Dunlop ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah

this wylde wah is the best wah wah out there in my impression nothing extra,no buttons and no knobs.It doesn't need them less is much more in this wah's case.

Iv'e use many wah-wah pedals and this is defintivly is the one(for me)Ive used 4 different dunlop wahs the original jim hendrex,the 535? q wah,original cry baby and the dime bag wah,an old dod wah/vol pedal wah-wah,digitech wah and an old 90's boss wah but none could fill this wahs place.this is the wah i've been waiting for for 20 years from full fat tone to screaming high and a huge sweeping of the tones in between.some say this is a one trick pony? yea but who needs more than this it has so much variation in the sweep you get alot more than normal sweep zone in many whas could provide.this has some great thick bass tones and some great sweet mid tones and the screaming high peeks!zakk put his name on a true beast and many other artist like kerry king agree this pedal kills with it's tone!

it's made of high grade steel and like all other top line dunlop wah-wahs it's sturdy as hell and built to take the beating they often get!

i have not had to contact this company for this poedal,and don't think i will!

this wah is the most intense wah around and the most versitile with the greatest tone range.are you fimilar with zakks work with any of his bands or ozzy this pedal can do all that and more.well worth 3 times the cost.simple effective and brutal tone to sweet cries.buy it !!

Very easy to use - no additional tone of push in buttons. The actual on/off button is taught and you need to stomp it hard but that's ok. I do like the EVH wah's ease of switching on nthough for live work.

Im playing this mainly with Ibanez guitars and an Elmwood modena90 amp. The modena90 has a thick articulate lower mids tone and sounds incedible with the fat Zakk Wylde wah. Very easy to get Wylde's tone if you need to but I bought this because of its sweep range which allows one to play clean funk to rock solo's. Sometimes with distortion it's not as pure as other wah's I have including the EVH, a keeley modded crybaby and a dimebag CFH wah. It gives it an older style solo sound. Its also quite throaty but its a deeper timbre and I like it.

Ive only ever had 1 problem with dunlop wahs and that is the switch going after several years. I expect this to be reliable - im gigging every week with it but I have no idea how long the switch will last...especially as crybaby's pick up heaps of dust over time.

Never dealt with them.

I play in a cover band - mainly classic rock. Ive been playing 20 odd years and own a ton of gear. I can only compare this to other dunlop wahs but I think its one of the better ones. The Slash wah is also good. I currently own an 80's crybaby with original faser, a dimebag crybaby from hell, a keeley modded crybaby and an EVH wah. All crybaby's! I personally found the dime and keeley wahs had too many buttons and tweaks and I could never find the right sweet spots. Its like they are TOO versatile. Now Im using the EVH and this. I take each one alternatively to gigs and I still dont know which one I like better (which is why I bought both in the end). The EVH has more clarity and more mids...it has a good bottom end sweep, but the wylde wah has a better sweet spot for doing funk. There's something about the EVH midrange - its both good and bad. Its kinda tricky buying a dunlop wah these days with so many signature models.

Like others I wish it had a light and the button was less stiff in pressing down.

Similar to other dunlop wah's it has a very cool finish. It could be cheaper but you're paying for Wylde's beer drinking and hey you do get the funky brushed metal and logo. It would have been cool to have the bullseye graphic more pronounced...like maybe black and white rings on the rubber footpad.

Ok, first off, i got this cos i wanted a wah, and a regular crybaby didnt sound "thick" enough.
Its a wah. its easy to get a good sound out of it. the button to click it on is a bit tough (uve gotta STOMP on it), but is livable.

I use this with a modified les paul through a randall rh100.
its not noisy (true bypass!!!), but once i had the amp CRANKED with treble and gain, and the wah all the way up with gain, and i could faintly pick up radio!!! i was using 2 MASSIVE leads tho. very Spinal Tap!!!
as there are no knobs on it, the sound is constant. nice thick tone. i often just click it on and leave it on the treble end for tapping solos. its a very "vocal" wah. listen to some black label society stuff and you'll get the idea.

Ive used this at gigs without a backup. one of the main reasons i got it was "if zakk can use it without breaking it, then itll be hard for me to!".
the brushed steel body gives a nice solid feel too.

havent needed to contact them

I mainly play hard rock and heavy metal.
Ive been playing for about 10 years. i mainly use a modified les paul through a randall rig.
if it were stolen, id punch whoever stole it, and buy another one.

The loves:
the thick "vocal" tone (FAVE FEATURE)
easy to use
the look (brushed steel, with bullseyes hidden in the rubber, the underside, and the crybaby logo) i often get asked "what was that silver wah you were using??"
how solid it feels.

the hates:
the on button is sometimes hard to know if its on or not.

I compared this to a vox wah and a regular crybaby. this was closer to the vox in terms of sound, but won out on looks, solidness, and tone.

i REALLY WISH it had a blue led (i like blue) at the BACK of the wah, that lit up when in use. sometimes i like to click it on an leave it, and it would be nice to see from the back of the stage whether or not it was on.

i find it helps me write solos. adds a whole new dimension to solo writing. wah users will know what i mean.

I love this wah. if i didnt, i wouldnt have bought it.

Push your toes down to turn it on/off, move your foot to change the tone. There is an ajustment below the foot plate to adjust how stiff it feels when you 'rock' the foot plate.

i must admit i'm a Zakk Wylde fan and i'm a fan of his wah tone, hence why i bought this pedal. My current setup is as follows; Epiphone Zakk Wylde Bullseye-Zakk Wah-Mxr Phase 90-Mxr Wylde Overdrive-Marshall Supervibe Chorus-Line 6 Pod X3 on a JCM 800(come on whatelse!). This wah really does the sounds from the records, All For You, Lost My Better Half, the solo of Bleed For Me etc. I've not tried it with clean tones, but for dirty it's one of the best for such appications.

I've not had a single problem with it since I bought it 15 months ago. The one thing I will mention though is the problem I had with the rubber pads under the toe section, they were far too long and caused me a bit of difficulty when I turned the wah on. I prefer to turn wahs off pretty easily so i removed the feet and it has improved it remarkably. I dont gig at the moment but I have total faith in this unit and trust it wont break.

Never had to bother them so cant say.

I've been playing for 9 years now and have managed to collect a few wah pedals on my travels, but of all of them this has to be my favourite. If I somehow lost this pedal I would buy another one straight away, I love it too much to be without it. The only problem with it has been mentioned already so read the above section and all we be explained.

Simple. Pedal full forward to turn on, full forward again to turn off.

I thought this sounded pretty good in just about every rig I used it with, from little Pro Juniors and Telecasters to big Peavey amps and Gibsons. It's a unique, throaty sort of sound that's something of a departure from the creamy, smooth sounds that come out of the original Crybaby. It's useful and unique -- a good pedal.

This is where my problem with the pedal comes in. I've had it for just over a year and have had three failures, two major and one minor. Keep in mind that I've only gigged with this pedal a handful of times, and that I'm generally very careful with my gear. This pedal has not been abused at all. Anyway, here goes:

1) The first thing to happen was a simple break in the battery cover. It's cheaply made and one of the bits that holds the 9V battery by the sides broke off when I levered the battery out. It wasn't a huge deal, and a piece of tape made it usable again, but still a pain.

2) The first major problem occurred before I'd had the opportunity to play a gig with this unit. One day it seemed that the action on the pedal was extremely loose when I turned it on. My first thought was that the set screw that controls pedal tension -- which is a nice feature -- had slipped, but a quick test revealed it to be solid. I opened up the pedal to immediately discover that the plastic piece that pushed the rocker arm against the pot's gear had slipped. It wasn't a huge deal to fix, just a realignment and a couple of twists with a screwdriver, but it could have been disastrous if I'd been playing live.

3) The latest problem with this pedal occurred just a few days ago. When I turned the unit on, the rocker felt very loose. The pedal would turn on, but it did not "wah." It seemed permanently set on the heel-back sound. When I opened the pedal up, it appeared that the gear attached to the pot had slipped from its mounting bracket. I assume that the pot was wrecked and I'm unwilling to change it -- I'll just buy a Vox or a Clyde Wah.

In short, this pedal is NOT dependable, nor would I EVER gig with it even if I do manage to fix it. It's unreliable, poorly made, and a disappointment especially considering its marketing slogan as "toughest wah pedal ever," or some such...

None, warranty expired.

It sounds good and is easy to use, but I'm not willing to put up with multiple breakdowns and poor build quality. I will not buy another, nor would I gig with it again.

It's easy to use in theory because it simply works as a rocker based wah pedal. However, it is not easy to use in the sense that you have to compensate for the huge tonal gap between the heel down and the toe down. More on that later.

I am using a ton of gear that is always changing but at its core I am using a Les Paul Classic, USA Strat, USA Tele, Gretsch 6120 into a midi rig which includes a Marshall JMP1 and a Boogie Triaxis powered by a Boogie 2:90. I control the whole rig with 2 GCX Switchers and a Ground Control with ever changing pedals which count as many as 9 or 10 and as little as 1 or 2. This wah presents the best and worst of worlds I suppose. I have had it for a bit over a year now and used it in many situations. It serves a much better tonal control as opposed to a wah pedal in my opinion. It is certainly perfect for metal guys and I am sometimes a metal guy but not always and THAT is where the problem lies. There is a gap between heel down and toe down that literally does NOTHING...it's a dead zone. If you want to get that sort of crybaby spank i.e. a 70s porno flick, you just won't get it with this wah. So I give it some low scores for lack of pallet. However, if you are doing metal or trying to replicate those crazy muffled tones, its GREAT! If you are doing a solo where you want to get that Hendrix sort of vocal wah..you wont find it here. I wound up switching back to my original Crybaby lately but will still hang on to the Zakk for the occasion where I may want to use it as more of a tone shaper.

It's tank! You could wear steel Kiss boots and still not kick this thing apart.

I have never dealt with them. No idea

I play a long list of rock styles including blues, metal, hard rock, modern rock, R&B, Funk, Rockabilly even an occasional country lick or two. Been playing for over 30 years. I own a TON of gear and am always trying new things. What I love about this pedal is the tone shaping that you can do with it however as a wah, it's just not bendable. It's a one trick pony. Its even WORSE on clean settings. But for high gain noise making it's perfect. With the type of band that I play in, I need more of a work horse than what this will give. I think it's over prices for being nothing more than a standard wah with a different curve. It comes with a wrench to readjust the rocker. From what I can gather it has no implact on the performance of what you hear but more so on what you feel while using it. Since I have owned a Vox Clyde and currently have my old trusty original crybaby from way back in the day, I was able to do a fair compare with it. I wish it had the ability to take that crazy dead zone out. you know something that will allow you to define the Q. It is very musical for what it does and very non-musical for what I wish it did and that is to get that expressive vocal wah and that spanky porn movie wah which it does neither. When I am playing over the top metal, it's a great wah. When I am playing Tower of Power, it is a door jam at best. So it's off my main board and in my studio now.

Very Easy
backwards ... forwards Wah wah wah...

Right lets get straight to it! This wah is one of the richest and warmest I have tried, I am using it for clean stuff, mainly funk with the odd bluesy bit thrown in , so I'not really shredding with it which is why I thought I'd write this review. It's great for funk as it doesn't get all thin or push your sound into a higher gain, a great warm clean tone but while retaining lots of body, very full sonic spectrum, the way it sounds and behaves is very Hendrixy so I guess it retains something of the original crybaby but not nearly as harsh. It gets a 9 as there may be something better out there , but I have tried most of the best, I have a Jeff Teese RMC3, a vox, and a crybaby in my Wah collection/graveyard

Seems solid enough, it's a wah something always goes wrong with them after a few years!

Haven't needed to contact them

this is a great wah and I get the impression it is good for clean or nasty ( given whose sinature is on the thing!!) I've only just got it so I would really appreciate someone not stealing it just yet! but yes would consider getting this one again out of all the wahs I've used, it has a simple and great sound/action
As above I have an RMC3, a Vox and a dean crybaby and this easily sits up the top of these, the RMC3 is great but you get lost in tweaking all the options and it seems to distort your sound a bit which is not good if your trying to do clean funk!

It's a wah pedal, simple enough you rock it back and forth to increase and decrease frequency and thats all you need to know!

This one has one subtle difference and thats a Torque bar so you can increase the movement of the pedal, which is so simple yet such a clever idea.

This is of the crybaby type of pedal, so it's not really a midi electronic type of sound its a full valvey big sound, which is great.

It has one advantage compared to the crybaby and thats that its got a wider frequency so more high end, which is no bad thing, as long as you have a steady foot

Dunplop stuff is always good, but I havnt had it long enough to tell you

Never used them, but then again I've never had to, dude to never having a problem with a dunlop pedal

Cool bit of kit.

Sounds like a Rock/Metal/Blues Wah Wah pedal should, Full and sweet sound.
The torque bar is just such a clever addition to a wah pedal.
Finally it looks great, nice chrome look and sturdy build.

Like any Crybaby - Plug N' Play. Manual is almost unessecry, though the part about
the Rocker Torque is quite helpful. Bought it a month ago, never updated or modded anything. The bypass switch, unlike one guy here said, is VERY EASY to switch.

I'm using this wah with a Marshall MG100DFX and a Les Paul Classic. Like every wah,
you have to know how to use it. Not so complicated, but require a bit of thought.
This is my first wah pedal, though I have played a lot of wha's and Crybabys.
This one is just so beautifal, and sound is very throaty (I know I sound a little like the catalog) and clean. In that range of prices, I believe its one of the best choices (indeed).
It almost can't get noisy - though it did after playing a little bit with the Humbuckers
settings and the overdrive FROM THE AMP. Overall, I can't say it sounds specifically
sounds like Zakk - to me, every Crybaby that is simply a Crybaby, without the Fuzz stuff,
is pretty much the same. (Though! I do know there are a lot of bugs and glitches in the
classic Crybaby, and even the GCB-95! The sound can get to trebely and such, from personal experience - beside some technical problems).
Sounds great with my Big Muff. Great with distortion. Nothing Else.

I had one problem - when you switch On / Off there is a little Click sound from the amp.
Pretty bothering, but while playing it can bearly be heard.

This wah is strong, heavy and MEAN. I dont own so long, so its hard to tell
what will happen in years to come - but sometimes I just bet the crap out of it
going crazy with shreds and it's still working perfect. Not any flaw.
(Crybaby's are known for this, I can say)

Never dealed with 'em.

I play a large range of genres - from funk, reggae, jazz and such to classic rock, blues, hard rock and metal. Works perfect in any of those. I used to play it on a friend of mine
Fender Blues Junior with some Ibanez (don't remember which), sounds great either.
I loved the idea of the Rocker Torque - some pedals are awful when it comes to this... to easy to push or to hard - it ain't the case here, but the torque does almost nothing...
I compared to several Crybabys, the Ibanez Wippin' Demon, Rocktrons and more and as I said - for its price it awesome. Its stable, it sounds great, and very simple. not full
of meaningless knobs. If it were stolen or lost I would definitely buy another one.
Lots of sounds and tones can be unlocked here - not a matter of a specific wah -
with just any wah. Thats why I thought about buying one in the first place.

SERVES ME AND MY GEAR WELL. AWESOME PEACE OF HARDWARE.

ive used cry babys for years, and this model switches into action straight and easy unlike some of the standard wahs that jim dunlop do!

the range and warm tone on this thing is amazing soon as you plug in you will notice a massive difference but in is very sensitive so could get a lil used too but if needs you can tighten the pedal!

only had it a short while but it looks like it can take a good beating,
but judging on my other wahs with j dunlop ill rate it,

n/a

takes a time 2 get used 2 but now i cant stop using it and when you use loads of gain this mother ***** shines like no other

ive used cry babys for years, and this model switches into action straight and easy unlike some of the standard wahs that jim dunlop do!

the range and warm tone on this thing is amazing soon as you plug in you will notice a massive difference but in is very sensitive so could get a lil used too but if needs you can tighten the pedal!

only had it a short while but it looks like it can take a good beating,
but judging on my other wahs with j dunlop ill rate it,

n/a

takes a time 2 get used 2 but now i cant stop using it and when you use loads of gain this mother ***** shines like no other

I love the comment the last guy made "If you need instructions on how to set up and stomp on a Wah pedal then perhaps you should play the Triangle or something less Taxing"

Brilliant stuff dude.

Im only giving it a 9 though cause this pedal has a massively drastic sweep on the bandwidth and can be tough to control at first.

As Zakk says, "Its like a Hendrix Wah on Steroids" and I do agree. I have and still own a Hendrix Wah and a Hendrix wah goes "wwwwwwwWWWWWaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" where as the Zakk wah goes "wwWWaaAAHH!!!!!! MotherF'er"
If you want a nice smooth wah then this is probably not for you but with a bit of practice and some smart adjustment of gain and amp settings it can be quite subtle and perform the wah tasks of all styles from funk to flavoursome Blues to shred metal and even a bit of skeezy porn music :-)

There is no risk of this effect sounding weak although when swept right back into bass range it gets a little too deep and volume suffers. I remedied this bu supergluing a 1.14mm Tortex guitar pick underneath the heel of the rocker so it wouldnt go all the way back.

I run either my Fender Strat or my Epi Zakk Wylde Les Paul into it and add either the ZW Overdrive of Boss MT-2 for gain and it copes fine with both of these. If you have seen the Zakk interviews relating to his use of the wah he uses it more as a trebble booster and not for going wacka wacka waaah wacka wacka waah waah nor do I but its great for a bit of that at lower gain levels and clean tone.

Kerry King of Slayer also uses one of these so they must be good.

Once again its built tough IMO.

The battery housing is of no consequence to me as I have mine attatched to a pedal board and run off of AC power.

I have no reason to fear it breaking down.
Look after your gear and it will look after you. Switches fail and post collapse when not kept clean or maintained so its your own fault

no dealings

Great for Metal and a smattering of other things but High gain is where this pedal is at home.
I use it to add a bit of funk and flavour to the odd Fu-Manchu/RATM styled riff and it does the job nicely.

Just like my ZW Overdrive I bought it out of devotion to ZAKK and I have not been disappointed.

Would be great if it had the heel return automatic switch thing like the bass wahs do.

Love the look and the styling, its made of zinc and is heavier than most wahs but what the hell kind of complaint is that. its a guitar effects pedal not a damn necklace pendant.

I reckon It would have looked cool in Camo as thats a fave colour of Zakk (ie Camo Les Pauls) but the CFH Dime wah was already done that way. If anything other than this wah Id probably try a few and lean toward a Dime or Slash wah

Very easy to use right out of the box...an "in" and an "out" jack...pretty self explanatory really. Nice packaging and printed materials will ensure this product's collectability in years to come. Instruction manual a bit of a waste of paper though...if you need instructions on how to set-up and stomp on a wah...perhaps you should be playing the "triangle" or something less taxing.

I am using an Ibanez RG-560 (amazing guitar!) plugged into a Marshall MG15-MSII Microstack practise amp, the wah is somewhere in the middle of this technologically advanced set-up. Here's where all that glitters sadly is not gold! The wah is very sturdy, BUT a real pain to activate/deactivate, you really have to "jump" on it to switch on or off! There is nothing worse than expressing the subtleties of a solo with your relaxed upper body, when your lower body i.e; legs and feet are having to act like a jack-hammer on concrete to switch an effect on or off, one kind of contradicts the other and you end up looking like you need to take a trip to the can while you are trying to "wow" your unfortunate audience! The only thing on it that works well is the true bypass, it really cuts it out completely...eventually once you have succeeded in switching it off. The low end range (heel down) is totally unusable and sounds like listening to early Black Sabbath records thru a vacuum hose with the vacuum switched on! The high-end (toe down) is just way too sharp and biting....and here's the clincher....there's nothing in between! I mean it! Nothing....zilch!.....Zippo!....Nada! So don't buy it expecting to be able to use it for tonal variations in various positions..it's simply useless in this area, BUT remembering it is not designed for anything but searing, abrasive, over the top wah. If used by rapidly sweeping it back and forth whilst playing tasteful solo's it succeeds. It does Kirk Hammet's wah solo's to a tea, and I imagine it would pull off some of Zakk's stuff through a Plexi or a "wall of sound". Remember most of Zakks earlier and arguably better wah work was achieved with a Morley unit as he was an endorsee during his early years with Ozzy & co. Personally speaking I need to get used to this wah, it needs breaking in, or is it me that needs to be broken in to the wah? Time will tell, although I kind of wish this wah was spring loaded for an auto return, I really like what Vai does with his.

Right now I simply wouldnt use it "live" as it's a lot of additional work, and with the tones available through it, I haven't found any use for them....yet! However, once I am comfortable with it, and can put it to good use in the mix, I would definately trust that it will go the distance! Presently I am playing a lot of shred styles including Dragonforce stuff....."Not Totman's easy riff's/fills" but Herman Li's soloing styles, so there is not much need for it, but I plan to use and integrate it when developing my own personal style.

Never had to deal with Dunlop, I also own an MXR EVH Phase 90 that is built bullet tough and I have never had any issues with it.

As I said above I play a lot of shred, a'la Herman Li, Petrucci, Hammett, and La' Rocque. The wah is perfect for all those Metallica Hammett solo's. I have been playing for a while...long enough to know that years of dedicated practice does work, and there are NO shortcuts despite all the B.S. you may read in books/magazines (you can't open up a book and find a new set of trained hands that you simply snap on!) The Wah does have some great defining qualities though, it is VERY solidly built, the battery cover may be a problem ONLY if you are aggressive with it and are not careful. the components are of the very finest quality (hey it has the Fasel inductor right!? that's what the box says, and Zakk says it ROCKS!) Mr Wylde also slightly overrated the MG15 Microstack as well, but hey that's another story and....ahem...another endorsement deal. I do wish this wah had a return spring option, so you can "pogo" or "bounce" with it like Steve Vai does. The Wah does have a tendency to "eat"your cables, just like any other wah though, you keep them away from crossing under the pedal....'nuff said!

Overall if you have a BIG rig, by that I mean at least a 100 watt head and a 4x12 cabinet sporting celestion speakers, tons of grunt, deaf or tolerant neighbours and a kick-ass axe with a good Duncan humbucker w/ coiltaps then this wah should rise above the rest and scream like a labouring banshee with quadruplets! anything less in your room/shed...then go home or get a standard traditional wah with a better range for smaller setups. The ZW45 is designed for live work on a big scale, it simply can't get there while plugged into low gain combo's or saturated solid state distortion units. this thing bleeds for loud VALVE custom setups!

It's a no brainer.

This pedal sounds great. I did not buy this pedal to sound like Zakk Wylde, in fact I never like the idea of having gear with some elses name splashed all over it. I tried this pedal in a shop with 10 other wahs including the bad horsie and numerous other Crybabys and this sounded the best to me. I can't see why people think it is a gimmic pedal, I like the range and tone of it. I play a Gibson Historics reissue 57 LP Custom through a Fender Blues Deluxe and this wah sounds choice with them. I'm playing blues and rock these days and used to play METAL.

no probs

NA

Bloody Great

No bells and whistles here. Just straight forward on/off.

I use a custom shop Gibson Les Paul Custom, with EMG 81's and an natural ouled finish into a block logo Peavey 5150.
Ive had a few wah's in my time. Ive never had one as good as this though. Unlike most wah's, it doesnt colour your sound or have any kind of effect on your tone when its off. When you kick it in, my god, it sounds massive. Its the meatiest, fattest wah tone i've ever heard. When you kick in most wahs, you loose a lot of low end, not this one. It retains that thickness in your guitar sound and still cuts like a knife through the mix. I will never use another wah. Ever.

1 year and no problems at all.

Not needed

If you like a big metal guitar sound, get this. If I lost it, it broke or was stolen I'd buy another in a heartbeat. Hell, I'd buy two. There that good.

plug it in and play...sounds simple? wait a minute...it ain't. if you wanna go wah-wah-wah, get another pedal. this one is best as a tone generator, using subtle variations in the sweep. if you listen to what you're doing, you can play it like an instrument. take your time with this baby. it also has an adjustable clutch, so you can increase or decrease the torque required to move the pedal. i use mine tightened a fair bit. more control that way. i also don't keep it on my pedalboard. not enough control with your foot out front. keep it under your centre of gravity.

i try to make my own sounds. the band i play in does 95% original material, a luxury, i can assure you. i don't use this pedal alot cause let's face it, it sure isn't subtle. use it right and it'll kick you in the guts. i play a '02 melody maker into dunlop gb80 volume pedal - zw45 - boss tu2 - digitech hothead - tech21 double drive - ibanez ts9 re-issue - boss dd2 - boss ce2 - bbe sonic stomp - then into a soldano astroverb16 1x12 combo w/ eminence legend also running a mesa recto 1x12 that i cut half the back off, loaded with a vintage 30. i don't get much noise from anything, off or on. and tone sucking, not so you'd notice. the harmonics this thing can produce are a real trip. heel down and your 'g' on 3rd fret of 6th string, or 'd' on 5th fret of 5th string really scream. then if you try going up a scale, slightly more toe-down for each note enables you to follow the scale with more harmonics. with a little practice, you can do that anywhere in the pedal sweep, anywhere on the fingerboard.

i've had a it couple months. no problems. i play every gig with nuthin' backed up. been lucky so far. but hey, who knows?

never had to seek it.

three of us write in the band - everything from rural roots through to pretty tough rock and blues and you'd be surprised where i use this pedal. i'm 53, been playing since i was 8 - you do the math. my back up guitar, which i only bring out if i intend to use it is a prs se soapbar. my backup amp is a 2amp fuse. i own a shelf full of pedals, one of them being the crybaby classic. i use that for recording, if necessary, but not live because i don't enjoy going wah-wah-wah. it's so old. i'd get another zw45 if anything happened to this one. love the sound. nothing to dislike here. i chose this pedal sound unheard. on a whim, you might say. makes me ponder buying zakk's OD - bet they go good together.

Can't get more simple, just plug in... like the allen key feature to adjust the tension on the sweep.

Sounds like Zakk, definitely. I don't know what the people below were talking about it sucking the tone, this is the ONLY wah I've used that keeps my tone in tact, sounds fat and cutty, and when it's switched off, has almost NO effect on my sound at all, unlike most wahs that kill your signal. Probably due to the true by-pass. I run this with a Krank Distortus Maximus before it, or the regular gain on my Crate V30 Class A tube head, sounds killer. Only problem I see with this is sometimes the sweep is TOO much, and you kind have to stay in between the high and the low to get a good note accent on the sweeps, definitely built for metal and fast solo players and shredders, not slow-hand blues style.

Seems to be built like a tank, cept for the shitty battery cover. I am glad for the fact that you don't have to unscrew the whole bottom to change the battery, but for God sakes why can't pedal making companies get these damn things right? Seems to be made of cheap plastic and I can see it breaking like the other guys. I'm using a external power supplied SKB pedalboard, so haven't changed the battery at all. I would recommend that. Been rehearsing/gigging with it for about 2-3 months now, no problems so far.

Dealt with them when I had a problem with my ZW-44 overdrive, sent it to them cause it was making a loud popping noise, they were great, had it back working in about a week and a half.

I play a lot of classic and modern rock, and old school metal, anything from Zep to Alice in Chains to Ozzy to Metallica, and much more. Play in a cover band that does a wide variety of music. Overall I think it's got a great sound for all categories. Wish you could adjust the sweep to tighten it a little more. Been playing about 12 years now, this is the best wah I've played through so far. I would def buy it again if it were lost or stolen. Bought this on a whim since I like Zakk and heard it was true-bypass, it worked out pretty darn good.

I really had high hopes for this pedal, but honestly, it doesn't live up to those aspirations.
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The switch to turn it on and off was very difficult to use. You almost had to stand (I'm 175lbs 6'1") on it with all your force to switch it on and off. I spent more mental energy worrying about turning it on or off, that I would stumble on some solos HOPING I pressed hard enough. After turning it on or off, it was impossible to tell if it actually turned on or off! Sometimes I would be playing for a few seconds AFTER stepping on it, and realized I hadn't stepped on it hard enough!
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I sort of solved this problem by accident, read the reliability section below. I liked the fact you could adjust the stiffness of the pedal throw with the included allen wrench. This was one of the few things I liked about this pedal.

Running a Mesa Triple Rectifier, 4x12 Rectifier Cabinet, Jackson Soloist SL2H with EMG 81 and EMG 85 pickups, Rocktron Pro Q EQ with HUSH, Lexicon Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Alesis Compressor, and a Ibanez Tubescreamer for hair when needed. I play hard rock, classic rock, extreme metal, 80s metal, and "nu metal". Bands range from Rage to Slayer to Godsmack to Van Halen.
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It does sound like Zakk, but short of that the sound quality is garbage. It's way too extreme, and it sounds unnatural. The low end sound (heel down), is so muted its almost useless. The high end sound (toe down) is almost transparent. There is only a small range where this actually sounds good, and its difficult to find this during a solo.
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You almost sound like a "poser" with this wah due to the gimmicky sound it produces. The sound is almost like those wah simulators (Zoom, Line6, etc). It really hides almost any interaction your fingers make with the strings, and produces just a crazy sounding, out of control, warble. Its almost like you were choking a wild turkey that makes a gobble gobble sound from hell! When used in front of a compressor, or a distortion stomp box, the sound is so compressed and flat, sounding HORRIBLE! You need to use this straight into your head with no other effects (disortion or compression), or your sound will blow. Using it straight into the head limits you on your lead tone, because I like to run my gain about 1/2 way, then use the stomp box for more hair. Using this wah, I can't do that, the way I like it to sound. YMMV.
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You can wail on a 3 note pentatonic lick like Zakk, throttle the pedal back and forth, and really amaze people who don't know anything about guitar. This is because its so extremely unnatural sounding it makes you sound like you are doing something incredible, when you really are not.

Man, I can't believe people who have reviewed this pedal haven't run into problems. Are you people really using it??? I play everyday, and have band practice 2x a week. I put my gear through a lot of use, but I don't abuse it. I HAVE HAD 2 MAJOR PROBLEMS with this pedal.
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The first is that my cord has a nasty habit of getting caught under the actual pedal (the part you move with your foot, NOT the entire UNIT), but above the switch. What happened within the first 3 weeks was that one time, the cord got suck under there, and in the process of pulling it out, one of the rubber feet popped off. These rubber feet (2 of them) are used to help you from accidently switching the unit off/on. Ironically, this made the pedal A LOT eaiser to switch on and off, so I thought "Hey this is actually BETTER now". Well sure enough, a few weeks later the cord got stuck under there again and popped the other foot off. Now the pedal was useless without at least one of those rubber feet. It appears they were rubber cemented on, or glued on. Everytime you rocked it forward, you would switch the freaking thing off. The proper way to do this, would have been to run a screw through the rubber foot into the bottom of the pedal. I fixed this by applying about 8 squares of 1/2" x 1/2" foam tape. I said F&*# those feet, its a poor design, and just go with the tape idea. So far it is working. I built it up a layer at a time to get the right combination of "not switching it off by accident" with "being able to switch it on when needed, without stomping on it". Now I have no problems with switching it off or on!
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Battery cover. Man what a piece of crap. After the third time of replacing the battery, the little tab that holds/snaps the cover into the bottom frame of the pedal broke off. This happened right before a gig. Luckily I had some electrical tape and just taped the cover to the bottom of the pedal. It held. With a new cover, I see a problem with the design. The cover is just too tighly held in place, and I know the tab is going to break off again. This *might* be due to the fact I am using rechargeable 9V batteries, but I don't think this is a factor.
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For a pedal that "CLAIMS" to be built to the toughest standards of metal's "baddest ass", it surely fails here. I don't even beat up my stuff, or tour with it, yet I had two major failures. They need to use better quality materials and manufacturing practices.
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It appears to be built well electronically. I haven't had any problems with it being noisy, and the input/output jacks are sturdily built. It is quite heavy for it's size, and that gives it a feeling of robustness.

Wow, the folks here at Jim Dunlop are the epitome of customer service!! I emailed them about my battery cover problem, and WITHOUT hesitation, questions, or "did you register it, blah blah" MAILED OUT a first class USPS envelope the next day with a replacement FREE OF CHARGE! Three days later, I was SHOCKED to find they actually sent 2, when I only asked for one. First class people, all companies need to be like that. I really hate to rip them on the pedal, because they really went out of their way to make me happy.

I just had better hopes for this pedal, and couldn't wait to get it. Now I have had it for 6 months, and the only thing I am thinking is "Glad I only paid $88 for it".
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There is no way I'd pay the $129 retail price for this thing. It's barely worth half of that. I hope Zakk bought a lot of beer with the endorsement money he got from this, but should be ashamed that this has his name plastered all over it.
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I liked the box, the allen wrench, the sticker, and pick that came with it, but they should have included a better wah pedal. I made the mistake of buying something without playing it, and buying it because of an endorsement. I like the Jim Dunlop Company, and LOVE their Phase 90 pedal, but they need to fire every engineer who worked on this pedal. The box is worth more than the pedal.
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If you want to defend this pedal, I'd love for you to email me. I would like to hear your reasoning, because I am a very reasonable person, but cannot find a valid postive about this pedal. Maybe I am missing something here, and you can enlighten me about it. Otherwise, I think I'm throwing this on Ebay.
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I rarely write reviews, but this pedal sucked so bad, I felt like warning future buyers to stay clear from this, or ACTUALLY TRY ONE OUT before mail ordering one. Try to find a setting you like, and read the more negative reviews posted here, as I feel they are more accurate than the positive ones, who seem to be showboating.

It's a Wah Pedal Plug in and Step on the juice.

I pluged this thing in without trying it at the store. I had purchased the Wylde overdrive and was super impressed with it so I figured you can't go wrong.

Right out of the box this thing will blow the backplate and jacks off any wah I've ever used.

The Tone is ungodly. The sweep is incredable. It talks. I has a huge freq sweep to it and when you get to the high end it doesn't bite your ears off. I really got a Jerry Cantrell Alice in Chains vibe from it. Think the entire "Dirt" album. That's what I've always wanted.

You could kick some "White Room" on this bad boy no problem.

Dunlop/MXR build like a tank. The brushed crome finish is sooo cool looking.

Never had to deal with them. See the built like a tank quote...hey it's Dunlop automatic 10

I would go out and buy one immediatle if it were lost or stolen. If I ever found out who took it...I would put a Black Label Society Ass Whoopin' on them for sure!

Easy to use. It's a wah wah. Plug in and play.

This pedal sucks too much tone from the natural amp and needs an overdrive or boost after it i found.

Not very noisey unless you're not playing and you left the wah on. The sweep on this pedal isn't very usable for anything except Zakk Wylde style stuff. It's not even that good for metal i found. I prefer normal Crybaby wahs to it.

I don't much like this wah. Sucks tone and isn't very useable.

Haven't had it long but it seems a bit flimsey - the bottom came off a few times or came loose.

Not dealt with them.

Not my fravorite wah. Probably my least fravorite. Sucks tone and isn't very good for anything except Zakk Wylde songs i found.

If this was lost or stolen, i doubt i would buy it again.

I think the sweep on this is quite bad. Goes from VERY bassy to VERY thin-trebly that doesn't sound that good through a hi-gain Marshall.

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!!!