use it because I don't like it. I have a Dunlop GCB-95, it was my best and favorite wah until I bought the 535Q wah, I did have the GCB-95 on my pedalboard along with the Boss wah, I usually used the Dunlop wah more than the Boss wah, actually, I rarely used the Boss wah. I guess this pedal is dependable if it will give you the sound you are looking for, but it didn't work for me, it can't even compare to any of the Dunlop wahs.

If you have the chance to pick from a selection of wahs, don't pick the Boss wah, unless it's what you really want, but if you can pick from either Vox or Dunlop, go with one of them, it'll definitly be the best way to go. I think if Boss would have concentrated more on making a wah pedal, rather than making a multi effects pedal in a wah, the pedal maybe could have turned out better than it is. They just jammed too many effects into one pedal, and most of the effects are pretty weak and bad. Trust me, go with Dunlop or Vox, even if you have to order one of them off the internet, don't buy the Boss PW-10 V-Wah, there are way better wahs out there!!!

not so easy. the heel switch is a good idea in theroy, to go through your three presets, however, I'm used to using my toe and it can get confusing. also to switch back to "bypass stage" you either click away at the heel switch and hear it between presets or hold the heel down for 2 seconds. 2 SECONDS!!! what the..... resetting the pedal and adding your own presets means sitting down with the book for a half hour or reading the instructions off the bottom of the pedal which is useless.d

The vox and the Crybaby wahs are pretty good the univibe is a great idea but it is noisy as hell when engaged. I only played around with the distortions a bit and found it pretty crappy. I'm running it through a Traynor YCV80Q and the amps distortion is FAR better.

Aside from having to reset it, which gets easy after 20 times, the thing is built very well. You could drop it with out thinking.

never delt with

I have had it for about a year and pretty soon will swap for just a crybaby. I can see that it would probably be good in the studio but having to wait 2 seconds for a bypass simply means good luck onstage. I actually only used once onstage and was nervous. the song called for wah and there was nobody there to borrow a normal wah from.

You don't have to be a rocket-scientist to handel this thing! But you can get confused with storing the sounds in the beginning. Take your time and think of it as a 19" rack unit that has a lot of possibilities. The manuel should be read carefully and will help you to go to the first pains of learning the device. Ofcourse you want to use it immediately, but then you'll be missing a lot and I'm really astound that there are people who discovered the heel switch after a long period of using the pedal!!! You should stay with the cry baby..... But serieus, it's not that difficult and sleeping with the manuel under your pillow you should know how to program this wonderful peace of engineering the next day......
O, and the pedal pressure for the toe switch you need is somewhat high. I sat on my chair and fell off while pushing the pedal to get the wah's going!! But standing up with big shoes it will be okay.

I,ve only had this Bossbaby for a week and tried it in my studio in front of a Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp and then to the mixer.... sound is very impressive!! Next week I'll trie it in the rehearsel room with the JMP-1, a Peavey Classic 50/50 tubeamp and a Marshall 1960AV (4/12) and I know it will sound awesome!!
The wah's are clean, strong and have a wide reach. There must be a favourite one for you....mine is the "cry baby" (I have an original, the Boss is the better one) and the "advance", very usable. I am not fond of the distortions but that's because I never use a stompbox kind of unit, I rely on the pre-amp for a pure distortion. I had hoped to thicken the sound a bit with the OD-1 or 2 option, but it gets muddy as soon as you only look at the drive knob. The noiselevel is, with the drive knob activated, very present (with gain on the pre-amp) and I don't like to use the supressor. Maybe I have to learn to deal with it more...... I admit. Programming the distortion type is odd but you get used to while playing with this sturdy metal box. The univibe seems nice for certain solo's or intro's and is of good quality. The voice isn't that human at all unless you're drunk, then it could resemble a bit. I think it is not very useful.....these kind of effects are used very now and then anyway, otherwise it will bore the audiance. I haven't tried the double resonance option and I think I never will, cause I like guitarsounds and not synthlike things out of my guitar!
The heel switch could be a addition for more preset sounds but I have to experience this one the upcoming time. As wah pedal it is unbeatable and knowing that it has a great sound AND reliability (no pot's and moving things in it.....) it will do the job for me. O, and you better buy the adapter with it.

It seems there is warranty so I can sleep at night with no problems on my mind. The cry-baby could be my back-up but it crawled under my mixertable after hearing the Boss......I just leave it there, crying....
I thrust Boss and expect no problems. I have the thing for a week only, so what can I say.

This unit suits me very well cause I play a lot of rocksolo's in our coverband (classic rock of the 80's). The wah's sounds are authentic and therefor useful. I've been playing for 25 years and the equipment I use is already mentioned above, but I also use an Alesis quadraverb and ofcourse some guitars like superstrats, Fender strat , Maverick
X-1 and Ibanez (oldie). I don't wanna think about it being stolen but I like the size because it fits in my guitarcase. I hate nothing about it but maybe I will once using it gigging or rehearsing....I'll let you know. The cry baby I have is simply out of date (I say this respectfully..) and won't serve me in the 21th century. The Boss will!!They promised me in the add...... I wil see. When you have an open mind for new developments like this and don't want to use everything at once, it will certainly improve your playing and sound. Wah is always stunning and very lively sounding when not overdone, that is.
So, have patience with it.....make fun and play music! That's all it's about......

Once you figure out what sounds you want out of it, it's a snap, but getting them can be a bit of a pain with having to unplug it and all. But as far as using the dials and switches it's pretty straight foward.

I use a Gibson lp special with this pedal third in my chain of about 10 pedals before my VS65R. When using the wah with my amps distortion or my Jackhammer, it just doesn't blend well, but when used with my mt-2, it helps tighten things up and sounds great. Sounds great with cleans too as it doesn't color the sound. When using the synth mode and matching it with a big muff (or using the built in distortion)...wow. All that said, as far a wahing goes, I still favor my crybaby 535.

Boss. Reliable.

n/a

I play mostly rock/metal but try to play a bit of everything. As I said, I favor my crybaby for general wah duties, but this thing does come in handy. I got it as a birthday present, and probably wouldn't have gotten it if I had to pay for it, but it's nice to have.

Too many options for a wah. you want a wah? Buy a damn wah... Simple enough to use, but why bother when the real deal is available?

I only had this one for a couple of days. At the time I was using my Warmoth VIP hollowbody with PRS pickups into a Boogie Solo Rectoverb head and 4 x 12. Sound quality? It was really awesome....after I turned it off and put it back in the box, took it back to the shop and swapped it. Actually, now that I think back, it sounded bad even just sitting in the box. Seriously though, these things are expensive and sound like garbage. Dont waste your time, buy a true real deal wah....Crybaby, Vox, Snarling Dogs (cool) or the bomb, a RMC Picture Wah (the coolest). Any of those pedals will absolutely shit on this thing. And I've had all of them, so I know! Some of the options on this thing are mildly amusing, but it sucks tone like a vampire....

Didnt keep it long enough to know. Heard Boss are very reliable, but I'm not so sure I could resist smashing it to pieces anyway because of its crap tone.

Never used it.

Trust me. Buy a real deal wah and forget this toy crap. why work around problems and worry about noise reduction and boosting volume levels because of its inherent suckiness, when you can buy a handmade RMC wah, and have a friend for life?

There is really no need for a wah pedal that is this complicated to use , sorry. Guitar playing is about technique , this thing is more complicated than most mixers, the heel bypass mode and the in built distortion - Give me a break!

Of Course it sounds good in fact it sounds unbelievale with distortion . Its own distortion/drive is a joke though (like the DS-1).
But if you don't use the drive it sucks your bloody volume ...hello?, turn the drive up and it bleeds your ears! As i said it sounds good if you hire an engineer to come to your gigs and compensate for volume loss and volume swell every time you break your foot using the heel bypass to switch the bloody thing on !!!!
The funky mode i forget what its called is my favourite, (shaft mode , whatever)
But as i said this thing is just not worth it ,the bloody hiss of it ,and you can still hear it with a ns-2 noise suppressor in your chain its like a fucking train , the built in noise suppressor itself is a joke ,cuts all your notes!
This is a sound quality rating though so overall i have to give it a 6

i Don't trust this pedal so how can i rely on it?

I feel i have to write this review to stop others from wasting their cash on it. I am a serious gutarist , and i now use a fulltone clyde deluxe wah pedal which are a tad more expensive but you get what you pay for. 3 modes,toe it on quality wah , very hendrixy, no volume loss/boost, no colouration - organic.
As Far as the boss goes , i havn't put it on ebay yet but i will have to as i am having problems getting rid of it - NOBODY WANTS IT!
some bloke wrote a good review ( a few down) on this pedal and listed
at least 8 problems catagorically which i respect, then he went on about how to solve them . Read this one carefully - I REST MY CASE!!!!
I think the reason people do this is becase they are too proud to admit to themselves that they got a raw deal when they purchased this pedal .SELL IT!!!!
And for all those pot heads who gave this pedal an overall rating of 9 or 10 do not know what a fucking wah pedal is supposed to be in the first place. They probably fuck up their bands songs by using the the fucking 'uni-v' funtion all the time , what in jesus christ is this function doing on a wah pedal in the first place , never mind those who think it sounds good!