Dunlop ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah

Simple, no extra controls. Turn off and on. Not much else.

I was originally going to buy a Crybaby GCB-95F Classic wah, but the shop i went to didn't have any in stock and said i could buy the ZW wah for the same price which was "basically the same thing, fasel etc etc".

I already owned a GCB-95 (the normal wah without fasel) and it sounded great. Really nice to use, very musical, but as soon as i plugged into this ZW wah, the first thing i noticed was it sucked tone out of my amp, big time. I'm using a Marshall JCM2000 TSL100 head into a Marshall 4x12" and even on this most hi-gain setting the pedal just seemed to suck tone from it. I tested just to see if it was batteries etc etc - even put it into a 9v power supply, and it still sucked tone. I tried the amp with and without the pedal and it was definatly effecting it. It was alot harder to control. This pedal as a ridiculous sweep as far as i'm concerned. I'm going to need to adjust the stiffness of the pedal because while using it, it goes from VERY bassy to VERY trebly with a middle piece which is hard to get. For this reason i'm marking it down. I can see the need for it in rock/metal situations, but i play shred/prog/metal and this is too much even for me.

Overall, i prefer the GCB-95 over this because of the sweep. I'm still going to keep this pedal because for what it does, it does VERY well. It does cleans crap and doesn't really do a nice wacka-wacka (it does do it, but not as nice as a normal crybaby). I think this pedal really needs a distortion/overdrive/boost after it like Zakk Wylde himself uses because it needs a very hi-gain amp to cope with this.


Overall, okay pedal. I'm keeping it but i'm adjusting it's base stiffness so i can use it as a sort of nasal boost pedal thing.

Haven't had it long but my ther Dunlop was built like a tank. They never go wrong.

Only reason i'm marking it down is because pots sometimes get scratchy and need replacing.

Never dealt with them. I did get tons of free crap with this pedal which was nice.

It's a good pedal for what it does but it's a gimic. I wouldn't buy it again too be honest. In future i'm going to buy the crybaby rack and retire all my other pedals apart from teaching lessons etc.

This pedal is being used straight into a Marshall TSL100 stack which is one of the most versatile Marshall amps IMO. Great sound, WHEN it's not being affected. This wah sucks tone big-time IMO. I noticed a very large difference when it wasn't in the chain to when it was. I may put a true bypass/buffer mod into this pedal.

It's a very noiseless pedal though, i like it for that. Alot less noisey then my older wah pedals.

I wish it had a smaller sweep, but it's Zakk's signature so it's going to be as he uses it.

I don't think i'll be using it too much in music, but mabye if i start jamming with a Rock'n'roll style band it'll come in use.

Easy to use, put in a 9v battery, plug your guitar in and play!

I've had tons of Wahs from just about every manuafacturer in the past 20 years. I've owned everything from the vintage Thomas Organ wah, to the Dimebag Crybaby from Hell. I've gotta say that this is one of the best straight-out-of-the-box wahs I've ever heard. It's tone is thick and fat. I mainly use Marshalls and Les Pauls, this wah seems to be made to work great with that combination.

I've never had any reliability issues with any of Dunlop's products. Scratchy pots can be replaced cheaply (about $10 on Ebay)

Emailed 'em once for replacement parts on an old crybaby. They took care of my problem in a timely fasion.

I play Straight ahead Rock N Roll a la Guns N' Roses. No complaints about this wah, It's my favorite, Other faves include Crybaby From Hell, and the Snarling Dogs Wonder Wah-2.

If Dunlop would have made this Wah with True Bypass, it would have been the ultimate in Wah!

I can't wait to buy the new Slash wah (that may be the only other wah that'll relace my Zakk Wah in my arsenal)

really nothing to it, no knobs or anything just plug and play.

I run this pedal with a cl classic and run it through my line 6. I dont have much pedals put a mxr equalizer this wah and a cool cat chours. I like this wah more than others for one reason only and thats because the sweep is much longer than others which i like. it suits my taste. sounds good for dist lead sounds i play mostly metal.....pantera, metallica, slayer, guns n roses, megadeth, ozzy duh~!

yeah built like a tank!

Suits my style perfectly glad i bought, if you are considering buying on buying it? test it out first..im a very picky. i would compare this to the dime wah but the dime having more settings and eq but even with those functions this wah sounded better IMO.

Very easy to use. Not much to it other than plug it in ang go. There is a manual but its not needed.

To my suprise it really is good. I was suprised because I generally build my own from scratch starting from a schematic online to etching my board ect.. This isnt a Teese wah, but still damned good for high gain! Its for the most part a 1 trick pony but it does that well.

Very reliable. If it broke i would repair it- no biggie. Might even add a better pot. The switch is a spdt and the board to my suprise wasnt smt ( the little components :)) so you can always mod it depending on what you want.

Dont need it.

Overall- I think its a really decent- Like I stated= its not a Teese but for metal/Rock ect..it sounds great! I own SO many different wah- and it does stand out.

Doesent get much easier. Tighten up the Clutch with the Allen Key and away you go

Just as good as the Classic but stays good when you pump it full of GAIN!!!

Had it a few Months and no probs. Very robust little unit.

Not Needed

Perfect!!!

simple as it gets..

after my old crybaby went down i decided to check out some new ones.. i was going to get a custom rmc or something but i fell inlove with this wah.. after reading reviews i thought i would like the dime wah better... not the case... the dime was nice and maybe with alittle more time messing with it i could make it sound better.. but i loved the throaty sound of the wylde wah.. its not the same as a typical crybaby it has more punch to it.. i am playing threw a soldano slo .. boss pedals and a les paul / strat ... and when you turn this pedal on it still keeps the tone and gives you a fatter sound than most wahs.. and a killer sweet spot.. i could write forever about the different tones of this.. but i wont..

who knows.. i play alot.. but just bought it... .. its a freakin crybaby.. i think you could use the thing as a jack stand and it will still work..

????

prob. a good match for harder rock guitarist.. and maybe even some blues/hendrix type of things.. .. i still would like to tryout a rmc wah or some other customs.. but you know.. its hard to listen to what other people have to say about gear... its a matter of your own opinion..

yeah...it's a wah.

i had a morley wah/distortion/volume pedal that i absolutely loved. unfortunately, it's not up to it's full capacity antmore (note to self ...i should get that repaired some day). so i went looking for a new wah pedal...

i'm playing through a mid-70's silverface 50wt fender bassman head, a thd power attenuator, fender custom shop vibro king 4x12 cabinet, boss tuner (the stomp pedal one...i forgot the exact model), line6 mm-4, line6 dl-4, and our guy zak wylde. all this with a 72 reissue japanese fender telecaster thinline.

i compared it with almost every pedal on the market and found (for me) that this was the least tone colouring one out there. i can see where people can take issue with it's "sweep". if you're looking for "classic" wah-wah sounds put this pedal down and move on. i play with heavier tones and delve into sonic explorations. i can use it with my "clean" sound with lot's of delays and quick up/down motions of the pedal for a very liquidy tremolo sound. for my heavier gain sounds it sounds amazing in the "mid-range" position - almost a "queens of a stone age/kyuss" sound.

"gimmick" pedal? maybe...but it does what i need it to do. i'm really happy with it.

i've only had it for a month...so far, so good.

don't know yet...hope i never have to.

It's a wah for God's sake. Step on it and go.

My bro and I sat at Guitar Center for hours A/Bing 10 different wahs.
Plus, I've owned a vox wah and the tremonti wah. The Wylde wah rocks. A lot of wahs are weak when in the low frequency but this was has a a strong High-mid-Low range. It blew all the wahs away at the guitar center. I was going thru a PRS with a marshall jm800 half stack. This is definitely the best wah Dunlop makes. Although, the torque thing doesn't need to be there. It's a silly feature.

Great look. Brushed steel. I actually dropped it down a flight of stairs and it still works great.

no problems.

I've played guitar for 20 years. I play rock/alternative and this wah kicks ass. I use the Orange Rockerverb 100 half stack with the G-system. I told all my guitar buddies about this wah. I sold my Tremonti wah on EBay to get this one.

Tried it at SA last night compared to several morley and a Vox.
I'll say the vox was the easiest to use because more of the pedal range was useful. There is a spot in the mid travel of most wahs where all the sensitivity to tone change occurs and this is my biggest gripe with wahs. The Wylde wah is the same in this respect as all others except the vox.

A/B'd it with several others in a demo rig for pedals at SA.
I'm just writing this because I think others are doing this pedal no justice by bashing it in terms of sound quality.
I'm a tone hound. I pick, pick, pick to a fault.
There are things to point out here. The bass is too bassy as described by others. Not really a big deal just don't back the pedal off so much. All of these pedals need to be manipulated to get the tones you want.
The big plus with this pedal is the tone. It does perhaps the best job of preserving your rig's tone when you use it. The vox excells here also but is a little more vintage sounding with not nearly the tone sweep of the Wylde pedal. If you want the vintage crybaby whakka whakka then buy the original, but the tone kind of sucks. The morleys have great usability but the midrange wamth gets lost. The vox sounds great but doesn't have the tone sweep.
Go try them and buy the one you like. But to rate this one's tone anything less than an 8 is misguidance. I'm personnaly going to try others before buying one.
The only reason I even tried this pedal is that the Bad Horsey was offered at such I good price that I needed to look at wah pedals. I didn't get it because the Wylde and vox sounded better.

I liked the accessibility of the battery.

The original would be better if you were doing soundtracks for 70's porn videos. The vox would be better suited for vintage purists, and I just may get one and modify to increase the range.

I'm just writing this because this pedal doesn't suck like others have said. When you're shopping try this one too, that's all I'm saying.

Terrible. Short Sweep, and more of a dying cat the wah sound. Very trebly and usless for cleans

Took it back after a week

Maybe if you are playing at low volumes on a dark amp this would be ok. But on any good rig, this thing will shrill your tone. The wah sound was supposed to be thick, but instead was very trebly adn thin. Totally useless on cleans. I'll stick with the much better Hendrix Wah, even though it seems to suck tone.