Snarling Dogs Firebarl Wah

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see below

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see below

I'm posting this to make it clear that the review I posted earlier, essentially sugesting that these pedals aren't worth the money, was written about a pedal that I purchased some 5 1/2 years ago, which is when I had the problems listed, and does not reflect Snarling Dogs current line of products or their ownership, which I have learned has changed hands since my experience with the company.

I'm new to Harmony Central and have found it quite useful in selecting and comparing gear, and I'd hate to think that I just trashed a company that has changed so much since my experience with them. Please read the review below with this in mind, since it is not necessarily a reflection of their products and services today.

And admit it, these pedals look cool as hell the way the eyes light up. Nobody can compete with that.

Easy to use (till it broke that is.) It's either on or it's off, and it takes about 3 minutes to understand how it all works. But mine only lasted 2 months before the pot broke and after it was repaired the spring wouldn't react right, and after having it looked at and repaire again I just gave up. I've heard great things so this may be just an exception to the rule, but this pedal just pissed me off.

The pot was what I'd call scratchy from the get go, as opposed to the smooth quality or a cry baby, but it wasn't invasive, it fit the high gain style I was playing at the time. The switch almost always popped much more than I'd like when I turned it on and off.

It just didn't last. I bought it new but lost the warranty card and pretty much got screwed.

Called them but I got a run around, so I gave up and tried to get it fixed at the shop where I bought it. Things only got worse there.

Buy a Morely. No pots to wear out, no switches to break, just an optical wah that turns itself off when you take your foot off it, it just knows when you're there and when you're gone. This pedal has looks, I'll give it that, I love how Snarling Dogs pedals look, but so far I'm unimpressed. I'll take Morley's cheesy gimmicks over these guys any day. (Yes, I play a Bad Horsie wah and Little Alligator volume, whatever the Hell those names mean is beyond me.) Morley work though, and they sound great.

Very easy. Just push down the foot, thing turns on. One knob that kind of works like a volume/gain knob.

My set up: I have a nice chain of effects, usually it's as follows: my Washburn WI64PLAB guitar > Dunlop Crybaby > Danelectro Pastrami Overdrive > DOD Grunge Distortion > Danelectro PB&J Delay > Snarling Dogs Verytone > Fender Princeton 65.
I got this thing about 2 years ago and never really used it because I was in a cover band, however, now I am writing originals and I have more time to "play" with new sounds. This thing is great! It's not a funky wah pedal (like the Dunlop Crybaby,) it's somewhat like a volume/gain pedal. You can get some whacked sounds out of this thing! It's tons of fun to play with and might I suggest that you can get some straight up fun sounds out of this when paired up with the Snarling Dogs Verytone pedal. A tonal playground if you will.

This thing is built like a tank, I don't think a car running over it would break it.

My first experience with Snarling Dogs was the year after Charlie died...the service was awful. However, the customer service lady finally put me through to Kenny, Gods gift to Snarling Dogs. Kenny is the man who puts the pedals together, designs them and will help you get the best sound out of them if you ask. Bottom line, if you have to deal with Snarling Dogs immediately ask to be forwarded to Kenny. He rocks.

This sat under my bed for 2 years...man, what a mistake. This pedal is now one of my favorites! Then again, when you are in a cover band your experimentation with sounds and tones is VERY limited. However, now I use the Snarling Dogs FIREBAWL wah right into my Snarling Dogs Verytone pedal. That's all I need for my playground of sound. Love it!

This one can't get any easier. One knob on the side to set the pre-amp level and the hot rod foot controller for the Wah effect. The on/off switch is under one of the toes. The action from the pedal itself is smooth and broad. The dogs eyes on the pedal light up to let you know when the effect is on.

My set-up is as follows:Fender (Dave Gilmour Model, a couple of Fernandes Strats, Guild Starfire iv and a custom built through an Earnie Ball Vol, Firebawl Wah, TS-9 and Rat fot the clean channel, Tech 21 Tri-od for the OD channel, to a Boss CE-20 chorus and a Boss RV-3 rev/del to a Peavey Classic 30 or a Classic 50 Head with a 410 cab.The tone comes from a particular era, the late 60's and early 70's. That's why it's called the White Room Wah. If your not into that don't get it. it's very reminicent of E.C. with Cream. To me the the sound is alot smoother yet in your face than the standard Dunlop Wah's (everybody has one). The first standing ovation I ever got was for a solo on "Cocaine" with this pedal. Now there was a downside in that when the pedal was turned off it sucked the tone out of my signal chain--not a true bypass and a fairly common problem with Wah's. As a result it was semi-retired and only brought out on odd occaisions. By the way the pedal action is smooth with a large amount of travel. SEE BELOW!!

This pedal is built like a tank and yes I Would gig without a back-up even though they are very well priced.

Because the pedal looked so cool and built so tough I descided to contact the company via E-mail. (It's a shame not to use this pedal and Ihad had it for three years). I inquired about a true mechanical bypass retro-fit. And low and behold Kenny from Snarling dogs contacted me. He sent me the appropriate switch and the schematic to do it. We even talked on the phone. I got it, I put it in, and voila a TMB. Beat that----Keep SNarlin' Kenny.

I've been a guitarist for 20 years, 12 in the basement and 8 gigging. I play blues, blues rock and Classic rock. If I lost this I'd have to replace it ASAP and torture the idiot who took it. This pedal has a smooth up front British tone that I love. It's biult like a tank and looks cool. Snarling Dog backed it to the extreme. The price was great. What more do you want?

easy to use, step on, step off, move your foot, good overall, but not perfect, you still have to hit the knob

good sound, only about the first inch, inch and a half are the actual effect but over all i like it, many different sounds so you can change your tone with it, definite plus

well....this i must say was a dissapointment, i really liked this pedal, ALOT, but after about a year it started to...well, die we will say. everytime i would hit it on it would make a weird noise and COMPRESS my sound badly, then i would switch it off, and it took me a few times, (off and on) for it to finally get off....its still like that today. its not the battery at all or the use cause i took good care of it, i guess i should just get it fixed but oh well.

haven't dealt with them yet......need to....

good value overall, i played alot of different styles, i always wanted that sweet hammett style wah and with a good distortion you can get some great sounds out of this. i bought it new and would really reccommend it to anyone.

Simple: step on it, it turns on, step again it turns off.
But it has not got the switchless thing like the Bad Horsie,
so I can't give a 10...

The Volume control actually works like a little OD.
The higher you set the volume, the more gain you get in your wah sound. And it sounds really good for distorted sounds!
When you want to use it for a clean sound, just turn down the
volume on your guitar a bit, and you can have a funky or sharp clean tone with real good wah sound!
Even when playing high notes on the E string (12th fret and higher)
you can hear the WAH effect. I remember the Jim Dunlop Hendrix wah
did't WAH above the 12th fret.. So that's a plus for the Firebarl.

This thing is damn heavy! The heaviest wah pedal I've ever seen.
It must work for years and years... No doubt.
No back-up needed.

I've owned this thing for 1 day now.
Can't say anything...

I play heavy rock, bit like to play other influences like
funk, jazzy and bluasy things. This thing does it all.
I use it in front of a Marshall JMP-1 , Valvestate 2x40 watt,
good combination. (guitar used: Ibanez JEM 555 WH)

The only thing I wonder: those lights in the Snarling Dogs' eyes,
wouldn't they use too much electricity?? (so the battery emties fast)

I like this thing because it has it's own wah sound, but I miss
the switchless system of the Bad Horsie.. ( I shouldn't have sold that one..)

But this thing will probably be in my rig for years now.
(after trying all sorts of amps, effects, I think I will keep this rig)
Just listen to this thing and don't think it'll sound like a cry baby or other Wah, it has it's own sound, and you will like it, or not..

Foot switch, volume knob and pedal = EASY.

I use it with my Toledo (335 copy) and my SG system combo amp, sometimes when the wah is at it's peak you can get alittle feedback, but good feedback, so it's alright.

This thiing weighs about 5-6 pounds andis solid steel no back-up required.

Incredibly kind and helpful.

only evr used two wah pedals i liked more [original crybaby and a wow-wow pedal (???) ] Very happy with my purchase.

With one wah setting, it's incredibly simple to get a good tone. I found it best to place it first in my effects chain in order to avoid feedback.

I play a modified Japanese strat with Warmoth neck -large '68 headstock- and Van Zandt Blues pickups. My guitar was modded by Mark of TexTone Music in Oakland. My amp is the Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12. In other words, I've got some damn powerful pickups and a loud amp. I place this effect first in my chain, even before the compressor/sustainer and that's the only way I've avoided feedback.

This is a very creamy, wet sounding wah, with a liquid quality rather than a dry nasal squawk. I just love it. This pedal only provides the White Room mode and I bought it because I really didn't have much use at the time for the Voodoo or Shaft settings...I still don't. I love this thing and I'll play through it until I can't play through it anymore. This wah has a sound with some real personality and it cuts through with plenty of volume. When you team it with other effects, like an octave or fuzz/distortion pedal or compressor, you can get into some really wild zones. With a fuzz, esp. a Big Muff or Snarling Dogs FUZZ BUZZ or even a Tubescreamer, you can access that wild hendrix zone circa Monterey. It's wild, really a throwback pedal, and a lot more so I think than the ones that actually claim to provide that throwback sound. A wah with a great deal of depth and body.

A very solid housing and of course very cool packaging. I've always loved this company's sense of humor. The ergonomic foot shaped foot pedal is fun, as are the lit eyes of the snarling dog. I would use it at a gig without a backup... hell, I have, plenty of times. it goes with me everywhere, rehearsals, gigs, etc.

My only contact has involved sending them my warranty card and they responded with a set of strings. I love their strings as well but have found incredible reliability with Thomastik-Infelds...otherwise I'd use Snarling Dogs strings too. They seem responsive, friendly, and I've been told by the guy that modded my guitar that they're a great company to deal with.

I play a variety of styles and have played in a number of different bands. I try to remain versatile even though my heart and soul is jazz. I've been playing longer than I care to remember but have only been serious about studying jazz improvisation for the past six years. This pedal suits the range of things I need to do, particularly when i have to play some groove-oriented piece. The sound of the white room wah is really complimentary in these situations and this thing has so much personality that it really adds to your ability to communicate with an audience...which is what this whole thing is about. It's a wonderful sounding wah pedal.

just step on it and rock the foot. can't get much easier than that

with the wah by it's self, it has too much treble boost. When I use my Boss super distortion, the wah super distorts the sound, even when the distortion is set to a minimum. I feel the sweep is too long. I just got a crybaby and in my opinion, it sounds much better.

It worked great for a few months, but then sometimes it wouldn't cut on or it would short out, so I spraied some electrical cleaner and the prob. was solved. No other problems.

Never used them

It was my first wah and I had a lot of fun with it. Other than there being too much treble boost and a long sweep, it is a great wah.

It is a wah-wah pedal, so it's not terribly hard. There is a volume knob in addition to the normal wah control. Basically, you just step on it and rock it back and forth.

I use with a stock 1983 Les Paul Studio into a Mesa/Boogie Subway Rocket, both direstly and in the effects loop. Sounds great both ways but best in the loop. It's only noisy if you'd like, just max the volume knob out and wah-wah. It just has a ballsy tone! Wonderful! Sounds great through my friend's crappy amp and my old crappy guitar, so even if you play it through bad equipment it'll sound good. Tone wise, it has a unique tone. I like it more than a crybaby, but I am not saying it is better or worse. It's just personal preference. I also really like the sweep range. Does very well with solos, distorted or undistorted. Not the funkiest wah sound, though it will do it ok. Even sounds decent with my friend's Jazz Bass and Crate amp!

Reliability wise, it is very good. Number one, it has a big (and impossible to knock over, unlike a crybaby) and heavy 5 pound die cast zinc chassis. The foot shaped pedal portion is chrome and has a no-slip rubber surface. Number two, it comes with a spare volume knob and two spare little rubber feet!! These are so useful, since my friend's crybaby lost two of it's feet and now rocks side to side. That wont happen to my Firebawl though.....

Never dealt with them, but they have a great warranty card, and you get a free set of strings just for filling it out!

I really love this thing. I tried several products and bought this one because it is reliable and has great tone. All in all a great, and very expressive product.