Morley PWB Power Wah Boost

Plug inbetween your amp and guitar. Turn it on. Then go for it!!! It's a wah wah pedal ya rockin' rolla!

Super high quality electronics. Wah is more intense than a Crybaby or Vox even in the sweep range. Boost is actually a preamp so it really provides MAJOR flat response boost with minimal colorization. (40 dbl's!) This pedal is what was used by Aerosmith on "Get Your Wings" and really gets that nice wailing scream you hear in "Train Kept a Rollin'". Can't be duplicated with any other type of wah. The "Cadilac" of wah wah's. A must in every rocka's garage!

Only burnt one #387 bulb in 26+ years of service. Very dependable. I have three of this model and one has never been outside of the closet!(Or Garage?) It's a backup but acts more like a Maytag Repairman!

Never needed their help.

Great wah but the boost is really the best around.(Still!) The only thing I've done to improve this pedal is to replace volume funtion in the switch for a true bypass function. This is a must on the non-boost models since there is a plug on the left up on top ready for your switch. You can also easily use a led if you want to get the drill out!!! I use my Morleys more than my Thomas Cry Babys. (I prefer my Cadilac's over my VW's!!!)

boost intensity knob, on/off switch, wah on/off, boost on/off, and the wah pedal. Its fairly easy to get sound from it if you know what your doing. You have to turn up the gain on your amp and rock the pedal forward from the back position and set it somewhere in the middle to get a good rock-wah sound.

well first of all you must know I use it with a bass. I am currently using an Ampeg bse hlf cab with an Ampeg svt classic head. It can get very noisy when turned up and rocked up forward on the wah pedal. If you put a distortion in the fx loop and the wah between your bass and the head input plug, you get this awesome sound that sounds like two 4 ton pieces of pure titanium screaching together at 377 miles an hour. If you can tone it good, you can learn more about what settings will make the dist. sound better. I use a big muff pi with it and it sounds great. Cliff Burton, god rest his soul, used this same type pedal to make some of metallicas "metal-up-the-ass" riffs, including orion, damage inc(intro), call of ktulu, and of course his anesthesia solo. It has the potential to get those sounds, and that is if you find out which dist. and bass go good with the wah. Cliff used a rickenbacker w/ the morley pedal and an overdrived mesa boogie amp.

Its freakin made of metal, but its as old as my dad! na, mine just went out a couple days ago. I'm not really for sure what happened, whether it was a mistake i made or it just burnt out from being so old. I will give this a very high rating either way, because its kept up with itself through all those years of hard playing. If only they made a revised edition of the exact same model.

I dont know right yet but I will call them to see if I can get it repaired then I'll come back and update.

I've played hard rock/heavy metal music for almost 3 years and this is a great pedal if you like a real old-school metal. It can deliver great screaching metal sounds when used with a dist. and the volume or gain is turned up on the amp. I would definitly have to buy another one because I couldnt live without hearing that sound through my amp. I like how the wah and dist. mix together and its boost abilities. I dont like how noisy it is and sometimes at high frequencies, when you rock the pedal forward all the way, you get an annoying squeel and your notes dont stand out at all. My favorite feature is rock wah pedal. This pedal is a must in heavy metal sound. Its also an antique!! and lastly, dont be disappointed if you get it and it isnt what you expected. Hook up a dist.(the way i specified in the sound quality section) and turn up the gain. If it still doesnt meet your qualifications mess around with it a bit. If still it doesnt then turn around bend over backwards and kiss your a$$!!

This thing is so easy to use. My 8 year old cousin can understand it.
Well, i got it used, so there was no manual. But, thats not a problem. You can just print it out from morleypedals.com. The manual is great.

My set up is simple. I play a spector 5 string bass, SVT-610HLF, SVT-4PRO. My pedal board is the PWB first, then a boss flanger, then an original electro harmonix Big Muff, with the pie on it. Well, it can get pretty noisy when the boost is on just a bit, and the pedal is on toe down while the power wah is on. But, this thing always sounds great. The best amps to use this with are any tube amps. Ampeg is the best for me. The reason why i got this was when i found out that Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted used it, i had to have it. Yes, i do get the same exact sound. I sound just like them, especally on "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and "The Call Of Ktulu". The best other effect pedal to use the PWB is a distortion pedal. But, it has to be a distortion pedal with good sustain. I use an electro harmonix big muff. Don't get that cheap russian version. It sucks. Get the one that is chrome and says "made in NYC".

Oh yeah. I can depend on it. There's just one little problem. The bulbs burn out. So you should have extras around all the time. Replace a damaged bulb using a #387 lamp. A #327 may also be used in an emergency. I wish i could fine another one as a backup, but they're hard to find. It took me four years to finally find a nice used one. Morley stopped making them 16 years ago.

Never had to talked them.

I play funk, jazz, classic rock, blues, a little country, and a whole lot of heavy metal. As i said before, it really works for metallica songs. I have been playin for 7 years now. I own a boss flanger, electro harmonix big muff(original), boss bass overdrive, bass crybaby and a Morley PBA bass wah. I'm gonna get rid of the PBA and the crybaby, cause I've fallin in love with the PWB. If it ever got lost or stolen, i would hunt it down like a dog. But if i couldn't find it, i would get the Morley PRO-2 PDW. I love every thing about it. From the chrome, to the vintage wah sound. What i don't like about it is that there is no light to let you know when the boost and power wah are on. I tryed everything. Crybaby, Snarling Dog, you name it. Nothing could beat the PWB. THis thing makes it alot funner and cooler to make solos. The audience goes wild over it. HTe last thing i have to sya is, if you see one, get it. It's worth it.

Based on this pedal, Morley is the ultimate in Plug n' Play devices! Every setting is a different sound, and almost everyone who has used this one says they can't beleive all the different sounds they can get. No manual cause it was made in the first wave of morley pedals, BUT you don't need one, the controls couldn't be more simple--A Rocker pedal--A switch on the left of the rocker for boost(overdrive),and a knob on that same side for boost control(from subtle to satanic--the range of this knob is almost to much!)--and a switch for wah on/off on the right

First off I play a Mexican Duo-Sonic or a 335copy through this to 2 different MXR EQs(for 2 different settings) to a DANECHO(I PLAN to get a morley echo soon)into a new VOX cambridge twin, a '66 BandMaster w/2-15, or a LITTLE SMOKEY CIGGYPACK(MARLBORO LIGHTS[sometimes this goes after the EQs.]) The actual sweep of this wah goes all the way to WHITE NOIZE/FEEDBACK so using the wah rocker takes a few minutes to find the sweet spot, but when you do, the normal wah attributes are great and equal to any other wah(other manufacturers set the sweep to the sweet spot, not better just different.) The boost(overdrive)function is very versatile because at least setting(knob all the way forward) it is very subtle, but at the most intense setting(all the way back) it is deathmetal worthy grinding overdrive, and in betwwen those extremes I have every other overdrive sound. When I use both together there is noise, but an EQ pedal will fix that, and the sound is good and smooth ala SRV/hendrix all they way to a butthole surfers kinda grind. I can make some great odd feedback sounds with this pedal all the way foward all day and it never gets old, and I am always finding new sounds/settings for using it all the time after having it 12 years now.

NO BACKUP for sure(I haven't found another, I would use two if I had another!) It is very dependable, it is older than me, I have had it 12 years and I have only had to do maintenance to it when the inside lightbulb went out, and always have a spare cause morley taped one inside of it when it was new plus I keep spares(from morley) inside it myself. It takes one minute to change these.

WHOA! I LOVE THE GUYS AT MORLEY--THEY HOOK IT UP!!!!!!!!
I called the phone number listed on thier website to try to find out specifics about the lightbulbs I needed, and ask some basicly dumb questions about cleaning my baby. They were totally helpful answering all of my like twenty questions, AND THEY SENT ME BULBS FOR FREE!!!!!

THANX MORLEY

I wish they had thought in the early seventies about lights to show if the different effects were engauged but what do I expect right?
I LOVE THIS PEDAL. It may not be for everyone but I have been getting a myriad of different sounds out of it for 12 years with no complaints except for my wife! I hope to be able to collect all kinds of old Morley stuff, and if it was stolen I would hunt like a madman to get mine back and/or buy another. I have a crybaby that is a fuzz wah--it sux next to this in comparison(to hard to use/switch and sounds terrible!) This the best peice of gear that I own because it lowers the headroom of my Bandmaster and my VOX cambridge.

Instead of just saying "It's a wah pedal - figure it out!" like many reviewers of similar products to this, I'll measure the ease of use in the CONTEXT of a wah pedal. Put foot on, rock back and forth - that's a given.

Now, there are good points and bad here. The PWO starts off well with a clearly labelled on/off stomp switch on the side of the pedal, instead of the awkward Crybaby switching. This has two concrete advantages over the Dunlop model. First, you won't switch it off inadvertently during frenzied wah-wah madness, and second, it removes the necessity for starting your wah at the top of the frequency range - you can leave the pedal anywhere you want. This allows you to set up what is effectively a boost at any desired frequency before starting your solo - a next trick for those of us without EQ pedals.

Worth a mention too are the clearly labelled jack sockets - In, Out and 9V DC input are labelled up on the TOP of the pedal for on-stage readability and quick setting-up times. Small, but significant. In addition, the precise electrical requirements of the PWO are listed on the back plate to help configure your universal AC adaptor to supply the juice.

Another nice touch is that the battery compartment has no screws unlike some of its rivals: a simple slide-to-open-or-shut system replaces it. This neater, easier-to-use battery door is also attached to the pedal with some plastic cord, so you won't lose it in the on-stage gloom while changing nine-volters.

Now: what I consider to be an aggravating and worse still totally unnecessary downside. Other than plugging in and rocking the pedal while playing, there's no way to tell whether the wah is on or off. A simple, cheap LED in the front of the pedal would help matters no end. As it stands, the PWO could get switched on in your gear bag or on stage and you'd be none the wiser - until you went for the wah and got nothing but silence. I plan to install an LED at the first opportunity, time permitting!

Secondly on the negative side, the fact that even when the PWO is in bypass mode, the battery is (apparently - I have not measured this) still drained if a cable is plugged into the Input jack.

Finally, the action of the wah stomp switch itself is less than totally convincing... This may be a one-off flaw in my unit, but there is no satisfying 'click' when engaging or disengaging the effect. It's more of a grinding action than a positive, decisive click. This may seem pedantic of me, but I do find it slightly annoying.

I have deducted a point for each of these flaws. Operation of the pedal is still blindingly easy, but they were definitely worth a mention.

First - the testing rig. My signal path is a Squier Stratocaster (Korea) with stock pickups, running through Whirlwind leads to a Marshall VS100R. Provided other electronic devices nearby are switched off, the setup introduces little hum.

Right - the first and most important point to mention here is that the Power Wah has a TRUE electronic bypass - check the circuit diagram on their website if you like. The point is this: I am an audio purist. In fact, this pedal is my first effects device. Having considered my tone for a long time, I cautiously decided to add a wah to my lineup. True bypass was a NECESSITY - and the feature is very well-implemented here. Ok, it's very simple to do, but it is still nice to know that your original tone is unimpacted by the presence of the Morley while it's not in wah mode. It's the difference between having to unplug and fiddle with cables between songs, and easy, uncomplicated wah-on-demand. Very important.

Next: the wah sound itself. Again, as a purist, I find this superb. It is a pure, mountain-spring fresh tone which WILL NOT COLOUR your guitar or amp with anything other than pure wah - variable emphasis on a tight frequency band. What this translates to is that you will be able to go from normal playing to wah with less thought than with other wah pedals, because the Morley will not alter your tonality or expression in any other way. It just does its job and does it very well.

Through a clean amp, this pedal is perfect for nailing licks like the Shaft theme or TLC's "Waterfalls" - exactly why I bought the thing. With light, bluesy overdrive applied at the amp end (i.e. after the wah in the signal path), think "White Room" by Cream, and as more gain is added you arrive in Vai-land - electronic and nasty. My personal favourite tones are the first two of the three - the wah loses potency as more gain is applied, but that's the nature of all wah pedals. With heavy gain, it's a touch TOO sterile for my tastes, and that loses it two points. I should stress though that the clean tone is absolutely perfect.

Noise is very much a non-issue with this pedal - it's undetectable. Of course though, it does emphasise frequencies. That's its JOB! So if you whack the rocker all the way forward, don't be surprised to hear more high-end hiss than usual - it's just working properly...

One important difference between this and many other non-Morley wahs is the RANGE of the sweep. This pedal was designed to function well with both normal guitars and bass guitars, and so the frequency range available is much greater than you might expect. This is NOT A PROBLEM but does mean that simply rocking the pedal all the way through its range won't necessarily get the best results. If you want to cut off this extended bottom end, it's very simple - just fix a block of wood or a pencil under the heel end of the rocker and you can customise how low the wah will take you!

The Power Wah is lower, wider and therefore more stable than the JD Crybaby. Like most wah units, this pedal is hugely overengineered - I'm sure that it will withstand anything short of deliberate efforts to destroy it. Now, the battery life is fine, but I would only gig without an AC adaptor if it really was the only option. It just doesn't make sense to take the risk of it dying. The good news is that the bypass mode still functions normally on a dead battery - hit the wah though, and you'll just get silence.

In terms of construction - the 1/4" jack inputs are _incredibly_ solid. A lifetime of frantic pre/post-gig plugging in and pulling out are no match for them. Similarly, the central prong for the AC adaptor is well-recessed inside the lovely square metal chassis, protected from clumsy feet. Everything is tight and solid, right down to the rubber feet. This should last for years unless you REALLY don't want it to... It's also worth a quick mention that there's no potentiometer in here. That's the component which plagues other wah pedals with crackling that gets progressively worse as the months and years wear on. No such problems here.

Morley provide a two-year warranty on all their pedals. I doubt that'll help much - this pedal might need something fixing in 25 years or so though :-) No idea about their level of support, sorry.

Let's face it - a wah pedal isn't something you are going to use for every lick of every song of every practice/recording/performance session. You want a unit that will:
1. Do it's job extremely well
2. Make no fuss about it by being reliable
3. Stay out of the way when it's not in use

This Morley pedal does all three extremely well. It is unintrusive sonically and visually, and is a quiet, no-nonsense performer. I have mentioned a few things which Morley could do to further improve the overall package, and which deny it a perfect score, but as things stand the PWO is an excellent buy over its competitors. It will provide all the musical inspiration that you expect from a cracking wah pedal, with none of the fuss or pot crackle that you'd get from a D*nl*p or V*x. No wah pedal? Go and buy a PWO!

plug it in and flip the switch. doesn't get much easier than that. there's also another button for the boost, with a knob on the side. it also comes with a built in ac-adapter, so you don't even have to go buy batteries or an extra adapter. i'm not sure if every model is this way... i've got an older one with the chrome.

it sounds pretty nice to me. there's a little buzz, but i think that is mostly my amp and guitar, not the wah. i mainly like the different tones you can get from it. just rock it into a position and leave it there for some different sounds. the boost it really nice, as well. i haven't cranked it up much at all. it can get up there...

i bought it on e-bay and god knows how the previous owner treated it. it kinda looks like crap on the outside, but i didn't buy it to show off the looks. it shows no sign of dying on me anytime soon. it also doesn't use any pots, so there's nothing really to replace. maybe a light bulb sometime, but at least it won't be getting scratchy on me like some wah's. overall, i'd say it's built to last.

haven't dealt with morley yet, but i hear that they have great tech support.

overall, this was a great purchase. i think i got a really great deal for $51.00. i would definitely pick one up again if i could find the same model somewhere. i don't think i'll have to worry about getting another for a while, though...

What could be easier to use than a wah? Toe forward for high-pitched sounds, heel back for low-pitched. Minus one point each for "features" that I first found annoying (and unlike other wahs I was used to) but that I now find very useful (so YMMV): 1) The on-switch is to the side of the pedal, not under it like on Voxes, Crybabies, and most other wahs; the advantage is you won't accidentally turn the wah off while your foot is rocking forwards. 2) Putting your foot heel all the way down acts as a "mute" function, whether you have the wah on or not, so you have to be careful while wah-ing back; but sometimes a mute function is useful, so you get it for free in this pedal! The Power Boost section is even easier - a footswitch to turn it on/off, and a knob on the side of the pedal to set boost level.

I mostly use this wah on my electric violin rig (through blackface Bandmaster) these days, but I've tried it with bass (Ric 4001 through solid state Ampeg B2) and guitar (Peavy Predator through old Magnatone Troubadour and recent Crate SS amp), and it sounds fine through both tube and SS amps. One of its best features is the incredibly wide frequency sweep range - it's easily usable as either a guitar or bass wah; the only disadvantage to this is that only a portion of the pedal's sweep range will affect any given instrument, so your foot will stay mostly back if you're using it as a bass wah, and mostly forward as a guitar wah. I run the violin through an octave divider, so I can use the wah to sweep between a natural sound (with my toe down) and the synthetic divided sound (with heel down), which is quite useful IMO. It's pretty quiet, despite having a built-in transformer (no wall wart, but no battery option either), and it uses a light bulb instead of a potentiometer, so no scratchy pots to have to replace. This wah seems to have a very high resonance (Q) factor to it, which means: 1) it cuts out frequencies not close to the main sweep freq (you can actually use it to switch between notes in a chord!) 2) it's very loud and harsh sounding - not a subtle wah sound at all; this will probably be an advantage to some, and disadvantage to others. It would be nice to know if there's a trimpot inside to tame the resonance with sometimes (or max it out, heh heh), as it can generate high-pitched feedback with your toe all the way down. The power boost is very clean, but VERY powerful; I don't think I've turned the knob up beyond about 9 or 10 o'clock; it could probably be used as a pretty decent preamp. But really, the boost is just the icing on the cake here.

Very solidly built (this is one of the old chrome Morleys); however, since it uses a light-sensitive resistor instead of a pot, I understand that the light bulb needs to be replaced from time to time. An extra bulb should be all the backup you need.

At least Morely still exists, but I have no idea whether they would still support their 1970's pedals or not. Like I said, as long as replacement bulbs are available (they're the same ones you put in your flashlight), who needs it?

I play a few different styles of music, but mostly use a wah when playing psychedelic/space/jam-rock (not when I'm playing punk or reggae/dub). I own several wahs (including a Thomas Organ Crybaby and a couple of cheapo ones), and the Morley definitely has a different kind of sound (that I've hopefully described above) that makes it a completent to, rather than a replacement for, the others. Some people might not like that, but I appreciate having the palette of wah sounds, and I would definitely always want a chrome Morley wah in my effects collection.

One Gain control, two foot switches, and a pedal......

EXC.. Verry clean, quiet, full frequancy range, (get rid of the scratchey cry-baby) smoth responce. this is the old chrome one, back when they made real unit's. no Batery's plugs straight in to the ac. No ac hum,kick it all the way foward, kick on the boost, with a strat and a marshal, and it will take your head off, the boost is verry high gain, great for driveing a tube amp in to sateration.

I got it in 1976 the only thing the light bulb burned out back in 1980 pisted me of I didn't have a spair in the tool kit. now I keep one inside the WA, just use a pice of tape to hold it to the back cover..

never talkd to them, never had to...

Great unit, I would buey another if they still made them with the old design, and AC power suply built inside, This thing is bulit proof!! If you find any old morley (the chrome one) I highly recomend you pick it up.