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

I'm giving it an eight for ease of use because the ability to adjust the delay time via a trimpot inside the unit is great but hardly user friendly. I think there are a lot of users out there who have picked one of these up second-hand and have no idea that this feature exists.

In terms of use, it's as easy to operate as any wah, although you'll instantly notice that the pedal is sprung and returns to position when you lift your foot off. You can't 'fix' the wah into a favoured position, like the Crybaby and Vox etc

The cool thing about this pedal is that you don't 'switch' it on. The wah effect is activated when you step on it, and it switches itself off once you've taken your foot off. There is a delay between the unit switching off and you removing your foot, which is set by a trim pot inside the unit (adjustable by a flat-head screwdriver).

Ok. I've been playing with this pedal all afternoon so that I could compare it to my George Dennis GD30 Wah. The GD30 is based on the Crybaby sound but, like the Morley Bad Horsie, is optical.

So.....after playing these two pedals side by side I can tell you the following.

This Wah is a FANTASTIC wah for metal and hard rock lead playing. Pump up the overdrive/distortion and this Wah truly sings. If you want to know what it sounds like, go dig out the "Reaper Rap" by Steve Vai. The first couple of licks in that song is this pedal personified (I don't know if a Bad Horsie was used on that record, but it definately sounds like one). Overdriven, this is a very aggressive wah, a unison bend with a sweep from this wah is very dramatic and the way the tone 'falls into' the treble part of the wah is great for high-energy leads. Think Zakk Wylde on the solo for 'No More Tears'

However.......on a clean setting.....this pedal really doesn't cut it. The reason being that the sweep, although dramatic, is not a smooth transition from Bass to Treble. The pedal seems to, about a 3rd of the way forward, just literally JUMP to the treble part of the sweep. it is not subtle. If you repeatedly pick a clean note and move the pedal back and forth across it's whole sweep, it's really obvious where the jump in tone is and it's useless for clean funk work, or those wah'd, spacy picked chords that Jimmy Page gets in 'No Quarter' on the 'Song Remains the Same' DVD. If you want to simulate that sound, you have to rock the pedal only within the first two thirds of it's sweep, for fear of hitting the 'treble zone' !!!

That being said, this is a much more 'lively' and 'modern' pedal than a Crybaby or the George Dennis GD30. The extra treble that is has in it's sweep makes soloing very articulate and crisp (with overdrive), whereas the funkier, warmer GD30 did seem 'muffled' in comparison to the Morley.

Tonewise, the Morley seems to take very little tone out of the guitar when on, and I didn't notice any discernible drop or increase in volume when engaging the pedal. Great, great designed pedal, but in the end, not a keeper for me. I prefer the warmer George Dennis GD30, BUT I will miss this pedal, just for it's sheer exuberance for rock soloing. This thing would really cut through the mix at a gig and most likely tear the face off the front row!

It's looks tough. I've never gigged it but I believe Morley pedals to be very durable. With the optical, switchless design, I really can't imagine it crapping out on you at all.

never dealt with Morley

A great pedal. I reccommend it to modern metal/rock players, NOT to more classic rockers who need a clean wah from time to time for funky passages and chords.

For overdriven, lead guitar though, this baby rocks! But I'll take my George Dennis GD30 over it, anyday.

Oh, come on!! Rock it back and forth to get the killer wah sound...

This wah has a great sweep, and I can get a lot of good Steve Vai and Slash tones out of it. No noise whatsoever. Does not suck your tone. I absolutely love this pedal, much better tone than crybaby, crybabies are overated!! Here is my setup: 2002 PRS Tremonti SE- 1991 Squier Standard strat- Digitech RP80 Processor- Danelectro Free Speech Talkbox- Bad Horsie- Randall RG75. I know, it aint the best setup, i will be making changes soon.

This thing is built like a tank, i could probably drop it down a flight of stairs and it would be fine. It was left on my porch for 5 hours after being shipped because I wasn't home, and it works fine anyway! I would definitely gig without a backup, this thing can hold its own.

Never had to contact 'em, but I heard they're pretty good.

I play blues, rock and metal, and it matched my style perfectly. The switchless feature on it works like a dream! If it was ever stolen, I would find the guy who did it, and beat them senseless with the pedal! I cmpared it with the crybaby classic, and i chose the bad horsie because it was switchless and it just sounded better overall. Hey, if Steve Vai uses it, i suggest u get out there and get it, he is one of the best players out there. So go to guitar center (or ebay) and get a bad horsie!!

Very easy to use, just plug it in, step on it and that's it. The only problem here is that you have to open it to adjust the off-delay time, but you won't do that regularly, so it's just a one-time issue. I suggest setting the off-delay to zero, than you can pull off some nice tricks on it which aren't possible with mechanically switched wahs, like playing a lick and just only wah-ing some notes in the middle of it, or wah-ing every second note, or...

The wah sound is very neutral, doesn't have so much "character" as e.g. a Crybaby, but that's not necessarily bad, especially when played with lots of distortion, but the clean sound is nice, too. However, there is a big problem when playing clean: the pedal produces an immense volume boost when turned on, so when you set your clean sound at a sensible volume, it will blast your ears when you turn the wah on. This makes it almost impossible to use the pedal clean, the only way out is to turn down your volume pedal (if you have one... now, everyone sould have one!) before wah-ing and turn it up afterwards, but that makes switching to and from wah even slower than mechanical switching on a Crybaby-style pedal. They should have included a trim pot for adjusting the wah level. Thus, it can't get a rating higher than 6 in this category.

Seems to be very reliable, has never failed and I have it for years.

Never dealt with them.

I play Rock (pretty much everything that fits in this large category), Funk and Jazz. I play clean most of the time, and thus the pedal's volume boost is a big problem for me. If you play mostly with distortion, it should be no problem for you. That aside, it's a nice pedal, but HUGE, probably the biggest wah-only pedal on the planet, and eats a lot of pedalboard space. If you look inside it, it's clearly unnecessary for it to be so big, they could have made it smaller.
Conclusion: if you don't care about the volume boost and have lot's of space on your pedalboard, get it, because the step-on function is just brilliant. Otherwise, better look further.

this is a follow up on my past review

The actual effect and operation is ok. I recently a/b ed this thing and it totally sucks your guitar tone big time on or bypassed. After this realization, i have remove it from my pedal board permanantly. I would adise anyone that cares about tone loss through effects to stay away from this buzz kill. I am now looking at a RMC or Fulltone Wah which both are true bypass and sound wonderful. You get what you pay for folks.

its very easy to use, just step on it and you will get steve vai sound

fender stratocaster usa> Ibanez S series> Ashdown peacemaker 60 head amp> boss ds1 Arammat mod.

its not noisy, i use my ds 1 and step it on my bad horsie, it sound perfect, but when i play the wah, and i let go my foot, it has a delay time, but i think its ok, only half a second.

i can depend on this pedal for my gig, i dont think its easy to break, you can see all protected by metal, its pretty heavy compared to dunlop.

recommended A+

Well folks, I'm here again now posting my impression of the Bad Horsie.
EASY and comfortable to use, the pedal feels tight and firm, just adjust the "delay off" to your liking, anyway you don't have to worry about not getting the very lower frequencies fearing that you can go to bypass accidentally, the lower frequency have something like 1cm free of sweep after bypass position, anyway adjust the "delay off" as you wish.

The wah effect is really cool, the sweep is smooth and accurate!!! It sounds exactlly as Steve Vai does, little bit noisy at high gain settings, not a problem for me in a live situation bearing in mind that all wahs do the same thing at high gain settings ayway I use noise gate to keep things quiet while I'm not playing.
I don't notice any coloration or tone sucking at bypass mode and most important THIS IS A TRUE WAH WAH SOUND.

For a complete display of my live rig setup see below...

Really solid, rugged and well built.

Bill Wenzloff is a really cool guy who will help you with any issue you could have.

I play lots of types of music but rock is my main stuff, I've been playing since almost 12 years ago, and definetely this is a great option for a wah pedal out there, as I said in my past review, somebody will prefer to keep their Dunlops or Vox(I've owned both), but I suggest you to try something different, the Bad Horsie does things really fine and I decided to replace my Crybaby because of the features, not having pots and switches is really cool and that doesn't mean you won't get a true wah effect, for me this is a traditional, well done wah sound achieved by a modern design so try it!!! Remember THIS IS A REAL WAH SOUND so do not hesitate about getting one.

Here is my live rig setup for those intrested:

guitars: Fender American Stratocaster, Ibanez RG2020XTLB, Ibanez JEM7VSBL.

amp: Marshall JCM900 4502.

pedals:(FURMAN SPB-8 pedalboard) MXR Wylde Overdrive, Morley Bad Horsie, Digitech Whammy Reissue, Boss FV-50H volume pedal with a Boss TU-12 tuner.

rack: Shure Wireless reciever, Rack Rider power conditioner/light module, TC Electronic G-Major multi FX proccesor.

That's it guys, happy WHAING to everybody!!!

WELL I HOPE THIS CAN HELP YOU GUYS OUT THERE, I'M ABOUT TO GET A BAD HORSIE IN TWO DAYS, I HAVEN'T TRIED IT YET BUT I CAN ASSUME THE NEXT:

FOR ALL THOSE OF YOU THRASHMETAL-MIDSCOOPED TONE GUITAR FREAKS THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE WAH PEDAL FOR YOU DEFINITELY, I AGREE THAT THE BAD HORSIE DOESN'T HAVE THE EFFECT RANGE OF THE CRYBABYS, JUST BY HEARING AT BOTH PEDALS, BUT BEFORE TAKE YOUR LAST WORD, PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME TO TWEAK YOUR AMP IN DIFFERENT WAYS 'TIL YOU GET A GOOD BAD HORSIE PERFORMANCE, MR. VAI DOESN'T USE ANY SCOOPED TONE AT ALL, HE ACTUALLY USES LOTS OF MIDRANGE ON HIS LEGACY'S, I GUESS STEVE VAI AND MORLEY DIDN'T DESIGN THIS PEDAL WITH THE DIMEBAG DARREL TONE IN MIND... DIME LEFT A GREAT SIGNATURE WAH PEDAL TO CHOOSE FOR THAT.

ON THE OTHER HAND I CAN SEE A LOT OF REVIEWS POINTING THAT THE BAD HORSIE PERFORMS A LOT BETTER THAN THE OLDIE WAHS(DUNLOPS/VOX), SOMEBODY DECIDE TO STAY CLOSE THE OLDIES SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIVERSITY AT OPINIONS, SOME INTELLIGENT SOME NOT, QUITE INTRESTING IN FACT.

I'M POINTING MY FINGER DIRECTLY TO THOSE METAL GUYS, WHY??? WELL, CHECK REVIEWS ABOUT THIS PEDAL, AND A GREAT NUMBER OF NEGATIVE REVIEWS SAY IN THE "OVERALL RATING" SECTION: I PLAY METAL, I LIKE METAL, I PLAY METAL AND SO ON...

SO GUYS SLOW DOWN, TWEAK YOUR TONE, EXPERIMENT AND DON'T BE THAT NARROW MINDED, MAYBE THE PEDAL IS NOT THE PROBLEM BUT YOUR EQUALIZATIONS. I CAN TAKE FOR SURE THAT I WON'T HAVE ANY COMPLAINT ABOUT THE BAD HORSIE.

I LOVE DUNLOPS AS WELL, THEY COULD BE IMPERFECT, WEARING PARTS, OLD DESIGN, SUCK TONE... BUT THE W A H EFFECT IS GREAT...

I'LL BE BACK FOR MY COMPLETE REVIEW, AND I HOPE THIS OFFERS SOME HELP TO EVERYBODY.

You put your foot on it, it's on. You take your foot off it, it's off. Now you know all there is to know.

It's the only wah I use, and I've gone through a Vox, a Cry baby, a Singing Geisha and a Snarling Dogs (which was total crap, SD's should just roll over and die.)

Now I use a Peavey Wolfgang > Little Alligator volume > Bad Horsie wah > MXR Super Comp > Big Muff Pi (USA) > MXR 10 band EQ > Small Clone chorus > Line 6 Echo Park delay > another Little Alligator > one of two Marshall amps. I power it all with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 for absolutely no background noise and I'm set.

Never had an issue in 4 years, and I bought it from a guy who had had it for a couple years himself (he was upgrading to a Bad Horsie II, mind you)

Never had to call 'em. I bet they get bored, working for the manufacturer of the most idiot proof pedals out there.

Kick ass pedal.

Most User Friendly Wah ever made.

Mesa DC-5 head SG-1 and a few other pedals. I love the tone of this jewel. I like the limited sweep range because of the way I use the effect. It all depends on how you use it. Mechanically the pedal is fast because of its spring return to the bypass postion. This may be the reason for the limited sweep range. I tend to use the higher range, and to me it;s plenty high enough unlike the crybaby type wah's which get dog howling high freq. Now I have two small complaints. I have set the trim pot inside all the way off and there is still a little delay for the effect to turn on unlike the crybaby type where it turns on immediatly with the pushbutton switch. The other complaint goes along with the other in that wah is not true bypass and I get a small amount of tone kill in bypass. These complaints don't keep me from using it. It's well worth the functionality of effect that this one of akind wah has.

not problems it is metal cased.

Super easy to use, just plug it in and go wild.

Setup: Goth Explorer -> MXR Dynacomp -> Whammy II -> Bad Horsie -> Marshall DSL100 -> (effects loop send) Sovtek Big Muff Pi -> Morley Pro Flanger -> Danelectro Dan-Echo (effects loop return) -> Marshall 1960A 4x12 Cabinet.

I've adjusted the sweep to expand the range and adjusted the trim pot for the effect activation to its minimum. The pedal sounds awesome. Some other reviews mention that it's not suited to clean passages, but I use it all the time and love the tone. Maybe it's just the way I have it set up, but this pedal totally screams and goes absolutely apeshit when I want it to and also makes nice vocal sounds when I play it clean. Matches up really well with delay. Has a very slight hiss when in use.

I've had the pedal for 7 years and it's still going strong. The spring broke a while back and was easy to replace and something went wrong with it about 2 years into it where the effect would never shut off. See below.

Took the pedal back where I bought it (West Coast Guitars, Vancouver) long after the warranty had expired and asked them to take care of getting the thing repaired and I'd cover the costs involved. Two weeks later, I got a phone call and went to pick up my pedal and pay for the repair and Morley had not only fixed the pedal for free, but covered shipping both ways. So I bought a Morley channel switch right then and there, just to thank them. Damn thing works better than the supplied Marshall switch, anyway.

I play in a band called RANDOMBLIND (http://www.randomblind.com), it's heavy alternative rock, and this pedal is an integral part of my rig. I'll never own another wah, Morley won themselves a lifetime customer with this pedal's killer tone and their wicked service. I love the switchless activation, the durability of the thing, and the way it makes me sound like a better guitarist than I actually am. Previously, I owned a Crybaby and a DOD FX-17 wah and hated them both for different reasons: the Crybaby was scratchy and the DOD sounded like a DOD pedal. The Bad Horsie is a deadly pedal backed up by a top notch company. I'd own more Morley effects if they extended their product line. Bring back the Pro Phaser!!

Yes, I like to subscribe 1 thing about these pedals. I went to a local guitarstore and like all others I wanted to buy a morley bad horsie wah. I knew the one a friend of mine has is a very good sounding wah! So I checked the B.H. 1 and 2 and there REALLY was a big difference between these 2. The B.H. 2 had a much wider sweep.
I was like: "How can that happen? There must be something wrong with the B.H. 1!"
So I talked to the personal and told about the B.H. 1 and i asked to switch it with another one. And surprisingly that other B.H. 1 sounded much BETTER!

Everybody says that this thing is built solid, well that is true.
But for the ones who don't get a good sound out of the wah, could have (how shall iI put it) a BAD badhorsie wah.

To everybody who wants to buy a morley wah check 2 of the same wahs in case there's a bad one. Today it seems morley is overproducing these wahs. it seems they can't keep up with the quality they are supposes to built!

I came out of the store without the bad horsie wah. instead I bought Planet Waves cables who has lifetime warranty.

VERY Simple to use. Step on to use step off to bypass.
NO buttons or switches just the wah rocker arm.

My Signal chain:
ESPLTD MH-301 into Morley Bad Horsie Wah into Whirlwind A/B Selector Box(amp Switcher) into HighGain input on 5150HS with a BOSS DD-3 Delay in the amp Effects Loop. Only noise with this rig is the amp hiss wich is normal for the 5150. THE MORLEY WAH IS DEAD SILENT!!!
I use the wah for recording too so this is very important, when your foot isnt on the wah and it bypasses itself it is dead silent. This Wah is F*cking Awsome for me! it has the greatest wah sound ive ever heard. nails modern type wah tone perfectly. I got the idea of getting this wah with the whirlwind selector from gurrg and I can get his tone easily. THANKS MUDVAYNE! I noticed other peoples reviews state the sweep range is not that wide and i somewhat agree with this but it works great in this configuration and if for some reason you need a wider sweep all you have to do is contact Morley and they will happily help you mod it!!! This wah sounds even better with a little delay from the boss petal i use and when they are both on i get crazy with my shit.

100% Reliable. Solid Metal! I feel no backup is necessary.

From what ive read Morley Company is top notch. A+
they even help you if youve purchased it 2nd hand!!!
which is what i did off ebay for only $59.

For Modern Music and Wah Tone this thing is your wah. For Silent Switching and Silent Bypass this is your wah. For super ease of use and reliability this is Definitly your wah. GET THIS WAH!
this thing is certainly a the real deal when it comes to wah tone shaping, It inspires and modivates me to create music!
i would buy it again if it were stolen!
Thanks Morley for this kik ass wah!!!

As I said before.... My drummer could figure this one out.

Have you ever stepped on a regular wah to break into a FABULOUS solo, only to realize you didn't STOMP hard enough and the wah didn't turn on? Well, those days are GONE! Just put your foot on this baby, and rock away. When you're done, just take your foot off and the pedal automatically switches off. The delay time for the OFF feature is easily adjustable.

My rig:
GUITARS: American Standard Strat, Mexican Strat, Les Paul Double Cut, Aria Cheep-o
EFFECTS: TS-9, Boss GT-6, DanElectro mistakes... i mean pedals. :)
AMPS: Fender HotRod DeVille 4x10, Vox Valvetronix 2x12

In my first review of this pedal (a little over 2 years ago), I had complained about the noticable increase in volume when I activated the pedal. Bill Wenzloff from Morley contacted me and offered to have the pedal fixed. I had intended to send it to Morley, but have grown used to the unique little quirk in my pedal.

Since my first review, I have owned (and sadly sold) another Bad Horsie wah, and that one DID NOT exhibit the volume increase that my original has.

*SORRY ABOUT NOT SENDING THE PEDAL IN BILL. I JUST CAN'T BE RID OF IT FOR MORE THAN A DAY OR SO!!!!* :)

The sound quality on this pedal is excellent. It has a nice full sweep and gets a GREAT rock wah sound. I've never really liked Cry Babies or the like because they always sound so thin, but the Bad Horsie sounds great. I've even used it extensively on funk tunes.

The other thing that I REALLY dig about this pedal is that it switches on in the BACK position. Normally on a wah pedal, you click it on by stepping FORWARD and then, all of a sudden, your highs are WAY over the top. With the Bad Horsie activating in the BACK position, it opens up some really neat opportunies for swells.

This is by far the coolest sounding Wah pedal out there.

Bill Wenzloff, if y'all need another endorser, you just give me a call, ok?

I've never had an issue with this pedal, and it's had the snot beat out of it. It's been to Russia with me 3 times and has even survived the creeps at Delta airlines (though they DID manage to destroy some of my other pedals including my TS-9).

I've only ever had to deal with Morley the one time (when I complained about my pedal on this very board) and Bill was very accommodating and helpful. Offered to adjust my pedal for free and ship it back. So, thumbs up guys.

Overall, I have been extremely pleased with this pedal. I have owned other pedals and was just frustrated with their sounds. But this one is great. The only thing I struggle with is whether I want to run it before my effects, or after. It sounds really good both ways -- which, if you've read my entire review, is why I had bought another one.... They just wouldn't BOTH fit in my pedal case. :(

I play rock / funk music. Think James Brown meets the Beatles and SRV, and you'll be close and I've been playing for almost 20 years.

I would be at Guitar Center the very same day buying a new one of these (or maybe the BH2) if it got stolen. Let's face it, there aren't many pedals out there that could even get CLOSE to how cool this pedal is, ESPECIALLY since it goes for $100 bucks!!!

God Bless Everyone!
JEY
www.TheSeakers.com

I give it a 10, but to actually get it to sound good you have to do some internal manipulation. Buyer beware, it won't sound like a traditional wah unless you open it up.

This has gone through both of my rigs. The first one being a Fender strat with a Jb Junior at the bridge, the Bad Horsie, and then a Boss Sd-1 into a Flextone III XL. The other rig is a Bad Horise followed by a sansamp Tri-a.c. into a Vox Pathfinder practice amp or Roland K-60 keyboard amp. I bought it used and the original owner had used white lithium grease to prevent the string from rusting or squeaking, unfortunately in his application he applied far to much and it got onto the shudder. I used some kleenex and wiped it off though, took about 5 minutes. after I did that the pedal had a huge high end sweep. Unfortunately I was after more of a Vox/Crybaby wah tone, this thing seemed like it started it's sweep were the Vox would be at about half way. I could see how this modern type of sweep could be useable in some music, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

I got in touch with Morley and they sent me a little document in .pdf format that told me basically how to mod the thing to get it to do what I want. It took me like 2 or 3 minutes to accomplish and I didn't have to buy any different parts, all you need is a screwdriver and a small wrench.

Now it sounds like a good Crybaby or Vox wah, with none of the hastle of replacement parts.

The Pedal seems to have very little noise. Well worth the 42 dollars I paid.

I'll give it a ten because I'm pretty confident that you can get the sound you want with this thing.

I'd gig without a backup, the thing is built very well. I do depend on it for a couple of gigs a week right now, and it hasn't failed me. I play alot with this wah, almost 40% of the sets we play involve this pedal.

I imagine that there are some design issues, when I opened mine if found that the shudder was not a high quality material, it could easily bend after awhile but for the most part it's pretty well built.

Morley is a great company. They will tell you how to make the gear you have from them sound great if you simply ask. For those of you below who have belittled the sound quality drop them a line.

Morley even offered to send me a return authorization on a used pedal so that they could fix the tone if I wanted them too.

Even when I had my chinsey Morley Classic wah they told me how to mod it. I ditched that thing along ago because it was to noisy, but the Vai Bad Horsie is not noisy at all.

I play a little bit of everything with this pedal. I found that after I fixed it the pedal accels at fusion, modern and vintage rock tones, and even clean stuff. I've been playing professionally for 2 years now and own a whole heap of vintage wahs to compliment this.

I've found myself embracing the Digital revolution in recent years. Granted my flextone doesn't have the exact feel of a tube amp, but I have to say, alot of players use that as a crutch.

My only gripe with this pedal is that the off-delay is really tricky to set. It's a minor concern if you take the time to set it right and don't tinker with it any longer. This wah pedal will not work as a filter either, so for that i would suggest picking up that crybaby wah stompbox or having a second wah pedal on stage. I guess it would be nice to have true bypass.

I use 2 wah's now, one on the left side of the stage and one on the right. I'm using a Bad Horsie, and the Flextone Shortboard[vox sound] wah. I'd have to say that the Bad Horsie replaced my old Crybaby wah that was modded for me.

If you see one of these for as cheap as what I paid, pick it up, it's worth it. I got really lucky with the used one I found at my local sam ash store.

very easy to use it only has one switch and no nther Q-controls or any thing.

used with a line 6 spider 2 amp with the noise gate on it gets fairly good tone but it has a limited range. with a distortion pedal in front of it the notes are supressed quite a bit but with a distortion after it it's pretty good.

Its a pretty rugged pedal. and withstands my foot consistantly beating on it pretty darn good.

It's pretty good, but it really has a low range. For someone that has trouble with other pedals with more than one switch id say its pretty good. For me, I am looking for somthing a little more versitile.

The pedal is very easy to use, as many have stated. Switchless operation, tread on to activate, step off to bypass. Time delay for bypass is set inside, so opening the casing is needed.

******* Please note ***********
There is one major issue with the pedal, and that is the voltage supply. I acquired numerous 9v 300mA, regulated adapters, but all but one didnt work. I use a multy adapter to use it. So if you get an 'earthing type' hum, change the power supply.

I play a USA Customshop Player Strat and a modified Mexican 50s Strat, with Texas Specials. This runs into a POD 2, or Marshall AVT50H and 1922 (2x12 G12T75), through a marshall jackhammer, and bluesbreaker 2.
In operation the pedal makes a ever so slight hiss, but its inaudible when actaully playing, or even talking. The active/bypass has a little 'hopping' sound, but then if your playing you wont hear it.
The sound of this pedal is pretty good for distorted work, it is bright and has a slight gain boost, which helps with soloing, and tapping. On clean the pedal finds itself slightly short on sweep range, and the gain doesnt help too much if your looking for ultra clean. It is not a typical wah tone, but it is a wah.
It meets the Vai style straight away, if you want to hear the pedal, just listen to anything by Steve Vai, its his damn pedal!
The pedal does a good job for playing 'your own version' of many songs...Voodoo Chile anyone?

I have had the pedal for wuite a while, it has never been giged, but i would take it out without a backup. It is constructed of quite strong steel, and the brakets that pivot the pedal are solid, as is the pedal. There is a deep cut grip on the surface of the pedal, so you wont slip off of it. The spring seems sturdy enough, and the internals are fairly well housed, if not a little cramped in a few places. On the whole the pedal seems well built, and will last a long time.

Whoever this Bill Wenzlof is, i have no idea, but i have tried to contact him, about the power supply issue, by E-mail, and i have recieved no reply. Thats not a good representative for the company.

In fairness though, on Morely's website, they do have the schematics for the pedal, so it makes life easier if you need to servise it, or have it serviced.
Scematics dont help me when i need human help, so this is why this section gets a poor rating

I play many differnt styles, and he pedal seems to cope for a lot of them, but then if you are looking for classic Trower/Hendrix/Santana etc, then you should buy the wah they use.
It is a good sounding pedal, and it does the job i need it too.

An exterior 'trim pot' would be slightly easier, but then how often do ya need to change it?
Also, having an option to turn down the gain would be better for cleaner stuff, but then maybe another wah would be better.

Step on to wah and rock your foot back to off.
Simple and doesn't suck the life out of your tone!!!!
I switched from the classic dunlop wah, I will never go back.
Bought it off ebay, no manual, don't need one ?

Marshall DSL1000 Head - 4/12 cabinet. This wah is the first in my effect pedal chain. I'm giving it a 9 because it does make a slight noise when engauged but it's never heard at gig volume.
I used it last night and nailed the Summer song (Joe Satriani)

Looks like it is built very well
I would gig with out a backup but if it breaks I will drive like a maniac or dilengently search ebay for another.

Never dealt with them ?
I have read postings on here of their offered support for anyone having problems. How many Manufacturers do that ?
My hats off to them.

Classic rock, Blues.
I have been playin for 27 years and been through some equipment.
This piece will stay in the line up. Where this thing shines in my opinion is its auto switching. When playing at a loud stage volume you don't have to guess if you stomped on your pedal hard enough to turn it on or off. Also my tone is not sucked out by this wah.

Very easy to use and edit your sound from one wah to another. It came with a manual, but anyone that has any brains and has played could use this wah with ease. So much better than your average wah: your average wah you either have to step on the switch on the side of the unit to turn it on/off, or step all the way down to turn the wah on.
This wah you just step on it and it's on, step off and it springs back to the heel down position and it's off. That easy.

The normal wah settings or sound is close to one of the other morley wahs i've owned before. When the wah is on, there is a tiny bit of sound that comes from it, but that's at a high volume level. I'm using Carvin and Marshall half-stacks. I have noticed a slight difference in the tone change from the heel down to mid-range and from the mid-range to toe down. It seems you have to watch a little when passing the midrange area of the wah going higher on the tone because it scoops quickly. It is actually one of the best wahs I've ever had the chance to use. The extra gain and scoop you get when you switch it on the "contour wah" mode is badass.

It seems pretty sturdy and would not get any equipment as far as guitar equip. goes, that I could not use gigging. I have faith in it to work without a backup wah.

I play a metal/nu-metal/alternative style, and this wah is perfect. This item I'd highly recommend to other guitarists of the same genre.
As far as I can tell, the one thing that I think would make these pedals much more conveinient would be to put the input/output on the back of the pedals instead of the sides.

It doesn't come with a detailed manual, as a result I think a lot of people are disappointed with the lack of range of the wah and the high treble.

This is not a traditional Wah Pedal, there is a definite art to it. Basically for fast runs of 16th notes you can make a wah on every note, try this on any other type of manual wah pedal and you'll probably end up doing yourself an injury. Think the wah in the intro to the last solo of Sweet Child of Mine..

What you do is depress and raise the pedal for one beat, there are two windows inside the pedal that mask the optical sensor in quick succession giving 2 wahs on the way down and 2 on the way up. 4 wahs per beat: tap your foot to the music and wah on each 16th note.

What did you expect of Mr Vai? You give him a thing to play with and he comes up with the a device that utelises the optical technology to the full. You could buy a touch wah, but if you work at it the Bad Horsie is far more dynamic.

The thing I love most is that it turns off automatically when the foot is removed from the pedal... and stomp back on it and it's back.

I generally use an 84 strat or Ibanez RG470 with Seymour Duncans through a Bad Horsie and JSH Wah and a Guyatone Compressor into POD v2.0 into Morley Volume Pedal into a Simms Watt 100 head into a cab with an 18" emminence speaker in it.

I record stuff into a 512mkII from the POD and using the pedals and it sounds really clear, I generally play either lead or funk rhythm, the bad horsie totally rocks for choppy funk/skank stuff, especially with muted notes.

Never a murmer of trouble from it. I'd gig without a backup.

It has a solid metal casing, no potentiometer to get scratchy and the batery compartment is attached with nylon chord and is cushioned, the cover has a sliding catch, so no screw to lose. Inside the LED was a tad loose which might affect the tone a little, but doesn't appear to.

Only gripe I have with the design is that the two halves of the pedal are attached by horizontal screws, which might take some of the stress of a person pressing on the pedal.. closer inspection shows the two halves fit exactly and there is no movement, that could strain the screws.

I've emailed the company several times with queries and requests and they've always got back inside the same day. They've been polite and helpful.

They are honestly concerned about the customer, better aftersales service than you get on most cars.

I bought it expecting a wah pedal like the Vox or Gem's I'd played. At first I was greatly annoyed.. it serves me right for not thinking and buying it based on the brand and endorsee.

I was tempted to resell it and get a Gem instead I stuck at it and it fills a niche, I have another wah pedal which I use for longer sweeps..

Had I known what it did I might have bought a touch wah instead but it'd be broke by now as I wouldn't be able to play wah on alternate beats in a measure without stomping the on/off switch as many times as I'd sweep the bad horsie. I probably wouldn't even have the concept in my playing vocabulary.

I've owned one of these for about three years now, and there is just no way around it - I'm dissapointed. It's fairly impossible to get a good sound out of this pedal. However, it is VERY easy to use - plug 'n' play as it were. The switchless operation may take some getting used to for people used to "traditional" wahs, but that will only take a few minutes of fooling around to master.

This is just not a good sounding wah on anything other than a clean amp channel. If you run a guitar through it (and I've tried MANY) to a distorted channel, you hardly get any wah unless a) you're on the bridge pickup and b) you're in some nebulous zone between the fifth and twelfth frets.

Below the fifth fret this pedal simply does not cut through the mix and has virtually no bass sweep, so it has little effect down low. On the other hand, if you play a high G on the 15th fret and rock the Bad Horsie likc crazy, it barely barely makes a difference. The range of its sweep is very very much in the mid-range of the guitar, and thus limits it when highs and lows are distorted. I'm not sure how Vai is running this to get the sound HE gets, but this pedal doesn't sound anywhere close to the huge sweeping filter he brings out. He gets a big fat wah from open frets to his highest notes... and you won't get that at all with this pedal. Very limited.

It is ULTRA reliable. Never fails... I was worried about that switchless operation breaking down somehow, but it's been fine. You can kick it, drop it, set it on fire... it will keep on working. Morley makes a durable unit.

I like a wah which can really break through a distorted/overdriven tone and "take over" as it were. This is a weak pedal, second only to the horrible Vox I played through in the extreme narrow frequencies it actually "wahs."

Oh it's very easy to use in the fact you dont have to push it all way down and then click it like most wah pedals.In other words it"s the way wah pedals should be that you can switch the effect on/off quickly by taken your foot on or off the pedal.GOOD EXAMPLE:you can go from a fat rythym crunch to a high singing lead less than 1 second.1)keep your foot off the wah when your playing a heavy riff.2)then step on the pedal and play a short 2 second lead.3)immediately take your foot off to go back to the heavy rythym riff that you were playing to create such dynamics that were'nt quite as possible or as easily as possible.

I use this pedal with my marshall bluesbreaker 2 w/the boost mode switched on providing enough heavy gain coming from my gibson les paul(with EMG pickups)and my marshall valvestate 2 head.Sound wise? Hey it's good old analog technology you can actually hear the wah not like those poor sounding digital wah's,they sound more like a bad tremelo effect or somehing else the sound kinda flucuates.The pedal is a little noisy considering that i dont use a gate.But i must say there is a debate between the morley pedals and the crybabys.Some say the crybabys are better,some say the morleys are better vice versa.But i do own a jim dunlop crybaby along with my steve vai bad horsie wah.For crybaby pedals the problem i had was the clicking mode would wear out easily and what made it worse is that i lost the receipt.So i decided to fix it/jerryrig myself which is way i purchased the bad horsie wah it was used,cheap and good condition also having 2 pedals are better than having one just in case the morley or the crybaby breaks down theres always a back-up.I think morleys a litle more powerful sounding than crybabys when you push it in the treble position adding much more sustain to the signal.Of course crybabys go back as far as the late 60's along with the vox wah making those pedals the birth of wah-wah type of rock and roll.Despite these diffrences vox,crybaby or morley it's all real wah tone to me.I think sometimes the magic is your foot in how you rock bass and treble back and fourth from diffrent pedals you use and maybe each pedal has a diffrent timing and tonal range from the higher/lower frequencies.Im not really concerned or care if this pedal doesnt sound like my favorite guitar player.Because i've been playing since the late 80"s and im at that point of writing and composing my own material.Theres no time for that i just take what i got and make the best of it.

Never had any problems with it

N/A

My styles range from classic rock/metal and theres always room for wah ask(Kirk Hammet,Dimebag,zakk Wylde...etc.I do have one of those new marshall avt 50 1x12 combos that i use for a little pratice amp when i dont have a half stack nearby.I've been playing for like 16 years and i must say that marshall is the answer for kick ass rock and roll. I've tried peaveys and fenders it just doesnt cut it when i plug into a marshall the sound is already there depending on the type of marshall that caters to your specific sound.I really dont have any complaints about this pedal because this pedal was made for me.It's got all the flexibility that i can only dream of.Like i said earlier i can go from a fat crunchy rythym to a high singing lead less than i second which gives me more dynamics as a guitar player always a +.

The simplest of wah's, and the best wah design in the world.

I bought my Bad Horsie wah just over 2 years ago, and continue to use it at rehearsals and gigs. I don't think the sound is nearly as good as wah's I've heard other artists and performers use. The wah tone is weak, and there's an annoying peak about mid pedal-travel, where the wah effect changes too dramatically. It really should have a smoother effect acorss the whole pedal travel. Beyond the peak area, there's no more wah left- it seems like the last 25% of the pedal travel is useless. Next, I've used this wah with numerous guitars and amps over the years, and I can hear a slight swirling sound- a wah effect in the background at times. Definately not true bypass obviously, but I've never experienced thekind of effect-bleed through that I get with this pedal.

Why do I use it then? Because I REALLY NEED a wah that doesn't make me click yet another on/off switch. I run it through a splitter sometimes so I can just bypass it altogether for certain songs. Overall it sounds ok- it gets the job done. Mine's been extremely quiet, never a noise problem. I dig the adjustable delay time for the effect-off. I left mine at the factory preset. That way, if you move the pedal all the way back while doing fast motions, it won't shut off on you.

Lately the input jack can't seem to keep the guitar cable connected very well. It seems to spit the cable out of the jack at the least bit of pull. It's tight enough, but the jack keeps pushing my cable out.

I've been playing Gibsons, Fenders, and Marshalls for 20 years. It's ok. They need to smooth out the pedal travel and get rid of that sudden peak area. They also need to make it true bypass. If any other manufacturer made a better sounding wah with this type of switchless feature, I'd snag one in a NY minute. Right now, Morley's the only company I know of who makes these, so I'm stuck. Maybe worth $50., but not $100.

My Bad Horsie had an annoying peak in the sweep. I took advantage of the offer in another post:
"Bill Wenzloff of Morley here again. I want to stress to all who leave reviews: If you need assistance in anyway, write your reviews (good or bad) and then contact us. You'll be glad you did. After all, your satisfaction is REALLY what matters! Call 800-284-5172 ext 12 or email me at demodude@hotmail.com THANKS AND KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING!!!!!!!",

... and after a 10 second modification to the circuitry, explained to me very well over the phone, the wah works perfectly. The sweep is much closer to what I want to hear. It doesn't have any of the issues that others report about "can only use it with distortion", "doesn't sound like a classic wah", etc. It works great with clean or dirty amp sounds.

I'd encourage you to call them if you have any issues with this pedal.

i can't get enough of the switchless feature on this... the final word on wah, i think. so easy to operate, nothing hard to stomp on or off, no button to switch. a true "10"!

i use a gibson explorer , a gibson flying v faded , epiphone sg... i tried several guitars through this. amp-wise, i use the vox ad120vt...the morley sounds better than the stock setting, plus that leaves another 'pedal' function free on my amp settings. for my setup, and style of music, it fits in quite well. a nice sweep range on the wah.

i think you could definately depend on it. be aware of your battery life on it, it will go through some batteries( but hey, typical of all pedals if you are using battery vs power supply). built like a tank, though.

haven't had to use them yet, but i see at least one company listens to the users here and makes themselves available to the people that pay good hard earned cash for their products. that alone speaks volumes.

i play hard rock / metal. imagine something like black sabbath/ alice in chains. throw in a mix of a little of everything, i fool around with amp settings and this to make some interesting sounding stuff. it's very versitile to whatever music you need. i like the 'no switch' feature on this the best. i've owned a crybaby, 2 vox wahs, and tried a multitude of other wah pedals. i like it so much i'm looking into the morley volume pedal to add that to my setup.
if it were stolen, the person who stole it should consider leaving the country. it's that good of a pedal. i tried some of the other wah pedals morley had: classic wah( more vintag-ish, doesn't cost as much, but the bad horsie sounded better) , the bad horsie 2 ( some more bells and whistles, a little more in cost), but an offer came up for this and i couldn't refuse. i'd replace it in a heartbeat.

Bill Wenzloff of Morley here again. I want to stress to all who leave reviews: If you need assistance in anyway, write your reviews (good or bad) and then contact us. You'll be glad you did. After all, your satisfaction is REALLY what matters! Call 800-284-5172 ext 12 or email me at demodude@hotmail.com
THANKS AND KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING!!!!!!!

As easy as any other Wah, its not brain surgery.

Fuckin' thing doesn't have the swing to the highs that I was expecting. Listening to everyone here, elsewhere and pros that I've grown up with... and I have the Bad Horsie 2, WOW! What a disappointment. I really just think that every guitarist that raves about it SUCKS! I've been playing to 14 years, I'm as heavily distorted as the next guy. No mid-range and the high pitched wah isn't that great as everyone states. I swear, it sounds like my fuckin' Crybaby! Wil be selling it on ebaY. I'm not into hype of a product, if it sounds great then great and I'm extremely into my sound... NOTHING! Hating Sob from Merauder and Bebop from Candiria for convincing me into buying it.

Shit, your foots gotta go on it, of course its going to be reliable!

THinking about calling Morley to find out how to modify this fuckin' thing!

I play heavy music and lead like a fuckin' bitch!
Playing for 14 years. New York Hard Core
If stolen I'll find the person and thank them.
Hate the no midrange and lack of a large up scream!
Compared to my crybaby
I wish it had what it fuckin' lacks
Make music? I think it makes me want to fuckin' throw up
DON'T BUY THIS THING OUT OF HYPE! I don't even think Steve Vai uses this shit. I guarantee he took it, stripped it and modified it.

Put in a battery or a power supply plug, input and output cords, it doesn't get any easier.

It's the rocking motion of the foot in time with the music that may be difficult for some people.

You already know it's the best one out there for high gain shred work. Lousy for medium/no gain work, but for high gain it's the only one. Here's the trick to this pedal. Take the spring out. Not only do you still have the ability to rock the treadle, you can find a spot anywhere on the treadle arc and leave it on. Go walk away and play some, you'll see what I mean. I hear Satriani does this a lot, sets his wah to a stable point and walks away playing. The best discovery I've made is to take the spring out. You'll have to retighten the treadle nuts occasionally, but you won't believe the sounds you can get.

And if you're really serious about wah, and why else are you in here, put a second Bad Horsie with spring after the Bad Horsie with no spring. Find a spot on the first one, and rock away on the second one. Absolute wha nirvanic bliss! But be careful, toe down on both will give you treble hell, like 80's poodle metal.

And God help the audience if the other guitar player comes over and rocks one pedal while you're rocking the other!

I know electronics, and the inside looks about as well as can be made. Some punker may stomp it to death, but I doubt if they're playing this pedal. I take care of my toys, so I'm not worried at all. Very well built in a good, strong case.

I've never needed to contact them, but a friend has. They were very helpful, did a repair he needed fast, and even did a free bit of mod work he wanted. Good customer service deserves to be rewarded with your business.

I play high gain shred off of blues rhythms on Mesa amps (Mark's, not Recto). It's taken me years to afford my sound, and I only play what sounds best on them. Nothing, I mean nothing, compares to the sound of two Bad Horsies, one with and one without spring, when I'm cranking on the gain. Clear, pristine sound, no mud, there is no wah that will do the high gain shred stuff like the Bad Horsie.

whelp, it's easy enough, there is no switch so you just push down when you want a litte waction. it takes some getting used to though, when you're whoppin and floppin away if you aren't careful u'll bring it too high and it will click when it disengages. you need to keep it in the proper zone when playing, it's just something to get used to.

i'm playing this pedal in a congo line of fun. i'm playing my epi black beauty with 57 classic plus's, into a boss tu-2, morley bad horsey, proco rat 2, Dunlop Tremelo, Line 6 DL4, and an electro-harmonix Holy Grail Reverb pedal, powered by a voodoo lab pedal power 2 into a Musicman HD 130 with a Fender GE412. phew. the wah has a different sound, i used to play a JH1, a jimmy hendrix wah by dunlop...and it was a lot more real than this pedal. it's hard to explain but this wah is more effect than that one. i know i'm not making sense, it's hard to explain. it has less gain i guess, and it's smoother, and it holds together a hell of a lot more. one effect i could get with the JH1 was "The Scream." when you're playing chords and you push the wah to the floor it would howl, this one doesn't do that. it was made for distortion. if you wanna use a wah for a solo, i'd suggest this one. it's a little less dramatic but it really does hold together nicely. i've never listened to stevie vai before, and i can honestly say i still like this pedal.

can i depend on it? we'll see now won't we. i won't bring a backup, if it breaks i take it out of the chain and play with out it.

no clue

i'm playing modern and classic rock. i like to get wierder sounds and this is a nice addition to my collection. i don't and won't play anything the way it's supposed to be played, i'll find a use for this, but if you can who knows. try it, if you like it what does it matter what i think? i bought it, i was obviously happy with it then and i still am.

Step on wah, off to disengage. Couldn't be easier.

Im using it with a randall RG100SC. Sounds good for extreme gain and for that clean funk wah sound. Some think that it is a shredders-only pedal. Not true. It produces a good sound for many styles of music. It does lack a little midrange, it goes from bass to treble very quickly. Not a big problem, and besides, that is what the Bad Horsie 2 is for. But 1 point off for the lack of midrange.

Seems to be built well. Plus, with no pots there is not a whole lot that can go wrong. I would depend on it without a doubt.

Never dealt with them yet, but have heard good things about Morley and their dedication to the players.

I play all styles of music, from Hendrix to Van Halen to Metallica. Works great. The whole switchless design is great. I love it and it will be a part of my rig for many years to come.

In this review, i'm going to take a different approach...we're going to start at 0, and give or deduct points for various aspects of the device,,,,

ease of use: well, i mean, how hard is a wah to use?...this one is switchless, and a lot of folks seem to like that feature...i think it takes some getting used to, but all in all, it think it's ok so 1 point for switchlessness...+1

it's a good sound, though the q-point is a little abrupt, just not a pointed as a vox..no noise at all....+1 for the sound

I NEVER GIG WITHOUT BACKUPS AND BACKUPS FOR THE BACKUPS...what're you?...mental?...as to the reliability question: it seems so, and i'll give the benefit of the doubt for morley's reputation...+1

n/a

here's the beef: the so-called spring that forces the peadl back to its' home position (heel down/wah off) is puny, useless, and unworthy...it's so puny that the previous owner was using rubber bands wrapped around the rear of the pedal to pull it down...with the switchless circuit being dependent on the position of the pedal, this is CRITICAL!!!....unless you like the effect turning itself on...i do not...i also do not like the idea of using rubber bands, so i modded mine with a couple of strategically drilled holes, a bolt, and an old strat vibrato spring...it works now, by golly...-1,000,000 points for the useless spring!!!

If your foot is on it, it's on, if not, its off.

It sounds pretty good, the sweep is not as drastic as my Crybaby, which is a good thing. My Setup = Schecter C-1 and Jackson dinky reverse -> Moreley Crybaby -> Marshall TSL602 -> Boss Multi-FX unit (which i use only for delay). It doesn't sound like a vintage wah, and whether that's good or bad is a matter of personal taste.

Basically the switching system is so amazing it transforms the way you can use wah.

Thing looks like it's built to withstand nuclear war.

no dealings

This pedal is worth your while, if you want a more vintage sound check out the Moreley Classic Wah.

This is a switchless wah meaning that when you put your foot on it it on, and when u take it off, it's off. There is a default one second delay on it switching off which can be altered from inside.

For my needs, this wah is pretty close to perfect. I play relatively heavy distortion stuff including Vai. It sounds great for this. If you wanna hear it then just listen to the song Bad Horsie by Steve Vai. However, as already stated in other reviews, it's not a conventional wah sound and with your amp on clean, it does sound a bit 80's space-agey. So if your after a clean wah, I suggest you get a Vox.

This is very reliable and I would definitely use it live without backup.

Not dealt with them.

As I said, in my opinion this is a superb pedal. The switchless wah feature is also great for me, however, this does mean that you can't play with the wah in a set place like Zappa used to. But overall, this is the best wah pedal I've used. Far better then the incredibly unsmooth Cry baby's

This si the easiest pedal to use in my set up!!!!!!!!1

I love the sound of this thing. It is quiet when off, gives a little boost for solos, and is still good for rhythm stuff. I use Gibson guitars, fenders, and esps through this pedal, a boss TU-2, and NS-2 to a peavey TRIPLE XXX, with a Whammy, GE-7, and ibanez DE7 in the fx loop. I got this when my crybaby crap out the second day i had it. for an extra ten bucks my crybaby was replaced with this and i will never go back.

I have had this wah pedal since 99, i do believe, and it is just as good as the day i got it. I don't use batteries i just use my pedal board for everything but the whammy. I wouldn't even need a back-up.

never had to talk to them.

I play metal, funk, blues, jazz, and anything inbetween. This thing works great for all of it. It kicks the shit out of the crybaby 95q and i would like to hear the bad horsie II. Oh well, i'll have to wait about two more lifetimes before i need to replace it anyway.

So simple, even my 1-year-old son knows how to use it!

Sounds great with clean tone, sounds sick with distortion...

I've had this pedal since 1999...nothing wrong as of yet.

Never dealt with the company

I love to shred metal, play Prince-type funk, and this pedal lets me accomplish the sounds I hear in my head. And yes I admit I bought it because I am a giant Steve Vai fan, but fortunately the pedal delivers!

This is a super easy wah to use. As soon as you sweep the wah pedal it comes on via an optical circuit on the pcb.

I can say that after using just about every wah out there, (ie. Budda, Dunlop 535 & 535q, Vox 847 with a bypass mod, and Tech 21 Wail) this is the best sounding. When you step on it and the optical circuit engages, it generates a smooth wah to treble in full down sweep. (In full down it is perfect for all the Voodoo Chile leads, sounds exactly like it to me) If you like a slight boost for solos this will do it for you. This pedal does not generate any noise in my setup, which is: Parker NiteFly & 3 Gibson Flying V 67 Reissues into the Bad Horsie, Boss Ce-20, Ultra Vibe, Boss fz-3, Boss Rv-2, Boss TU-2, Fender Pro-Sonic Head, Tone-Master 2X12. I also have a Marshall 1987x reissue with a MV MOD & It sounds great through that also. I had heard so much smack about how Morley Wah's honk the bobo that I stayed away from the Bad Horsie .(very rare that an artist endorsed product turns out to be good, at least for me) Now I am going to purchase a Bad Horsie 2 and a Little Alligator. Also realize that tone is subjective (amps, tubes, guitars, strings all play a big part!)

Only had it for 7 months, to early to tell.

Never dealt with them.

Excellent pedal, worth a try if you are looking for a step forward in a Wah Pedal. The engineering in this design is head and shoulders above all the previous wahs I have owned. been playing for 25 years ( I am an old dude!) and I am always lookin for fun gear that inspires me to play and rock, this pedal is fun and it definently rocks!

You step on it, and step off when you're done. How much easier can it get?

I'm running LTD and Epiphone guitars into a string of Soundtanks with the Wah at the end, all of that into a Marshall VS100. The times I've used it live, it's behaved, and added a nice little texture to my solos.

I don't have a back-up, but I don't think I'd need one with this. It's also powered by my pedalboard, so I have no idea how the battery life is.

Haven't had to talk to them...which I'd think is a good sign.

This was the only pedal I could find with the No-Switch option, so I got it. Good for the rock stuff I like to play (when I'm not playing bass) and I like it better than the Crybaby I used to have. If it's good enough for Steve Vai, it's good enough for me.

I love the fact that you don't have to use a switch to turn it on or off. Many times I've had to adjust the screw on the platform because the pedal won't turn off by itself (I have played about 400 sets with it though and beat the living crap out of it onstage!).

I use the standard set of guitars(les pauls, s.g., tele, strat); have an awesome Marshall JCM 800 and many different fx pedals.
The Morley sounds great but don't look for a midrangey vintage sound
like a crybaby!

I've had it in the shop to replace the adaptor input. Also when the battery dies you'll look like an idiot on stage (yeah this happened)
because it shuts down your whole line!!!

I've never dealt with the company, but their ads look great don't they?

I like this pedal because it sounds pretty good (certainly anything better than on a multi-fx unit), but it's not so good if your looking for that Hendrix (the real king of rock and roll!!!) sound.
It would be nice if I could find a switchless Vox or Dunlop wah. Worth the money and takes a serious shit-kicking!!

Very simple, step on it and rock! i notice a lot of people wrote that their decision to buy this pedal was because it does not have a switch, for me it is an added bonus to an awesome sounding pedal.

68 Stratocaster into a 71 JMP Marshall, with a tube screamer and blues driver. This pedal sings like no other wah. I own a VOX and a Cry baby, the Morley has a much larger "sweep" and the tone changes throughout the entire sweep. I find this much more desirable compared to my other wahs which have one small point of tonal change withiin a large pedal sweep. This pedal sounds great clean or with distortion and is not noisy. My VOX is brutal in this department, the cry baby is not much better.

I have owned this pedal for about 6 years, the metal loop spring thing that holds the pedal up broke about 3 years ago, I pushed a peice of sponge like foam in place of this and have lived with it ever since.

Tried to find Morley's website about 3 years ago when my spring broke but could not find it and could not bother to follow up now.

I have been playing for 17 years and gig weekly. I play rock, blues and ska, I would trade my Vox and Cry baby together for a Bad Horise. This pedal kicks ass! I have been using wah pedals from the time i started playing guitar and had always searched for a pedal that gave a wide tonal sweep through the full travel of the pedal, something you kinda get from Vox but not even close from Cry baby ( the old Roland Wah Beat is pretty good as well). I am still trying to figure out what kind of person would buy this pedal simply because it is easy to turn on and off and then complain that it does not sound like a cry baby? This pedal is something far superior than a Cry baby.

This is the most ingenious design for a wah ever. It turns on as soon as you touch it. This is the only wah wah in existence that I can use my wah technique on. I start out clean and the wah my riff and at the end of the bar on the four beat I release it. This creates a distorted sound because its in the low frequency range before it shuts off. It then starts out clean again for the nexttime around.

I've tried every wah there is. This one is the cleanest. And has the greatest range. But, if you are looking for a vintage sound don't look here. Very little midrange.

This thing is a tank. But, I admit a stomp the hell out of this thing. I go through 1 a year. Overtime, the original signal become very muddy and weak. (Yes I replace the battery) The only solution i found was to buy another one. This angers me, but I can't use any other wah with my style.

I sent one of the broken ones in and they found nothing wrong.
My ears and my bandmates ears could hear a difference thoguh.
I e-mailed them, and they didn't respond.
I am very unhappy.

I can't live with it or without it. I love the sound and design. But it is so unreliable. I prey that the Bad Horsie II is better.

I very much liked the idea of the non-traditional switch. Sometimes on my Dunlop Crybaby I am not sure it is on. The DOD pedal was a joke to me. Its on/off switch was even more unsure to me.

I hated the sound of this pedal clean. It sounded like an analogue keyboard effect. Dirty it sounded better but I decided not to buy it because I planned on useing it clean. The clean sound sounds more like a cartoon laser blast or some type of oscillator effect. You have to try it to hear it. I prefer the wanking "tone knob" sound. This dude just was not my cup-o-tea.

It looks solid. I am not sure how it works, but I would guess it would last many moons. I almost bought this guy based on looks. It seems durable and the switch is a better design in my opinion. I just hated the tones. I do not know if this one has true bypass.

Never dealt with this company, no opinion.

You are getting my opinion, so here it goes. This is a very reliable looking piece of equipment. I did not like the sound, but Steve Vai does. He is much more successful than I am so maybe this pedal is really good and I just don't know it.

I have been playing for 10 years. I currently use a Crybaby and it is ok, but I wish it were less noisy and have true bypass. Most effects are noisy, but this one didn't seem so bad in the noise department.

There is also a morley model that is a volume / wah that seems really interesting. I'd buy it if I like the clean sounds.

I can only suggest you that you demo it (or any piece of equipment) before you buy.

Looks good, sounds ....not that great.