Morley Bad Horsie Wah

This is the easiest wah I've ever used because of the switchless design. Step on it and it makes a noise similar to the human voice saying the syllable "wah". That's an amazing coincidence, that something called a wah pedal would make that noise. I laughed so hard.
Anyway...yeah, it turns on when you start it moving, turns off when you take off your foot. There's a delay between when you release and when it shuts off; this was about three quarters of a second when I got it, but it's very easy to adjust it. The internal trimpot, according to the website, can take it from 3.5 seconds to almost instant. My only problem with that is that when you release the pedal, the switch to bypass increases the volume and clarity just enough for it sound like a weird little echo, but this isn't always noticeable...I'd say it's a complete nonissue generally, but it keeps this from a 10.

I run a Squier Strat with hot rails into this pedal, a Behringer tuner, Danelectro octave, Behringer Big Muff clone, Digitech Hot Head and Digitech Grunge. Depending on the volume I need my amp will be either a Fender G-DEC Junior or a 60's Kustom 200. With no distortion, the wah is almost totally silent. With more than 1 distortion, it gets a sort of gargle when it's down.
Oh, on the tone...where to begin. Well, I got this pedal because the Morley Pro Series Volume/Wah 2 was ridiculously underpowered. You couldn't hear it with even one distortion. I was worried that since it was made by the same people this pedal might be the same. I was an idiot.
The wah is extremely strong. It's squawky. It works well for that screechy Crybaby tone, and it has a nice dark tone when it's not all the way down. It works for Hendrix tones, Kirk Hammett solos, Tom Morello rhythms, and that weird tribal percussive thing that people do that doesn't seem to have a technical name. (Course those three used Crybabys, don't get me wrong, it's not quite the same, but it works.)
It asks if I can get the sound of my favorite artists...my favorite artist is Kurt Cobain and so far as I know he didn't use a wah pedal in his life. But it's close to J Mascis, Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Joe Satriani. I haven't noticed any other effects it works particularly well with when playing normally. But if you have one and get bored, try this:
Turn on an octave pedal and a pretty long delay.
Choke the strings with your left hand. Strum in whatever rhythm you feel like.
Press the wah down slowly. You'll notice a series of different percussion tones.

I've only had this pedal for a few days, and I haven't gigged with it yet, but as I said, I've had a Morley wah before. These things have casings made from cold-rolled steel. They come with rubber pads on the pedal itself to soften it's blows on the main casing. I've opened it up and it has analog circuitry (which I've always found more reliable, plus it's much easier to repair if something breaks) and the board has no apparent stressed areas. The LED/LDR system means it doesn't have a normal potentiometer that can wear out. Basically, I can find no fault in it here.

Never talked to 'em.

I play a mix of grunge (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Tad), 60's blues rock (The Doors, Jimi Hendrix), old school metal (Tony Iommi's kinda thing) and noisy stuff (like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth). That really doesn't call for a wah most of the time, but when it does I want something loud, sharp and squawky that I can turn on and off fast. This is perfect in that sense. I've been playing about three years now, and this is still the only pedal I own that most people would agree is as awesome as I think it is; seriously, even the metal snobs would get behind this thing. If it were lost I would call up a thousand corpses from the cthonic lands of the dead to tear the world apart searching for it. If it were stolen I would conjure the vilest demons of the abyss to wreak an endless revenge on the thief. Failing that I'd definitely get a new one. The only thing I wish it had is what I wish all wah pedals had: the ability to begin the sweep on a natural tone instead of needing it to start muddy. It doesn't look like that's happening any time soon, so this is the next best thing. I've never played a Bad Horsie II, so I'll assume that the BH2 is slightly better than the BH1 and call this the second best wah ever. Email me if you have a question. Thank you and good night.

I bought this to have the famous switchless stuff.

It's a wah, plug, move your foot, works !

I come from a cry baby wth a true bypass.
No true bypass there, not really possible due to autoswitch. A bit of treble loss. Need to compensate on the preamp to retrieve my sound.

Wah range is a bit bassy on most of the pedal range and become interesting at the treble end. Full on, the pedal delivers a nice treble sound allowing to get a nice feedback, that's really great to play with.
Not a noisy pedal.
I run that into a Carvin Quadx, only on lead sounds for soloing.

Mine is used, and works

Never contacted them

Very usable for me. A Wah is a question of taste. I will not say this one is good or bad, I just like it and adopted it strait away in my rig.

Very, very easy to use. You just have to anticipate the switch off delay (which is necessary to stop it going off whan you are playing in the pedal up position. Oh and if one more person says this has true bypass I will explode - it doesn't.

I want to start by saying that if you are after a cry baby type of wah then get one. There are a gazillion samples of new, old, clones etc. I have a Teese RMC-3 and that does the cry baby thing very well for me.
This is a different animal altogether. For medium to high gain lead I think its fantastic. The sweep is both wide and smooth (helped by the spring loaded mechanism) but at all times with the foot down you get a completely faithful top end to the sound. Its absolutely glorious for fast runs up and down the neck.
Beyond the 12th fret? Well actually it follows the usual rules of not cutting it with the neck pickup (as with all wahs) and sounding more pronounced with the bridge pickup. You don't get the upper mid quack that you get with cry babys above the 12th fret but you do retain the tone of that top E with the pedal down, better than with a cry baby. And thats the trade off. Until someone makes an intelligent wah that knows where you are playing then transforms you have to accept that everything comes at a price. In this case they got is just right and the reward is that I just love playing through this thing.
Downside? Yes for me a big one - this unit sounds much better on than off - to the point where I dread taking my foot off it. The buffer is harsh and dry sounding and with a guitar like a Jem sounds very unmusical to my ears. I would be amazed if Vai plays (played?) a stock one of these.
Anyway I like it so much that I'm going to install a bypass switch behind the LED!

No comment but I have taken it apart and its a very intelligent single PCB design that should be trouble free. If you can be a55ed you can even add componen ts to turn it into a BH2 (no way for me).

A highly satisfying wah that is a keeper. I just wish it had either true bypass or a less intrusive buffer (like Boss use).

Real easy ! the only adjustment you have to make is the "Wah delay".

You have to unscrew the 2 screw on each side and then pull off the underplate... and then you'll see a "connection" with the "wah delay" inscription. from the downside "vision" you'll have to screw clockwise with a fine/little screw philips head or flat head... just a little bit not too much. and it will be all set up ! Now my wah have pratically no decay and it's perfect !

This wah is simply the best I ever had ! I still have my old cry baby... I keep it for the reverse wah effect in Pink Floyd's "Echoes". Because in other circumstances the cry baby simply kills the tone and reduce the amount of distortion and VOLUME !

Now all my tone nightmares are over... the "Bad Horsie" is killer sounding. Perfect for rock, heavy context... even funk (but any wah can play funk well !).

Another good point is that the pedal is switchless and have an electro optical circuitry... so you'll never have any pots problem anymore and it keeps the circuitry clean too... because you don't have any opening... so dust or anything else CAN'T damage the circuitry.


Now this is the equiment I'm using with it:

Fender Fat Strat USA/Jackson King-V USA=>Boss TU2- Morley Bad Horsie - Boss Noise Supressor - MXR Super Comp - B.K. Butler Tube Driver - Xotic BB Preamp - Xotic AC Booster - Xotic RC Booster - Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Mistress Flanger - MXR Phase 90 EVH - Boss Chorus Ensemble - T-Rex tremster Tremolo - Boss Volume Pedal - Boss Digital Delay DD3 => CARVIN LEGACY HEAD w/4x12" cabinet

This IS my favorite WAH in a long way !!! I totally rely on it !

I play the guitar since 1995. I'm playing mostly Rock, Heavy, Progressive and Blues music... and this pedal completly suits my style of music and my style of playing ! This is my second Wah pedal since 1998 (I still have my cry baby)... but My main wah is NOW my BAD HORSIE... and by the way you don't have to be a Vai fan to like this wah... you simply have to like rock wah tone and a mix of vintage and new wah type sound.

This is simply the best wah I ever played with... and I have tried a lot !!!

SO HERE'S THE PROS AND CONS:

PROS:
-Switchless, electro optical circuitry
-No tone and volume killer
-Perfect for rock/heavy solos (Dream Theater, Vai, Satch, etc.)
-Versatility
-Price
-Not noisy at all


CONS:
- Have to adjust wah delay


to finish the review I just wanted to say that this wah made me RE like wah solos !!! It surely help me to have a wide range of tone and sound options in my pedalboard !!!

and for the price... you CAN'T have a better wah ! period !

Simple. Plug in and play. Automatically disengages when not in use.

Holy crap. This pedal has no "sweep" whatsoever. It basically has two tone settings, low/bassy and high/trebly. When you engage the pedal and have the pedal pushed towards the back, it sounds muddy and gross. Pushed forward, it sounds tinny, thin, and annoying. I get this effect playing through all my guitars (American Strat, Les Paul, others) and all my amps (Fender, Ampeg, and little Squier practice amp). Stick with Crybaby's.

Seems to have pretty good construction, a solid unit, if you can get passed the sound problem.

n/a

I would probably only use this pedal in an emergency.

Nothing special here. It's a pedal with no knobs. There is a micrometric off-delay setting inside, but I've never had to touch that. The factory preset (1 sec) is very suitable for me.

Easy to get a good sound? Hell yeah! Step on it!

I run my Horsie first in effects chain. My setup is: Yamaha Custom SG / Fender Standard Telecaster -> Bad Horsie -> Okko Diablo overdrive -> Sanox Chorus -> Carl Martin Delay -> Laney TT-20 all-valve combo.

I bought my Bad Horsie over 6 years ago. I've changed most of my setup a few times since, but the wah has always been there. The sound of the wah has grown to be a major part of "my sound", and I wouldn't go on a gig without it.

What comes to the sound - I love it. I agree with Mick Box that when you are playing guitar through a wah, you are playing two instruments at the same time. The sound of this instrument suits extremely well with my (and my band's) music.

Let's talk about the wah. Some players here say that the pedal is very trebly and boosts volume. True. The advantage gained by this is that the wah is very usable with neck pickups, too! Especially the (in-)famous Cry Baby is totally useless with a fat neck humbucker. With Bad Horsie you really can make use of your thick clean lead sound with that Les Paul neck pickup.
I don't use my wah to get that late 70's porn-movie-funk-wah stuff; My Horsie gets stepped on lead parts. A great wah lead sound cuts through FOH mix well no matter how many guitarists and/or hammonds are backing your solo. Distortion or no distortion. It doesn't wail, it sings.

Bad Horsie is no one-trick-pony.

Bad Horsie has seen quite a load of stages and roadies' hands. It wouldn't be on my pedalboard for some time if I hadn't done two major service repairs to it.
First problem came with the optical circuit: The red light LED had turned up in it's welding and it had to be reset to it's initial position. Not a big deal.
Second problem was more severe, and it occurred on the very worst place: on stage. I run the Bad Horsie on DC power supply and the jack just broke down during a lead part of set's second song. I guess the pedal slipped on the floor and streched the DC cord enough to break the power supply jack in the pedal's right hand side. The real problem is that the pedal isn't true bypass, so without power it doesn't pass through the signal. After the gig I searched for a replacement jack and installed it myself. It wasn't really that hard.

Other than those two, no problems have come to Horsie's way so far.

I still gig without a backup.

Never dealt with the company.

I play anything from soul to southern and blues to metal. My band plays mostly blues-oriented modern rock, and Bad Horsie has proven to be a very useful pedal in the band.
I haven't counted, but I'd guess the wah pedal has toured with me nearly 200 shows, countless band trainings, studio sessions and home jams. I guess I'll be playing it 10 years from now, too.

easy plain and simple to speak.

Its way too trebly i have to keep the pedal about halfway for better vocal quality of the wah the rest seems useless to me.

i played quite a few gigs with this pedal to say the least it's built like a tank it can take the abuse but eats up too many batteries which is why i prefer to use dunlop wahs the battery life is good up to 6months or maybe more thats if you upplug it when not in use.

Theres alot of pros and cons about this pedal.
Pro's are 1).the auto return mode so you dont have to click the effect on/off. 2).it's got a wide sweep/more foot travel for more tone variation. 3)you dont have to push down the pedal during switching which avoids the possibility of wear and tear on the mechanical parts of the wah.

Cons are 1).because of the auto return the wah doesnt always shut off smoothly at the end of a guitar solo.2).finding that sweet spot between the low and mid posistion because of it's wider treble range
that takes up a good 1/2 or maybe2/3's of this pedal.3)it's sometimes difficult to end a screaming lead guitar solo without hearing a hollow type of sound caused by the pedal turned off in the bass posistion.

I basically bought this pedal as a backup because my dunlop crybaby gcb-95 was having problems at the time which i end up getting it fixed myself somehow parts get loose every now and then but i still have it.I Wish this pedal was easy to take apart so i can make certain adjustments to make the wah sound better.With the crybaby just take the rubber feet off to open the back and loosen the screws so you can twist the tone pots to take some of the treble off but not too much you wanna hear the wah just enough to make it more rich and full sounding.

Very easy to use, quiet, sturdy, a real joy

sound quality is wonderful, always used Cry Babys in the past but really love this pedal. will never go back.

built like a tank, awesome construction

this is the main reason I submitted this review. I recently called Morley and they were very kind and helpful. Here is the link to the website: http://www.morleypedals.com/contactus.html.
It has their contact phone numbers as well. The gentleman I spoke is Jim Seguin--he knew the part I needed for my Bad Horsie and is going to mail it out FREE! That's right free. The chrome nut and black plastic piece for the 1/4 inch input jack came loose and I lost it. I can still use the pedal but the jack comes loose sometimes and that can be a real problem. Especially when I'm trying to lay down some hot licks. Just wanted everyone to know.

love everything about this pedal

no knobs o anything so just rock your foot back and forth

why would a great guitarist like steve Vai use a piece of crap like this? when you put your foot forward it is very noisy like a jumbo jet you cant hear your guitar over the hum and the tone is gone from your guitar as soon as you rock forward it sounds like you are playing underwater it sounds terrible.

no problems yet

it is sturdy enough but it sounds terrible i am going to sell it and get a dunlop of some sort maybe a zakk wylde one but stay away from this wah unless you want to sound like you a playing at the bottom of a swimming pool with a lot of flies

JUST STEP ON IT to turn it on spring takes it back up and turns it off when you remove your foot.. simple

AS far as a wah it definatley has a distinctive sound, very defined and pronounced wah..wah. however toward the toe down it is very trebly or bitey, I found a comfortable, ear pleasing, spot in the middle of the treddle, however if you venture too far forward then again shrill and bitey. It will out wah a crybaby and there are no pots to get scratchy but if you use a wah as a filter then a crybaby would be a better choice as it will stay where you put it as far as pedal travel. I f you want the best of both worlds why not use a crybaby and a bad horsie side by side ,then one can wah and one can filter

rugged and dependable

never dealt

play contemporary christian and power worship. been playing 34 years