Snarling Dogs Bootzilla

It takes maybe 20 minutes to get used to using the wah effect on it, unless you have already used one. You have to stomp down pretty hard on it to turn the wah on and off, but its not hard to get used to. it uses simple gain, volume and setting switches, so i give it an 8.

The wah has three different settings; lo, mid, hi. Lo gives you a deep, swampy sound, mid gives you a midrange crunchy sound that reminded me of the start of Superstition by Stevie Wonder. Hi gives you more of a classic, funky sound, which I think sounds the best of the three, especially with chords up high on the neck. All-in-all the wah sounds excellant and even wiggles the low b string. The fuzz is more of a sharp, biting sound, which still sounds good, but you cannot really get a warm fuzz-face like sound, which I was looking for. When you combine the wah and fuzz it doesn't work that well at all, because you can barely hear the wah. This is the biggest flaw I found with it, but I mainly bought for wah so its not too big a problem. I would reccomend using a different fuzz or overdrive pedal with it if using the, though the fuzz sounds fine on its own. I use a five string Shine Warrior active bass through a 90 watt Behringer Ultrabass amp, for those who want to know. I would give the wah sound a 10, the fuzz a 7, but if you combine id give a 5.

Its very reliable. Its got a thick metal covering, and could take a good stomp from anyone without being damaged.

Haven't had to.

I play mainly funk, blues, rock and some metal occasionaly. It has a brilliant funky wah sound, and the three settings make it very versatile for everything from slappin to bluesy plonkin. It even works well for metal soloing, providing you have another fuzz or distortion pedal. It also works well for guitar, although does not have as much high end as, say, a crybaby. If it was stolen, I would probably buy it again, although Morley have a Dual bass wah pedal out that looks interesting, and I might buy that instead. It also looks classy and eye catching, so i'll give it a point for that as well why not.

The first time i tried it at the store, i thought the thing was broken since only one of the eyes light up, but just simply checking out the purpose of the other button, you can figure out that one is for the fuzz and the other is for the wah. when you have those figured out, you can figure out how to twiddle the buttons on the left and right side of the pedal.

i bought it new, so i have the manual, but, i dont think you really need it... you simply need common sense.

however, turning on the wah wah is not as easy ... you have to bring the pedal back up and stomp on it extra hard. this sucks, because i do not want to do what Vanderlei Silva does to his fallen opponnents on a pedal i paid 8,000 php ($160) for! i came up with a solution though ... i got a screw driver and took out the rubber behind the one located in the 2nd toe. i dont have to step hard on it anymore... the only problem left is that if i step on the wah harder than usual, i will turn off the thing ... it would sound pretty stupid when this happens in the middle of a bass solo where the guitars and drums rest. i guess i can remedy this with a bit more foot control.

the fuzz is also hard to step on, but i won't be using it anyway... i got this pedal for the wah basically.

I tested the bootzilla in the store with a Laney RB3 with a 4 string Peavey Grind. I played it at home with a 20 watt solid state marshall guitar amp and my main amp is a washburn bd75b - my bass is a 5 string peavey grind (tuned E A D G C) ... and what can i say? this pedal blows me away in all 3 scenarios! not that i owned any form of wah wah pedal for guitar or anything else in the past (i am 26 years old currently), but i know what wah wah sound is good and what is crap... after all, i never bought that Boss Auto Wah (for my guitar) even if it was shoved into my face.

I bought this pedal for the wah wah that sometimes i forget its a fuzz pedal too. frankly, i didn't test the fuzz because i am happy using a DOD Death Metal for my distorted sound. maybe someday i'll take the time to figure out a nice setting for the fuzz, but as for now, the fuzz is just an extra feature i wouldn't be using.

my fave setting is the high setting since it allows my solos to cut thru ... i also like turning the wah wah on and just leaving it stepped down ... this gives me a twanky, mid range sound that reminds me of the main riff from tool's "schism."

this effect is not as versatile as ppl think. in the hands of a novice, this pedal will just be a gimicky sonic tool. skill is required to handle a wah wah on bass ... unlike one on the guitar, where strumming chords and stepping on a wah wah, gets you the funky shaft sound ... bass wah wah users should at least be familiar with major scales and arpeggios. of course, it goes without saying that out of 5 songs, you will only wah wah on about 2 (if you are lucky) or sometimes, not at all. The wah kills your basic tone... know when to use it.

im giving it a 10 ... but who knows? ... i havent tried a crybaby wah because its not available here in the philippines. i dont really buy a product based on online recommendations... i have to play it in a store first, then i read the reviews, and after that, i buy. i also dont want to deal with shipping, taxes and the probability of not being able to call customer support because i am in Asia and the release department is in the US.

the beauty of having a bass wah is that it doesn't make or break a song ... it makes a bass spot better but not having it still makes you kick a**, depending on the riff ...

so, no, i will not be bringing a back up for this ... as a matter of fact, the fuzz on the bootzilla is cool because just in case my DOD death metal breaks down, i can stomp on the fuzz and still get a distorted bass sound. ironically though, i dont think an overdrive bass sound makes or breaks a song too ... it's all about making good bass lines. the bass isn't as effects dependent as a guitar.

construction-wise though... it looks pretty solid. for something that weighs about 7lbs. i dont think this thing is flimsy. im not sure. i only own this thing for 5 hours.

guy from Asia here. basically, when you are in a 3rd world country, you get used to not calling and depending on customer support.

you have to read other reviews for this.

i play all kinds of music, but my roots are really on metal ... and i give this thing an 8 because despite being a very fantastic pedal - sonically and physically (the sexiest pedal i own) - i think it is too expensive. if this were priced 5,000 php ($100), i would give this a perfect 10.

im a clean bass guy, its just lately that i got into effects ... and this pedal is really booty-licious *lol* sorry about the bad pun. im very happy i got this, i couldnt ask for more (except the cheaper price). if i were to have another pedal, i think it would be a sansamp bass driver, just so i could switch modes when i slap and pop - higher volume, basically.

i listen to funk, but the style doesnt really reflect my playing (although some say that im one funky bassist). i like bootsy collins though, since i DL-ed some P-funk songs after reading about him in a bass magazine. His bass playing is pretty tasteful (james brown funky), i just dont notice a wah wah on the songs... maybe he uses the wah live.

i recommend this pedal to everyone who loves the bass wah wah sound. and yes, it does wah the E string (probably the B too), because the other wah's i tested couldn't wah it.

just to add... unlike other snarling dogs effects i read here ('Moldspore' comes to mind)... this pedal is quiet when off. a true bypass, as snarling dogs claimed.

The Bootzilla is pretty straight forward plug in your bass to the input set the "fuzziness intensity" and "Volume" which graciously it has a knob for both - set your wah setting (low - mid- high) and wah volume knobs and select either low or high on your TMHBS setting and plug into the amp - like I said pretty straight forward. On this regard I give it a 10 for rating...however no manual at all - I bought it new from Musicians Friend - and a design quirk which I don't like bring the overall down to an 8 for ease of use. The design quirk is this: when you have the WAH active the left eye of the dog lights up - when you active the "fuzziness" the right eye lights up. The problem is that with only one or the other the cool factor effect of the eyes being lite up is missing and while this is nit picking on my end it is a cool Snarling dog selling point which I think they could have done better - like for example having it change from red eyes to say Orange when both are active - either way with no manual to explain this the initial though was nuts it's a burned out bulb...

I am runing various active and passive basses (I have 13) into the Bootzilla and then running that into a EHX -USA - NYC- Bassballs effects pedal into a Berhinger Bass V-amp all pushed by a Carvin 500watt bass amp and run through a 4x10 Carvin Cab. With the Bootzilla off it is dead quiet and with it active I heard no signal loss or noise it a darn nice peice of equipment. When active the wah is awesome great sweep range and finding a sweet spot was easier than my old "Snarling Dog Bawl Buster" - I did find that hitting the "Fuzziness" button was a bit akward at first but I got used to it rapidly. The plastic flange ring around the "Fuzziness" button won't last long I fear but it is easily repleaced with a metal washer. "Fuzziness" isn't the best - it's more of a razor bite then a warm fuzz and despite multiple different settings I was not really too blown away with it - it's not bad and I felt it was good enough to remove my Boss Bass Overdrive from the pedal chain, but it takes a bit of tweaking to get it to really sound stellar - it can be done but you have to invest the time, once I found my setting I was happ with it but the pedal loses a few points here. The WAH effect is top notch though and with "fuzziness" active it's a killer lead sound for solos or to just erk your guitarist with - I play funk, punk, and reggae and find I can use this pedal with all three styles without problem.

Frankly I haven't had THIS pedal long enough to promise anything but I have been using a Snarling Dogs Bawl Buster Bass wah for two years now and it has NEVER EVER failed me in fact it is still in my signal chain next to the Bootzilla - I am blown away with how sturdy and impressive these pedals are and the Bootzilla looks to be the same high end quality - my only complaint again is that darn plastic flange on the "Fuzziness" button - seems like a cheap enough piece that they could have gone metal on too. I gig with both my Snarling dog pedals but I can't see why I would feel a need for a back up.

Sorry I have had no need to deal with them what-so-ever but to me that means their products are top notch. When in the market for a bass wah I tried Rocktrons "Black cat" and after three defective units and a totally unhelpful service center I went to Snarling dogs and will never look back.

Playing Funk, punk, and Reggae with multiple bands and recording as much as possible as well I find this pedal not only extremely gig friendly but studio worthy as well. I don't normally care who makes a product as long as it sounds great but Snarling dogs has a fan for life after this pedal. If you have a Bawl Buster and a Boss Bass Overdrive - I feel you can pretty much recreate the bootzilla sound but if your like me and want to shrink your pedal chain or just like to experement with new sounds this is a phenom buy. For the price the cash strapped bassist might look elsewhere but you'll regret it and come back eventually - if you want a bass wah get this one and don't fret the price. Additionally I tend to play allot of 5-strings and both the Bootzilla and the Bawl Buster really do bend the low "B" without issue I have been REALLY impressed with this and would rush right back to Musicians Friend if this pedal was stolen or thrashed.