Morley PWB Power Wah Boost

The pedal is very easy to use: switch for Boost, switch for Wah, and the pedal. Cant get any simpler. i Got excellent sound out of it through the boost and the wah.

I am using a Hondo P-Bass copy (kinda cheap) Bulldog-20 amp (15 watt) Tel-ray Morley Power Wah Boost. I get some weird sounds (mostly feedback) when I turn up the boost too much. The wah is a little weak, so I normally use the wah and the boost. When I pressy down the wah about 1/2 inch I hit the sweet spot, and after about 1 1/2 inches down the wah maxs out and the pedal is only half way down. I think it does that because I am using a bass, or it may of been modded, oh well.

I sure can depend on this thing! There is no way it could fail. I have taped an extra lightbulb on the inside just in case theres an emergency.
I would like a backup just for the sake of having two pedals.

Have not dealt with them. I suspect they are very helpful

I play classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, etc. I have been playing for 3 years. I definitely would buy another if I had the chance. I love the wah sound, as well as the boost. My favorite feature would be the wah function. I have played on a crybaby wah, but it was nothing compared to this. I wish this pedal could also of included a fuzz function but that might be a bit much.

Like all the vintage Morley Wah Pedals, these are awesome to play around with and give your sound that great vintage vibe. The PWB did not disappoint me at all. Very easy to use.

I don't know what it is about this pedal but I suspect that the previous owner had it modded. Both ends of the sweep effect the higher frequencies, the heel position in particular. The sounds reminds me of a vox wah. I don't know if this is on purpose but it was an interesting surprise when I got it.

The boost feature is incredible!!! I'm thinking of getting a pair of attenuators for my amps and just using this pedal alone. I could crank the boost level and the volume on the amps and I would have real tube overdrive.

As of now, I run this wah into a Tubescreamer at a little more than half boost and I get a nice crunchy overdrive tone. Perfect lead tone in my opinion.

It is noisy. I use a noise suppressor pedal and that takes care of most of the noise problem but when I engage the wah, I sometimes get a nasty high pitch squeal. Definently not fun to hear, but well worth the price of great tone.

I've been collecting and using vintage morleys now for about 2-3 years. These were built great and can take a massive amount of abuse.

Tel Ray is gone, but the Morley brand still sticks by its products. If they can't help you, they know someone who can.

I will continue to collect these great pedals. They're only getting more and more rare these days.

This Pedal is easy to get used to. Has two switches, one for boost and the other for wah. When both of these are switched off, the pedal is in Volume mode.Very easy to get a sound out of this mo-fo!!! Manual did not come with unit, since it was used, but Morley has them online. Bought this from ebay from another seasoned musician, and he provided extra parts, (which you could also attain from Morley or ebay).

Setup:

Guitars>DyanComp>PWB>Graphic Fuzz>Phase 90 Mod>Mesa Boogie .50 Caliber+
//Effects Loop:PS-5>Stereo Memory Man> Toadworks Redux>Holy Grail>EH-2//

This pedal is beyond words. In fact, I've never written a review, but felt compelled to do so for this pedal. Like others have mentioned, it has great range as far as the different tones/voices that can be attained when using the wah. Nice sweep. Whether you add a bit of fuzz to the signal or use it clean, both will yield a very unique and expressive sound. Simply astounding!

The volume works well for swells. You can achieve violin swells here while on a clean channel/ or dirty. To my knowledge it does not change the tone of the guitar, but I am not sure if indeed it is true bypass or not. Nothing to complain about here.

If you want to add a little kick to your signal, kick in that boost! The boost is awesome it can be adjusted with the knob on the side. I only have to adjust it slightly and the signal is greatly enhanced. Despite this, it does not muck up the signal in anyway, or distort it for that matter. I was thinking of getting an overdrive, but in a way, I would like to think that since the boost is increasing the PUPs signal strength and in turn pushing my pre-amp tubes to work harder, that this will not be necessary. All I know is that I don't plan to buy an overdrive any time soon as I'll use the boost function as a pseudo-overdrive.

I did my research before buying this and although there weren't any video/sound clips available for reference, I am more than happy with my decision.

It sings!!! Thats all I have to say. I wasn't even considering buying a wah, but being that I needed a volume pedal, I jumped at the chance to purchase this all-in-one unit. The reviews here helped my decision, hence, I decided to return the favor and try to convert others to the church of the bad-ass WAH. If you can get your hands on this in good condition, go for it. If not, I found another alternative, at least in the wah department, is to purchase a Fulltone (clips on Youtube) or a Clyde McCoy (modified)

Built like a _______! Handwired, Optical (no scratchy pots), and Morley is good about keeping manuals around and old parts. 'Nuff said. Only maintenance I had to perform was oiling the screws that attach the treadle to the rest of the unit and then a bit of tightening up.

Havent dealt with them yet

I love all the features in this unit. It was truly an awesome design. i cant say that I've tried the new Morley units, but this is the one for me. "So good, make you wanna SLAP yo mama!!!"

As far as the controls, they're simple as all get. 1 Footswitch for boost, one for wah, the treedle for wah sweep and volume, and one whole knob for the boost. The controls are very simple to figure out HOWEVER it can be kind of a balancing act kicking on the boost, wah, and a seperate distortion at the same time. With larger feet, the treedle can get in the way. The wah is weak without the boost, so I always ran it with the boost, never using the boost alone, thus I rewired the pedal to one single footswitch and replaced the nonfunctioning switch with a 2 color LED. It's now an easier to use vintage wah with modern conveniences.

Soundwise, this pedel works great for bass, but for guitar it seems to be too much. The sweeping range is very wide, I owned a Dunlop Bass Crybaby before this and the Morley has at least twice the range. It's a very throaty sound, and mushes the sound a bit, almost acting as a seperate instrument. The best example of the wah sound can be heard on the live Metallica recordings with Jason Newstead (I've read that Cliff Burton used morley pedals as well, but the Crybaby sounds closer to the recorded Burton songs). I once tried a Elecro-Harmonix Bass Synth, and to me, alot of the settings of that pedal sounded like my Morley in different positions. Leave us not forget the volume pedal function.

There have been some downfalls to this pedal. The light that tells you the pedals on is actually the light that influences the 2 optical sensors. The bar conected to the treedle which controls the sweep was touching the bass that holds the bulb, which shorted the bulb causing it to turn off and on again giving it a double sweepin 1 motion (took me forever to figure that one out. I had to do a little bending, but the problem is no longer an issue. Otherwise It's a sturdy pedal.

I contacted Morley to find out how old this pedal was. They responded quickly and told me that the old Morley's can't be dated by the serial number, you have to date it by components. This one is from the late 60's, but they were produced up until the 80's. I also stopped at their factory in Cary IL a few years back and they were nice enough to give me a couple spare bulbs.

This is not the wah for everyone, but if you like eclectic, this pedal's it. I've used it for metal, rock, basic funk, and I can really see this being nice for experimental new wave type songs. These pedals are pretty comon and I've seen them go as low as $25 used. It's a bit noisier then the new Morleys, but that's part of the charm of it. After making the mod, it's the perfect bass wah in my opinion, but either you love it or hate it. I could easily see it sounding terrible in the hands of a novice.

This is very easy to use, footswitches to turn on/off boost or wah and you can use them both at the same time, The pedal, well is self explanatory.

I play bass through it, I am playing a Ibanez sr500 with 18V augilar OCB 3 onboard preamp, I then run to a self-made pickup simulator wich changes my signal impedance, then to the PWB, THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MY SETUP, I leave the wah activated even when not in use as it really increases sustain, The boost is so powerful that I have the knob barely cracked and use it when I want some extra growl or want a extra heavy changeup or crunchy riff or something. Using the wah to accent the sound and add intensity and feel also it really helps me to control my harmonics, I frequently use harmonics and tap harmonics in my tecnique. This was a little noisey when I got it, I replaced all the capacitors and it is very quiet. I cannot express how much I love this pedal.

Built like a tank, no noisey pot for the foot pedal, Definately use without a backup, however, once I realized how much I loved this I bought another one just in case any unfortunate accident should occur or if somebody was to steal it. It would break my heart to lose this. I also use other morley effects of this style so I keep extral light bulbs in by gig bag, beings that the light will probably be the onlt thing to ever go out.

NEVER NEEDED

I play hard/ heavey/ classical/ new/ alternative/ and original ROCK, this is an essential part of my rig I love it. It would be a great value at any price, I have seen them sell on ebay for almost 500 bucks. If you have one of these you are very lucky, I have two.

It is easy to get many good sounds out of it. It has no patches to edit. There is no need for a manual although one may be available in PDF form on Morley's website. This is an original, chrome Power Wah Boost pedal. From the 70's or 80's. It is simple to use, has a boost switch to left of the treadle, and a knob on left for boost intensity. The wah switch is to right of the pedal and the pedal when both switches are off is a volume pedal. Very versatile.

I plugged both my basses and guitar into it. It isn't noisy but if you're not careful and the boost intensity is set too high, your amp may be in trouble. It has tons of gain. This is the stuff for Metallica like leads and Bass lines. Very expressive and funky. The throw on the pedal is much deeper and higher than a normal wah pedal. This coupled with the boost aspect and you have a pedal that really blows away any other pedal for boost/wah/lead/funkbass/other applications. It can be used with either guitar or bass or piano because the range is huge on this pedal. This is an over-the-top effects. not weak at all. I'm playing it into an Ampeg V-4 halfstack. It overdrives it well and the tone is infectious, really for all the instruments put into it. Highly recommended.

Bulletproof. There are 2 parts that may have a degree of deterioration on it but both are easily remedied, in fact if you consider that the average wah pedal ends up needing a pot replacement the Morley system by comparison is flawless.

The lightbulbs need replacing at times. Mine has never gone out, though. Then inside the pedal the light shielding which regulates the amount of light to the photooptical sensors can come un-taped. Again, some tape in the unit repairs it easily. Otherwise this is a dependable pedal. Nowadays companies would think twice before building something this strong, as you would run out of return customers, the pedals last so long. No backup necessary.

The present Morley company has probably the best customer service department I know of out of any of the effects Manufacturing companies. They answer their phones and will even take you through some general maintenance of the now-discontinued pedals, and they'll direct you to other websites that have expert knowledge of their pedals. Plus the Morley website has available most if not all of their discontinued pedals manuals in PDF form.

I play funk/jazz/rock/jam/space music. This is a great effect and I would(and have) seek a replacement if it were lost. This doesn't sound the same as a vintage crybaby, which are great for guitar, but it has that something extra and more versatility for playing many instruments with it that none of the crybaby pedals have. Highly recommended.

product name speaks for itself,, Very clearly - Power Wah Boost <it got signal booster as well as total Power wah wah sound!!!> i changed booster knob <just like my Dunlop pedal> for easy foot boost adjust.. well it comes wit the in & out jacks at d same side,, i have to reroute my wires for that uncommon placing of jacks..dat ain't going to piss me off from having this pedal...

as for any wah i have used it comes wit d wAh pedal, "BUT" rock thy foot dudes - it's crazy and it's so cool coz it got very long sssssssweep!!! wow!! i just hope i could post some AudioClip in here to give justice what i'm trying to say<isn't that cool guys,, posting mp3 files of ur fave fx!?>. low to high sweeps are heavenly, squeezes every ounce of wah emotions i crave<or course i have wahs but i'm not getting worth what i paid off for Dunlops!!!>
tell u guys it doesn't matter what type of instruments,brands<quality speaking> coz this device can scope bass and guitar frequencies! how about that one pedal does it all! my bass player loves it too!! nyahahaha.
i play top40,, metal,, rock, alternative yeah whatever i wanna play because,, my damn good morley as i said, DOES it ALL!!
keep aside dunlops,,,because after hours of comparing Morley PWB and Dunlop Crybaby and Jimi wah, Mr.Morley has more plus points than Mr. Dunlop..
not noisy, very responsive wah,, !!
Dunlop's Crybaby need to cry really for this!

big wolume of metal sheets,,never drop it,,,
good construction
just that

no repairs

10!

Well.... you have your basic HUGE (GOOD) wah treadle for starters. To the RIGHT of the treadle you have the wah on/off button. When the wah is off the pedal becomes a volume pedal. To the LEFT of the treadle you have the boost on/off button. On the LEFT SIDE of the pedal you have a black knob for gain adjustment of the BOOST section of the pedal. When the Boost is ON and the Wah is OFF, it is a Boost pedal, you can sustain for quite a long time with this mode if you play your note/chord and let it ring out with the treadle probably about half way position and very slowly (it takes practice) rock the treadle forward :)

The wah has incredible range and NEVER crackles (unless you turn the boost gain knob up too high... doing this will overdrive your amp's preamp section)

My pedal is all original (and chrome from the 80's) you simply DO NOT NEED A MANUAL.. it is very self-explanatory

GEAR: Basses: G&L SB-2 and G&L SB-1
Amp: Ampeg SVT 3 Pro
Cabinet: Ampeg SVT810E
Other gear:morley power wah boost, morley ABY switch, Boss Chorus, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, Alesis rackmount compressor, Juice Goose power strip, SKB racks, MA rack drawer, Samson Wireless, Korg DTR-100 Rackmount tuner, and DR High Beams bass strings (45-105)

All I can say is that little light bulb inside has NEVER burned out, for TWO YEEEEAAARRS the thing is built like a tank... you could kill someone in self defense with this fine piece of tone tweaking gear!

Bill Wenzloff (I hope I got that name spelled right) has been great with me. He gave me a free hook up with spare bulbs and some picks and a tshirt with jam-along and demo cd's of all the pedals! It also didn't hurt his feelings when I mentioned that I prefer the old chrome wahs (I love the BIG treadle action and long sweep range.. you REALLY get to move your foot around on these) over the new little ones, but I still dig the new ones :)

I play rock/metal mostly but I really enjoy all music! I will buy another if this one should die in a freak accident somehow... I would probably kill for a replacement, I LOVE THIS PEDAL! It is VERY fun to mess around with... I get caught playing songs and just doing big fat wah sweeps in all the wrong places, just for an excuse to hear that vintage tone! if anything... find one just for playing around on, you might be surprised at how superb the pedal can be... give it a chance to grow on you and I guarantee it will become a permanent part of your rig, or it will at least be at stage-side just in case you get the urge at a gig! Happy treading!

How hard can it be? input, output, power switch, wah on/off, boost on/off and boost output knob. let's not forget the wah treadle itself.

if you really need a manual, you can go to Morley's site - they are great about support of their old stuff.

totally rockalicious. i am aware that's not a word, but you get the idea. beefy wah tone that sweeps low enough for use with a bass. could still use some more low end output, but that's okay. i still love it. it has the clicky wah sound everyone loves to hear. it can get some very "porny" sounds, and i noticed that when you rock it back and forth quickly, it sort of sounds like you're also using a vibrato. an endearing quality.

when i bought this thing, it seemed kind of scratchy, and in volume pedal mode, it wasn't consistent in its maximum volume. that annoyed me, but out of curiousity i opened the case up and found there was dust all over the photocells. i cleaned them up and i don't have that problem anymore.

Boost mode blows me away! everything from just a bit more volume for a solo to full-on amp raping. when you run boost and wah simultaneously and push the wah forward, it sounds like a fuzz pedal. i love that. i tried using this pedal with the boost and wah on full into my pignose. i think the pignose has been trauamatised for life.

usually this pedal is used with my Laney GH50L or a Traynor YGM-3 Guitar Mate Reverb, which i don't own(yet).

this pedal is probably more dependable than your average armoured personell carrier. it a heavy beast and it makes no apologies. this pedal has been rocking for 30+ years and you wouldn't know it. sure there's some scratches, etc, but the electronics inside are immaculate.

Morley has such great support on the site that i haven't had to talk to them.

I play a lot of different styles, mostly rock. i have a tendancy towards 70's rock, like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc...and that's sort of why i bought a 70's pedal. the same store had a newer Morley for the same price, but i bought this thing instead. i would cry if this pedal were to leave me by means of theft. then i'd find the theif and force him to watch a televised chess match.

outstanding wah, and i'm glad i bought it rather than the ubiquitous Dunlop or Vox.

ARE YOU SERIOUS!

This thing is totally unbelievable. I love IT! I play shoegazing, noise rock. Kinda like Grand Funk Railroad meets Radiohead, and this pedal just adds to the craziness! The range is great, and the boost kicks Butt! I LOVE IT< not much more to say but if you don't have one. GET IT!

Its like 20 years old and has 2 screws and still is ready to go. I could drop mine down the stairs and it would work! I have 2 bolts on the side, no rubber things on the bottom. In total there is like 5 screws holding it together. So what do you think!

I LOVE IT, works well with any type music especially SPACE< TRAVEL ROCK AND ROLL!

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.