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.

Just a quick review this time. Ease of use? Not at all - if you want to use it for all of it's functions. The model I own was purchased in 2002 and the instructions are apalling! The distortion modelling takes some doing, and the presets aren't that easy either. It's too gimick really.

Bought this on the strength of the univibe sound, and the ability to get a cry baby and vox tone, Liked the morley tone the best though. Disliked intensly the distortion presets - mostly because you can't eq them - there's only one knob to control it - and that just affects the drive. Presets difficult to use as they involve rocking the pedal back. Plus there's a millisecond gap between pushing the pedal back and getting the sound to come out. I used the univibe setting on a Hendrix number at a gig and loved it, then thought "I'll add some wah to this to take me into real hendrix territory" No can do I'm afraid it's wah or vibe. Needless to say I've moved on and got a Deja Vibe and a Budda Wah now.

Had to return my first one to the shop, but I've had problems with Boss pedals before - the Taiwan ones.This is a generic Boss rating

Good if you you are on a budget and want different wah sounds without having loadsa pedals [ but most of us find a wah sound we like and stick to it]. Good if you want a univibe sound [ although Voodo Labs Micro vibes are cheap second hand on e-bay]Good if you want lotsa distortion presets - if you are prepared to fiddle about enough with it, and don't mind an in-flexibe amount of control of it. Forget the voice simulation gimmick that's on the pedal, but use the presets if you like, but not mid-song I'd suggest. I still use mine on my practice pedal board because it behaves itself better than my old crybaby gcb 98 in terms of being used with the poor quality tranny amps you get in rehearsal studios, and it does have the univibe

Pretty complicated, especially if you get involved with the distortions.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Boss effects, and I think their digital ones are, on the whole, pretty good, but I just couldn't get a good sound out of this thing, and I spent hours. I was using an Ibanez EDR170 with it, into a Marshall MG100DFX amp. When using distortion, there would always be a clear click when rocking between treble and bass, no matter what settings were used and even when using the built in distortion. Instead of going "wah wah", it went "pop pop". Sounded good in clean though.

Don't know, I sent it back after a couple of days.

N/A

I just don't understand this thing. Even the wah on my old Zoom multieffects pedals sounded better than this. Go for a Cry Baby 535Q, THE best wah out there, even if it is a bit old-fashioned.

Takes a while to get to grips with, especially when you're trying to sort out both distortion and wah...to be honest, if i were you i'd just leave the distortion alone. The AC input doesn't like carpeted floors either...not the best bit of designing there...

At the moment, the PW-10 is the only thing between my ESP and my Marshall TSL. It's pretty quiet, which is always a good start. I actually got rid of a crybaby for one of these things, and i don't regret it. Waaay more versatile, and probably a better option for the more heavily inclined players. I tend to use the Morley emulation with the wah range cranked pretty far up, which comes out with a pretty pronounced Steve Vai or even Zakk Wylde style sound. If you insist on using them, the distortions actually come out sounding pretty good.

Feels like a brick. I've never even thought about a backup, although they eat batteries, so use a power supply.

never had to deal with them

If i lost it, in fairness I would probably get a Zakk Wylde crybaby, although they cost a fair bit more. At this price, I dont really think it can be beaten. You probably won't use many of the different wah settings, just find one you like best and stick to it. I definitely rate it above my old bog standard crybaby.

I agree with the last poster. This pedal sounds great. I also do not use the distortion features.. and also did not use any settings.. just pligged it in and went through the different wah tones. I have a laney GH50 head and marshall cab.. the gain on the head is awsome so I need not mess with anything else. I really like the univibe as well, sounds great !! is not very hard to use at all.. I will probably read the manial for the hell of it and see what I can do to it, but I am more than satisfied with just plugging it in and go!!

Great tones out of this pedal !

just got it today.. seems sturdy.

havent had to deal with them yet so I can not elaborate .

I will give it a 10 because it realls adds great tone to my already great setup. I wanted to keep everything simple and as dry as possible.. I have my guitar going to the PW 10 to my boss sd-1 to a boss ns-2 right in front of the amp. I have finally found my tone after all these years !!

I didn't go through all the programming and stuff. I just plugged in and switched through all the modes and they all sounded good. There is no need to go through all the tweaking to get a good sound. Just take it out of the box. I guess it helps to have a good rig.

I don't need the distortions but there is nothing wrong with them. I use my 5150's distortion. When I use one of my cleaner amps I use a Boss DS-1, but like I said they're good if you want to use them.

Boss stuff doesn't break.

Never nead it.

Its a good box. I've been playing for 25 years and have a TON of gear. This is my favorite pedal right now. The guys complaining probably don't know what there doing or have crap setups.

Ease of use?... I guess if your the average lazy guitarist, you might have a little trouble with this. But if it takes reading the owner's manual to get good tone, I think it's worth it. The only real complication is setting the overdrives -- which I don't find all the useful...

Also it's not too hard to toggle between presets (which is nice). You just push down on the heal end of the pedal, and the LED changes colors. I think there's like 4 presets... I only use 1.

I'll start by saying I HATE digital effects. They suck tone like a biotch... but I've tried a number of wahs and held on to this one for a while. I've always had the problem of finding a wah with a decent spectral versitility between funk and metal. With most wahs I've always had to sacrifice some aspect of sound quality for the effect, so it really didn't bother me choosing this digital pedal.

You can toggle between pretty accurate emulations of CryBaby, Vox, and Morley settings. It also has a UniVibe setting (which isn't all that bad either). The only short coming that I dislike about this pedal is the distortion settings. They are all digital emulations of boss pedals (DS1, SD1, MT2...). I've pretty much limited my overdrives and distortions to rack preamps, so I just leave the distortion off. nonetheless, they are fully controllable distortions. You just have to read the owners manual to set them just the way you want them.

As far as the wah sound: the signal is very clear. In the past I've needed an eq before my wah pedals in order to get the perfect range and tone control, but this really sounds great just as it is. I've never had a problem with any ambient hiss or other annoying buzz sounds. This is the main reason I chose this over Crybaby or Morley (I never did like their LED wahs).

I haven't had any problems with it. I'm really not much for digital effects, but we'll see how long it lasts.

Boss is pretty good all around.

I've tried a lot of wah pedals over the years. Of the ones I liked include the Crybaby 535Q, an Ernie Ball (which was too expensive and I had to sell it within a month of having it), and I was "holding" my cousin's Fulltone Clyde for a few days. But again, that's too much money for an effect that I only use less than 2% of the time.

It's the worst pedal in the world for using alive or even in a studio. It's so complicated, the Manual it's so bad than i think anybody could sincerely says other thing.

Sound Quality! What Quality ... ? This pedal makes any, but any, amp seems like a peace of she..

Use it on a gig? You must be insane ...

Roland / Boss Corporation as any e-mail adress that we could even contact them. How can we now if they are bad or good?
This must be a single case in the music manufacturers.
It's Incredible but it's true.

Overal Rating.

Too bad to talk about that.

This must be the worst product of Roland / Boss Corporation.

I don't know how they could send this product to the market and keep in there nowadays.

Awful. It need's about three more knobs. The menu selection scheme requires you to hold buttons while plugin in the guitar chord. Totaly &^%$#@.

The range in the wahs are wide but the rocker action between the highed tone and the lowest tone is too sudden and way too dramatic as you rock the pedal to and from. It's due to the fact that it uses some stupid, poorly engineered light sensors to detect the foot rocker's positions rather than a traditional pot. This means the tone shifting isn't perfectly linear, not by a long shot.

The end result is that it's difficult or impossible to make it sound like a real wah pedal, the kind you hear in porn music. I only keep mine around for the custom sinus synth effect.

And a side point, the distortions all have fixed tone settings = completely useless.

Murderer of batteries.

The rocker becomes looser over a short period of time and has to be retightened often.

dont know

Avoid at all costs. Digitech released a similar product which is much nicer although it requires a power source.

It's easy to get a good sound from this pedal, but good luck getting that sound a second time! Seriously, I tried it out at the shop and was blown away by the available tones and the potential. Since it was used, I didn't get a manual. I fouind the manual online, and good gosh, could BOSS make it any more complicated?!

Some of the sounds are amazing. I bought it because some of the tones sounded synth-like, so it's like getting a wah and an envelope filter in one. There's supposed to be eight different classic distortions modeled as well. So far, I've only heard one, and don't ask me which one. Whatever it is, t does a good job beefing up the various wah tones.

I'd like to know why the Univibe setting sounded killer at the shop, but I can't get a decent warble out of it now. Maybe I reset something while trying to figure out the controls.

I do like being able to set the range for each wah. In theory, this is a very flexible pedal.

I've used it with my Strat through a few amps. The unit isn't noticeably noisy, even with the Drive cranked up.

I have over 30 different BOSS pedals, some of which I'd guess are older than many of the people posting here. I think I could depend on this pedal, but there's no way I'd risk using it live.

I've never needed the support.

I bought this pedal because it sounded killer in the shop, and the price was right. And the shop was offering a great deal on financing, so I plunged when I should ahve reconsidered. Like I said, I can get at least one really cool synth tone from this pedal.

However, I bought this pedal because I thought it had a ton of potential. It might, but I wonder if I have the patience to unlock it. I've never seen a more needlessly complicated pedal, considering that it's a freakin' wah! The BOSS engineers couldn't find room for an extra switch or two? For example, if I knew I had to switch the power off to access the distortions, I wouldn't have bought this pedal. Just put in a three way switch allowing me to choose between wah mode, distortion mode, and a blend mode, and I would sing the praises of this pedal. Maybe I expected too much from this pedal.

I own such BOSS pedals as the PS-5, PS-3, and SYB-3. These are what I'd call complicated pedals, but a glimpse through the manaul and I can work with these pedals. I'm only guessing at what I'm doing with the PW-10.

This pedal sells new for over $200. For that kind of money, I wouldn't recommend it.

A very intuative pedal. Plug and play, you will get a quality sound, I had this thing plugged in for less than ten minutes and had quality tone ripping through it no problem. The manual is ok, it was better for me to just play with it for awhile.

My setup is: Ibanes AX-82 Artcore hollow body - PW10 V-wah (crybaby setting) - Boss DS-1 distortion - DOD Compressor - Homemade Chourus Delay - Fender Blues Deluxe. Sounds great on almost all settings, although the distortion can get pretty hairy pretty fast if you crank it. The UNIvibe effect is great and so is the synth like voice setting, again get a distortion pedal that is seperate, these distortion settings are a little bit hard to work with.

Have been gigging activly (60 shows a year) with it for 3 years.....still fine despite a few cosmetic blemishes. I would and do gig without a backup.

Never Dealt...It's a boss these things are bulletproof

I play in a rock and roll/funk/jam band...perfect match for our style. I have been playing for 5 years, gigging for 3. If it were stolen I would buy a new one right away.

Using presets is easy. Plug it in and go.

But you will soon want to at least balance the distorted with the clean sound, and there is no LEVEL knob! The only way to do it is to save the level in a memory, and that is ridiculously complicated, and that renders the distortion pretty much useless during a gig... :(

Doing any of your own settings involves, amongst other things, pulling out and replugging the input cable whilst pressing buttons!

Standard preset wah effects are good. The simulation of the cry baby matches mine closely, but the action of the pedal is too small, so I find it difficult to position it accurately.

There is no way to route the distortion before or after the wah, so the Hendrix "pre-scoop" is not possible without an external distortion pedal.

The lower end of the pedal range has digital zipper noise. Very evident if you move the pedal slowly.

The vocal effects are amusing but if they were going to go this way, a Peter Frampton voice box type sound would have been more useful for a guitarist.

So far, so good. Solidly built without being so heavy so as to damage other gear in your bag.

never used support.

Used in my studio, it is a good addition. But I would hate to use it live. You can customize the distortion knob to be a "boost" (i.e. volume control only), and this is what I have done. I use an external distortion pedal instead.

The multitude of wah effects available are a novelty. After trying a few, you will probably never again use the weaker ones.

Now, I argue that, if the DISTORTION knob can be customized, the waa effect positions should also ALL be customizable (not just the CUSTOM position).

This would have freed up the space wasted by the MEMORY button, where an additional LEVEL control would have made this pedal usable live.

A great concept, poorly executed.

The factory settings is what I actually like to play.

It can be a pain to setup, but they write instructions right on the wah pedal - so you shouldnt have to hunt down the manual all the time,

But with all the settings you can do with this thign - its set right.

I play through the a peavy XXL head and cab with a Dimebag tribute ML. The onboard distortion is perfect.

The distortion fits perfectly with my DBD ML. You can easily reproduce the Zakk Wylde wah on this thing to, set it to Crybaby wah and put the wah depth a little above the center -

You can get Zakk's sound with the onboard univibe and distortion turned on. Bend that G String with that univibe and distortion kicking and you can hear it.

So much sound - so little time

It's pretty solid - not VOX wah solid, but solid in its own little way.

Never had to deal with them.

I try to assimilate my tone to Hendrix, Stevie, Zakk Wylde (SDMF!!), and Dimebag.

This thing can do alot - I put my processor aside and have been running this thing straight into my cab - it's awesome, great match.

I've been playing for about 8 years - I'm a blues and metal guy with a lineup of mostly Fenders, couple Ibanezes, and my new brand Dean.

What I love is this is so much bang for your buck, you get:
Univibe
Great distortion
like 7 different wahs

While it doesn't emulate the other ones as well, you can modify it enough to make it your own sound. Like I said, you can reproduce the Zakk Wah easily with this thing.

You can turn the distortion off, mix effects, all sortas stuff just by clicking it down or forward.

Its been great in making some solid metal - again, I'm a big fan of the distortion on this thing - your pinch harmonics come out damn clear on this thing.

I'm very picky about getting stuff thats worth my tone, time and money. I've been using the same effects processor for 8 years now, just because I haven't found anything else I like - this wah is now my newly incorporated sound toy.

If you think I'm bullshitting you - e-mail me at houdini84@verizon.net and I'll send you a sound clip. Better yet, IM me and I'll hook you up!

Get a good sound with this is not very difficult, but to customize the PW-10 is a little difficult, the manual is very good to somebody that have a good english.

My setup: Epiphone Les Paul -> PW-10 -> Marshall Valvestate 60 -> BOS CS-3 Compression Sustainer (on loop).

The Noise supressor is good on more things but cuts some harmonics

Working with the Marshall Valvestate i can get easily a great sound, that sounds very good with pre-amp distortion of my amp, If i need a heavy sound I get some distortion of this pedal and some distortion of amp. In all situations this sounds good.

Steve Vai uses a this pedal, an example is the music "Kill the guy with the ball". with impressionant "Voice" mode.

The uni-vibe is very good, The distortions are good too, but to get more options in a distortion you need to buy a equalizer.

So, for this price, a wide range of variety and a good quality of songs make 10.

It's boos, it's pratically indestructible.

I do not use a backup, never for this.

Never used

I'm currently playing rock, this pedal complements very good the musics and get a new dimension for my playing mode.

I think that pedal is fantastic, the variety and the "Double Ressonance" gets incredible effects to guitar. I think to buy a Cry Baby before know the PW-10. Now I have all that I want and some more.

Well, I worked out how to get some nice sounds in the shop, so I kinda knew what I was getting. Since then, I've worked out what I can get, and there are some good combinations. The manual is crap. It really is. Hard to understand, there are some really useless stuff in there like "make sure you have the lead in the input" and such useless crap. I'm kind of having trouble getting the OD tones, but I'll try again today.I have had it for a while, but I've been a bit lazy checking the whole thing out cos I hate the manual.

A good pedal.
I only use a Washburn something or other, it doesn't have a special name or something, it was fairly cheap, but I get some alright sounds for the tiny Randall amp I use. For what I do - play a few rehearsals with my hard-rock and funk-rock band - it's great. I'm only fourteen, but i feel that this should be good enough for me for a long time. The range isn't the best, it doesn't have a really wide sweep, but i checked out a few CryBabies, and this is the best wah pedal i found in Melbourne and Geelong - Australia.
If you turn the Distortion up really high it has a fair bit of white noise after each note or chord, but that's up full. I'd rather use the distortion from my amp, then i won't get as much noise, but I have heard the OD and DS settings you can get are very very impressive.
The Voice setting is a bit weak. The Vox' range is also a bit odd, and Advanced setting isn't really my style, but the morley and the crybaby are good wah sounds. Uni-Vibe is a add on. Overall, it produces some good sounds.

One of my memory settings is exceptionally quiet - rendering it useless. These seem like major fallbacks, but the truth is, I really like this pedal. Nothing else has gone wrong, except lacking wah, which i fixed after i read through the manual. Easy to fix.
Other than that, nothing has gone wrong.

Never dealth with them. Never needed to.

I play funk and blues/hard rock, and it fits in with any combination. It works with all that I play. I've played for a year and a bit, and I only have a cheap Washburn electric, a nice Takamine accoustic and a small Randall practise amp. If it were stolen, I couldn't afford to buy another one, I'm only a kid, but I could, then yes. From all that i checked, this is the best pedal i found.
I like the Uni-Vibe and the Morley sounds the most, and i like the different distortion mixes i can get with my amp gain turned down, then up.
I like this pedal so much, sometimes i just want to use the wah in everything i play, but I know that probably isn't best for variation.

Boss should have added a 2 or 3 more knobs to operate the distotion side of this pedal. I spent at least 6 hours reading the horrid manual and toying with the distortions. This is the main reason I returned the pedal to the store and grabbed an Ibanez Weeping Demon instead (a truly wonderful pedal and is costs 33% less!).
Controlling the volume level is a total nightmare!

Had Boss added 2 more knobs to control the distortion settings, a few more memory patches and placed the AC cord plug a little higher so as not to be smashed into the carpet when switching the wha on and off....this pedal would be pretty frikkin cool!

The sweep lacks a bit too, if your a Jimi Hendrix fan. Just like my old original Boss PW-1 wha from the 80's, the sweep range is too narrow, even with the range knob turned all the way up. Damn you Boss for not reading my review on the PW-1 and not addressing this issue on your new model!

Well, the wha effect is dead quiet. A very cool thing for wha pedals.
The range lacks if you like to play Voodoo Chile from Hendrix and all the adjusting in the world won't take you there. Doesn't Boss know who Jimi Hendrix is and how important it is for a wha pedal to capture his tone?

On the plus side for sure is the great overdrive and distortion effects available. I was really super impressed by the modeling of the vintage DOD 250 preamp/overdrive sound! It's not tweekable except the gain and volume [like all the other overdrive models! boo!] but the tone was excellent! I would suggest to everyone to go through the hassle of at least hearing the DOD overdrive coupled to the Jimi model wha! It really did sound so much like Hendrix minus the range.

So why does the Jimi hendrix wha model lack the range Hendrix got with his Vox wha???

Truth is, the Morley wha sounded more like Hendrix than the Hendrix model. Even so, all the wha models sound just about all the same. There is hardly any difference.

Now the human voice wha model....what a joke! Certainly not the vowel sounds of an old Thomas Organ Wha with the "stack of dimes" inductor that is soo famous for the vowelly sounds. No the Boss vowel wha tones are fake, processed sounding and certainly a bit funny {ha ha} sounding. Certainly not for a rock or metal guitar use. Maybe for some weird electronic band!

I firmly believe the Ibanez has a better wha sound than the Boss but that DOD 250 overdrive tone is awesome!

I have to give a low score on the sound for the lack of sweep or range. Just doesn't peak high enough or go deep enough either.

That AC plug is gonna get hurt if you use the pedal on a carpet floor. Everytime I stepped on the pedal you can see the plug getting pushed into the carpet.

I have a bunch of old Boss pedal from the 70's and 80's and they are very well built products.

There is no support as I know of.

I've been playing guitar since 1969. I play it all from blues to heavy metal. I'm a big Jimi Hendrix fan.

I have 5 Marshall half stacks from the 70's. Right now I'm using a 1978 Marshall MKII 50 watter on a Marshall 4x12 with 50 and 65 watt speaker inside and I can't believe how frikkin great it sounds! No distortion box in the world can do what a Marshall can do. I get clean picking to nasty overdrive just by my picking pressure! That folks is dynamics!

I returned the Boss wha and got an Ibanez Weeping Demon wha and at 33% less money the Ibanez wha is better looking, just as quiet, has more sweep and range, has a better feel, is easy to use, has a line boost, has automatic on and off, has a better AC plug location, has more knobs, looks more solid, why...it excells against the Boss in every area except it doesn't have any distortion.

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!