HomeBrew Electronics Arizona Medicine Bawl Wah

Pretty damn easy to use. You plug it in and press the knobs. Have to give a ten for the fact that there is not much to figure out at all.

I use a Clapton Strat, Fender Deville, tend to have quite a few pedals in circulation, always buying and selling. The ones that I have stuck with because they really do the trick for me are the Cusack Screamer, Lovetone Cheese Source, Marshall Shredmaster, a couple of old Maxon Phasers, Voodoo Labs Tremolo, Eventide Timefactor, Crowther Audio Prunes and Custard, blah blah blah and bunch of others. A few crap ones that will get sold when I see something I want. The pedal is not noisy at all. I have a quacky old vox which is cool, but not necessarily usable a lot of the time because of how wierd it sounds, so this wah slots in nicely because it is more usable. It is True Bypass, which for me is important. It has a smooth travel, responds well with overdrive. It is not a super quacky funk wah in my opinion, more of a rock wah, but you could bust out a bit of Maggot Brain if you wanted. It does sound really good roaring with distortion. I am giving it a 9, because I find wah's are always one trick ponies, often a great funky wah is not good for rock and vice versa. That is why I have two i guess......? It is really great for what it does. Nice grunty rock wah action

Yeah, it is solid as hell. Comes with a lifetime workmanship warranty so you're all good!!! Never had any issues with it.

Great customer service. I think you are safe here!!!

I play a bunch of rock, folk rock, progressive stuff. Think Neu! Radiohead. Hendrix. Television. Straightjacket Fits. The Low Spark. Slint. I find it useful for recording and practice and especially live (true bypass and solid and reliable) so I can give it major thumbs up. A wah pedal is not necessarily my favourite guitar effect but this is a good wah. I have not tried a Budda but they get pretty pricey if you're only using them for a few songs. I have played Crybaby's, old and new Vox's, a few bastardised wahs, and a few budget ones. This and an old vox are the best ones I have tried, which is why I bought them and keep them to this day. I give it a nine because I am tight, but you might give it a ten. A great product. Thanks Homebrew

Easy to use. Just like most other Wah's. Has 2 micro pots internally to adjust sweep range and gain when the unit is engaged. Mine has a squeaky rocker.

Originally i thought this was awesome. It went real deep when i rocked back, but not mega high when i rocked forward. Kept a nice tone all the way through. Bit warmer sounding than my old Cry Baby.

unfortunetly i can no longer depend on this unit and need to replace it. Originally, the external power supply connector was wired backwards off the power jack. So i could only power it by battery. I fixed this. It never mattered too much live as i always power my pedals off batterys when playing live. I just use mains at home when hum isnt an issue. When i was playing in germany, our singer kicked this pedal and it totally lost its output. I couldnt figure out what had broken mid song and it ruined our set. I need robust pedals as the gigs we play are rough, and any equipment i have on the floor is prone to getting kicked about by my band members or audience. After that it worked fine for a while, but now when i rock forward sometimes, the sound cuts out if i knock the on/off switch. also if i go back too fast/hard it cuts the sound. not totally, sometimes the sound just breaks up and or the wah is unresponsive.

In short, i cant rely on it anymore, and i dont want to have to constantly fix it. especially not on tour.

This thing is pretty basic. I think anyone could help you out with fixing it. I just cant be bothered any more. I emailed home brew once and never got a reply.

I play in a hardcore band. We sound more metal than punk i guess. I mainly use the wah for solos, i want to try something new with a lot more wah throughout but this wouldnt be reliable enough. Ive been playing almost 10 years. currently i use a phase shifter > wah > whammy pedal set up into a Peavey 6505 head and marshall 1960a 4x12. At home i use a 16ohm hotplate with this too. Live i use a noise surpressor at the end of the chain.
I loved the sound of out this when i first got it, i showed it off to everyone. the finish is awesome too. If you want a real nice sounding wah id suggest getting one, maybe i just had some bad luck.
Id like it lots more if the internal pots where easy to get to without taking the bottom off the pedal.maybe if they were poking up hidden under the rocker and you could adjust them with a suitable tool.
If i lost it or it got stolen id get something else. once bitten twice shy.

Very simple, straightforward design that makes it easy to use. The on-off switch is just great and offers TRUE BYPASS. Easy to switch the unit on or off with a simple step. The adjustment of the sweep and gain is done by removing the bottom plate and turning the micro potentiometers. Great idea. Once you have found your sound, you can't get it changed accidentally as the adjustments are made internally. Makes great sense.

The sound on this is just fantastic. The gain it adds to my existing setup and the great sweep range is just brilliant. If you want a wah pedal with grunt and a wide range of tones, look no further. This is it.

Solid as a rock. It is hand assembled and the layout is an exercise in simple, effective design that is built to last. The unit is assembled with great care and the company obviously takes pride in its products.

Amazing customer support. Absoulutely first rate. I have dealt with Joel at HBE and all I can say is that if I could rate this section 11 out of 10 I would without hesitation. HBE is one of those companies that take great pride in their products and stand by them 100%. My emails were returned immediately and Joel was incredibly helpful. After my experience with HBE, I will only buy their products and have no hesitation in recommending them to everybody. You just cannot go wrong with these products. Built to last and supported by a great bunch of guys. What more can you ask for?

There is nothing I can fault about this unit. The sound is first rate and the extra dimension it gives to my rig and to my playing just makes it an absolute pleasure to use. It is built beautifully and looks great. It is backed up by amazing customer service that is personal, friendly and generous. If you are in the market for a wah pedal, look no further. You have found the "one" with this unit. I highly recommend the Medicine Bawl wah and the HBE company and am totally satisfied with this purchase.

Straightforward wah with in on the right, out on the left and DC jack. There are two trim pots indside for adjustment of sweep and input gain. The internal trim pots have great range! Especially the input gain trim pot - tweaking it really changes the whole beast - in a good way. It sounded good right out of the box and tweaking it keeps producing new and very useable tones.

Like most players of more than 25 years, I have owned a bunch of wahs: Several Dunlops including a 535Q, a Budda BudWah, a Rocktron TriWah... The HBE Medicine Bawl isn't just a slightly better wah than the average production run wah - it is amazing. Nearly every setting of the trim pots and every portion of the pedal's sweep is musical and useable. I've never been much for setting the wah in a fixed position, but I am now. The tone with this wah engaged is warm, lyrical and harmonically rich. In certain areas of the neck, I'd swear there was a pleasant ring modulation tone ringing out underneath my notes. This model has the Yellow Fasel inductor and I am believer in the vocal quality of this inductor. The pedal boosts the signal slightly when engaged - just perfect. The HBE Medicine Bawl is less of a pedal and more of an "instrument". I can't stop using the thing!

Equipment:
Strat
Wah
Small Tube head into 2x12" cab

Seems quite sturdy - overbuilt in fact. On/ off switch engages well. The physical action of the actual pedal could be a bit smoother. This is a new wah, so maybe it just needs to wear in a little.

Haven't dealt with HBE directly, but their reputation is good.

I play all styles of music. When I step on a wah, I want to know it. I don't want it to disappear behind my distortion pedal, I don't want it to be too tame, I don't want it to be subtle. The HBE can be made to be subtle and will work well for clean funk stuff, but it really shines with the input gain pot turned up and when playing rock. It's got attitude! My distortion pedals (placed after the wah) love this pedal as does my entire rig. When stacked up against other boutique wahs and some of the expensive reissue wahs or Dunlop's 535Q, the HBE is a steal. Hats off to HBE for a beautiful product at a reasonable price.

well, its a wah. theres 2 internal trim pots that control the output, and the frequency...

in my opinion they didnt do much of anything. having to screw it off and on is just irritating as all hell.

well...i own a HBE UFO and Germacide...i LOVE my UFO to death! i had him boost the level of the octave to make it REALLY gnarly...its soooo intense, it rocks!

well...i WANTED to love this wah. hell, i paid 160 for it. and its got such a kick ass shell! CHROME ROCKS! i played with this through my peavey jsx/marshall 1960a quad...i used it with my ibanez talman with lipsticks and my bc rich warlock with a x2n at the bridge and super 2 at the neck...i have a couple milk crates full of effects, but just went straight into the amp.

well...i compared it to a few of my other wahs. and the "shootout" went as follows.

'70 maestro boomerang wah/volume:9.5

'75 jen cry baby super wah wah: 7.5

'05 home brew electronics medicine bawl wah: 5.5

'78 thomas organ cry baby wah: 6.8

'05 area 51 vintage italian drop in kit: 9.2

'98 jim dunlop gcb95 wah: 4.5

i based these reviews on sweep range, output, and tone, NOTHING ELSE...if i were to take them out of the shells, id still give them the same rating.

well...this wah looks cool, and is expensive. but compared to my boomerang, its NOTHING!!!!!!! if youre going to pay 160, buy the area 51 (area51tubeaudiodesigns.com) drop in kit, or try and find a used fulltone clyde. HBE has some of the BEST effects on the market, but this wah was just down right depressing.

top notch, and built like a tank!

hes a great guy. he emails me back within an hour or so...truely a GENIUS...and i asked him about this wah, and he answered my questions. but, theres alot of vocal quality missing from this wah. the trim pots need a little bit of work. and the tone neeeeeeds a bigger "honk" to it.

its a GREAT concept, and does the vintage thing GREAT. but dont count on using it with distortion/fuzz. it doesnt have what it takes to be ranked an "amazing" wah...its good, but needs a few more bolts tightened and screws loosened, if you catch my drift. and i will probably send this to him and get it modded to have a little more vocal quality to it. i find that the hard criticisms make more sense then the appraisals, here on harmony central. and i really hope that any of you take my post into consideration. dont think HBE doesnt make good products, because they make some of the best pedals for your money! but this wah feels a little weak, and needs some more tinkering...i wonder if maybe i got a dud?

Its a wah...with a Yellow Fasel inductor.

Still figuring it out, but seems to do best when you run it in front of your distortion. I tell ya, if you been using Dunlop Wah's, you need to chunk them in the trash...they wont hold a candle to this wah. There customer service sucks. These wah's, on the inside, look like vintage wah's. No circutboard inputs, so fixing this would probably be easy. Anywho, this pedal will get you a great hendrix electric ladyland sound. My only gripe is that to change the sweep or the output gain, you have to take the back cover off of it to access the trim controls. I love this pedal. If it were stolen I would be pissed!

I can depend on it and will depend on it. No backup should be needed.

Never dealt with the company. I am going to tell all the local guitarists to grab one cause these are killer.

I have been playing 11 years and I have had some bad experences with Dunlop. There wah's are kind of like buying a Gibson Les Paul now days, sometimes you get a decent one, sometimes you dont. This company has some good products( I have a UFO fuzz that they build). I also collect pedals too and this ones serial has a 00009, so I will never get rid of it. Get one and enjoy!