Vox Big Bad Wah

I figured I'd write this since there isn't a review of the pedal already...
OK, a wah pedal's a wah pedal and at the end of the day, a lot of what makes it good/or bad is the user's foot coordination with what he or she is playing. This pedal functions like any other Vox or Crybaby in that you stomp on it to activate the effect. The side knobs provide a lot of control over the tonal characteristics of the pedal and are recessed enough to not interfere with playing. I found it did what it said it would in providing a vintage voiced wah that Clapton would've used back in the day as well as a modern voiced wah, which I assume is how Satriani uses it.

I played this with a Fender Standard Strat into a blues junior amp, no other pedals or effects in the chain. First, I tested the vintage settings, since that's the kind of equipment I was using for it anyway. It produced in spades and sounded good for classic rock and funk. I overdrove the amp to see how it would respond and found the sweep to be smooth and even along the entire spectrum. It was very quiet and I could not discern any tone sucking from the pedal, although I'm sure some audiophiles might disagree. Messing with the controls I was able to get some different textures out of the vintage sounds, so there is a fair amount of tweakability even within the two major settings. Switching over to the modern side, I found it to be a lot harsher and the voiced frequencies much sharper. Not a bad thing, but it was definitely designed to sound modern and more geared towards playing leads. While the vintage would work for rhythm/chord comping as well as leads, the modern was meant to be Satch-wah. It still maintained a good sweep of frequencies without being overly narrow but tended toward the upper mids and treble frequencies, perfect for playing leads in a modern context and cutting through without being overly harsh or grainy.

I haven't had it that long, so only time will tell. The switches seem sturdy but at the same time, of all pedals, wahs seem to take the most beating so there's always the chance you could miss your step and break off on of the switches or something. I'm not too concerned with that as I baby my gear, but you never know when you're soloing and realize that you're supposed to go into a wah part and you're 5 feet from the pedalboard. Still, it's made of steel and while being suprisingly lightweight, it felt sturdy. I have the Satchurator and it's been very solid for me over the last year without any problems. I believe this wah is as good as any of the other quality wahs out there.

I think if you're looking for a multi-voiced wah, this is a good one to consider. It will provide excellent tonal versatility for classic and modern wah sounds. That said, I also have the Dumlop 535q and I don't feel like it was that significant of an upgrade. It' also a bit on the expensive side so unless you absolutely need the versatility, I'd recommend going with a cheaper vox or dunlop wah because at the end of the day, it's still how you work your foot on it that produces the vocal tones wahs are famous for. At it's price point, you could also consider some of the boutique wahs out there as well.