SW-95 Crybaby Slash Wah Review

Like the man himself, the new Slash Wah from Dunlop is both revolutionary and classic, right down to its hot rod metallic red finish and cutting edge circuit design.

Ease of Use:	9.6
Sound:	9
Reliability:	9.8
Impression:	9.4
Overall rating:	9.5
Users rating:	9.1
Comments:	22

overall: 9.8

Featured review by: unregistered, on march 08, 2007

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: This wah is incredibly easy to use. You click on the toe end to activate the wah, rock your foot forward to make the "wah" sound or keep it back for a nasaly sound. It also has a distortion boost with a knob for volume and another for tone. The button to activate it is on the right side of the wah, so just kick it with the side of your foot and it will activate. You can only use it with the wah activated, though. The Slash wah has two sets of LEDs on each side, a blue one and a red one. When the wah is activated, the blue LED turns on and when you kick in the boost, a the red indicates it's on. It comes with a manual that basically says what I said. // 10

Sound: I play the wah through a Strat copy single coil electric and a Marshall MG30DFX. It sounds great on both channels; a nice, round sound through the clean, and a cutting feel on the OD channel. You can really control how much "wah" it makes because of it's sensitivity. The distortion boost adds extra gain and sounds good, but not great. I can get great Slash tones with it but it can also get Hendrix, and Kirk Hammet sounds or use it in blues type songs. When the wah is off, the bypass doesn't sap the tone of the amp and sounds just the same as if I plugged my guitar straight into the amp. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This pedal is built very sturdy, out of die cast metal it seems. It's taken a few tumbles on concrete, but the only damage it did was small scratches on the knobs. Sometimes, you can't hear the "wah" effect past the 12th fret, and I figured out that it may be because the pickups are either not hot enough or just too far from the strings. I have the neck pickup all the way low, and the bridge one high and the effect is more noticable on the bridge pickup. It seems very dependable and I would gig with it, as long as I have the 18-volt adaptor. // 10

Impression: I play mostly hard rock, classic rock, some metal, and the Slash wah is a good pedal for those, if you use it right. You can also use it in blues, I suppose. It adds spice to any song. If it were stolen, I would hunt down whoever it was that took it and I would take it back forcefully. Or if I couldn't do that, I would definitely buy another one, hopefully for the same price as I originally did because it lists for $170. It's a high quality wah and I would recommend it to anybody. // 10

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: wilmearz, on august 21, 2007

Purchased from: American store and shipped

Ease of Use: Nothing to difficult for anyone to work out, you simply push down to turn it on and again to turn it off. To activate the distortion circuit you tap in a small button on the right hand side with your foot and get a big gain boost. The manual doesnt't really need to say much as anything you need to know is printed on the base. So basically it's a wah, you work it out! A nice extra is you load the 2x9v batteries through a rubber hatch on top, quite cool! // 10

Sound: I am using the slash wah through my Epiphone G-400 Custom, Behringer Xv-amp and Marshall MG15CD. It sounds pretty good with all this, however, I would recomend having a better amplifier then a Marshall MG as the slash wah sounds sooo much better through a better amp. I think probably the best way to use it is with amp distortion and through basically nothing else. That's how Slash uses it and it works for him! I think you have to grace the Slash wah with The View that it's a proffesional standard pedal and needs good gear to reveal it's full potential. As it is I can get good slash sounds and hendrix type things anyway. The wah sounds great on clean, just amazing and the bypass doesn't sap anything. It is an extremely sensitive. I give it an 8 through my current rubbish set up, but a 10 through better. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This is an amazingly sturdy pedal, I have used it in a gig once so far and it's perfect, I would not need a back up. just don't leave the input plugged in 'cause you will lose all your battery power very fast. I have allready done this and the extra 9v batteries would lead to a lot of expense over time! // 9

Impression: For the styles of play I use it for (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver and various others) it's great. I've been playing for three years and have had this for 3 months. At the moment I think it's good but I think when I get a better amp it will be hugely better and it's sturdy construction makes me confident it will last that long! it's a damn good wah, check it out! // 8

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: mwps, on april 04, 2007

Price paid: $ 173.01

Purchased from: Mr. Entertainment

Ease of Use: This pedal is a very simple pedal to operate. It's got the Fasel clicker and you just tap it once to turn on and again to turn the wah off. When you turn it on you will know as it has a blue led light on both sides of the pedal that come on. Then for the distortion circuit you just tap a button on the side of the pedal and a red led on both sides will light up then you know that the distortion circuit is in use. Sometimes it's a little difficult to get the distortion circuit on or off quickly as it's a little tricky to hit with your foot without sliding the whole pedal. The nice thing is that the wah and the distortion circuit are independant of each other so you can use the wah without the distortion. All though the distortion doesn't do anything when you have it on by itself. The bypass works great when the pedal isn't on, it's like the pedal isn't even there. If you use batteries you load them in the top of the pedal and not the bottom so that's kinda cool. // 9

Sound: I use an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Plus for a guitar. I also have a DigiTech GNX3 multieffects pedal and I play everthing through a Line6 spider 212 amplifier. I've been playing my Slash wah in front of the GNX3 and it works great. It also works great without the GNX3. The pedal itself is just an original Dunlop crybaby wah with a distortion circuit built in and all put together in a sweet metallic red case. On the side of the pedal there is two knobs one for volume and one for gain to control the distortion circuit. The only problem I have with it is you can't turn up either of the knobs very high before you get ridiculous feedback when you Switch on the distortion circuit as this pedal is a very high gain pedal. So if you keep it low it works fine and it still works great. When you turn on the distortion you get that little bit of extra kick so you cut through the rest of the sounds so people can your your solo good. I love the sound of this pedal, you sound just like Slash and with that distortion circuit it makes this pedal amazing. // 10

Reliability & Durability: You can definately depend on this pedal and I have gigged with it and it never let me down. The only problem I have had is that one time the pedal wah sound got stuck on the low wah tone that you get when the pedal is on and all the way tilted back. But it turns out my potenitometer just had a bit of dirt in it but that is typical of most wahs. // 10

Impression: Over all I love this pedal. I play lots of classic rock and hard rock as well as blues. So basically I play the same styles that Slash play and it works great for me. I do play other stuff like Metallica and AC/DC and it still works great. It's a very versatile pedal for almost anything. I've been playing electric for about 7 years and I've had this pedal for about half a year. If I lost it or it got stolen I would definately buy this pedal again. I love the distortion circuit as that allows you to play lots of different sounds. // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: Kevin Saale, on january 05, 2008

Price paid: $ 150

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: Very easy to use, works like any other wah. The distortion is activated by kicking the button on the side. It has volume and gain controls for the distortion. It says all this on the base and in the manual. The distortion is only on when the wah is on, so you can't use it for stand alone gain. 18 volts, batteries load in the top. All in all very simple. // 10

Sound: I'm using a Jimmie Vaughn Tex-Mex strat into this the Slash Wah, into a DS-1 all to my Hot Rod Deluxe. I play mainly rock and classic rock. This thing is great on cleans, the manual wasn't lying when they say they added mid-range sparkle. On the clean channel this thing causes my HRD to break up in a good way and is great for those chika waka porno movie type sounds. I don't use the gain on my amp so when I use it with the DS-1 it sounds just as amazing no matter how high the gain, though if you scoop your mids this thing is very uneffective. The gain boost on this pedal is not fantastic alone, but makes an amazing lead boost paired with my DS-1. You can't turn either the volume or gain up very high, but then again, you don't really need to since this pedal has a lot of juice and excess gain will cause unwanted feedback. All in all this is an amazing sounding pedal whether or not you like the distortion. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Tank. This thing can stand up to anything although I broke my first one after a few days because I used the wrong power supply which was my fault. I promptly returned it and got a new one and have had no problems since. I would trust this thing on a gig, I think what I did to it is probably the only way to destroy it. This thing is a hoss on 9volts though, leave it plugged in for one night and they'll both be dead. So, you'll probably want to get the adapter from Jim Dunlop. // 10

Impression: I play main rock and classic rock and this thing fits in quite nicely. I think this pedal would be good for any style of music, even metal as long as you aren't a mid-scooper. I've been playing for about 3 years and I own an MXR 10-band eq and a Phase 90 along with a DS-1. If this were stolen I would probably try the dime from hell and a few other wahs, but ultimately I think I would Pick this one up again. I love the gain boost on this thing, it really helps your solos cut through and sounds good if you use it as a boost. The only thing I wish this thing had come with was it's own power supply, but that's a small oversight. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: cjb2293, on december 26, 2007

Price paid: $ 100

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: This pedal is extremely easy to use. The only difficulty with it is if you are sitting down and you have to turn it on it can become a little difficult to get it to click on. Other than that there is nothing that makes this pedal hard to use. The manual that comes with it clearly explains about the knobs on the side and what they are used for. // 9

Sound: I currently use this pedal with a Marshall MG HDFX100 amplifier, metal muff distortion pedal, and a Epiphone SG standard guitar. It works extremely well through this setup and can get you the tone of Slash easily. The effects on it are great (the wah) except for the distortion. When I switch the distortion on it will make a loud screeching noise unless you are playing on the guitar. It is a horrible sound and is a setting I never use on it. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This pedal holds itself together even when I drop it while packing up my gear or stomp on it at practice. It is great for gigs and you won't need another wah pedal to back this thing up. It is easily a must for the gig and won't leave you disappointed through its tone. // 10

Impression: So I mostly play rock and metal and this thing is fantastic for both of those styles. You can go from the great tone of Guns N' Roses to the metal tone of the Killing In The Name Of solo. I have played for 2 years now and this pedal is just a great thing to have. The only thing I dislike on the pedal is the distortion feature, it is terribly noisy and makes your tone horrible sounding. // 9

Comments

[^Slash^]

I played this once. My brother's friend has it. It's pretty sweet the. Excellent for that extra boost for solos. and yeah wah's arent very effecive at high pitches. But on mine (classic wah) it does the job. Since I like to play most of my stuff in E.

[MLaMotta5992]

I have it. Very good and very reliable.

[(SiC)7MaGgOt]

its very good i borrowed it from a friend and didnt want to give it back

[mr_sinistah]

yer, strats are weak, you gotta raise your pickups just a tad, maybe like 4 or 5mm, 1/4 inch that is. You should invest in some hotrails bot your strat, i got some for the bridge, sounds so mad and crunchy, adds a lot of tone and general ommph.

[mr_sinistah]

you should watch your amp too, i've heard some blow up cause they heat up and short circuit or some crap:S shifty!! but if it works and doesn't cut, you'll be fine

[Campbell_x50]

you should watch your amp too, i've heard some blow up cause they heat up and short circuit or some crap:S shifty!! but if it works and doesn't cut, you'll be fine

Yeah this happened to mine, I was so pissed off. But luckly it happened within THOMANN's 30 day guarentee thing, I contacted them, they sent a courrer to collect it and within 2 weeks I had a new one under me boot. So far no problems and the quality of the SW-95 is class. Just one hitch, when you wack the Vol + Gain both to the max, the feedback is painful, but I'm going to invest in a MXR smart gate to sort that one out.

[MDoggDX316]

hey kevin

[Ric Cyanide]

i tried this pedal the other day...it looks amazing and sounds even better!!!..once i have the money i'm definitely running to the guitar shop to grab me one of these..

i like how they've kept the swept really close to that of the crybaby original but its got more sparkle than the original and the distortion circuit which adds so much to this pedal...lt costs more than any other crybaby, but its worth the price...

[blair30]

im getting this next week \m/

[SynysterSlash]

This one definately owns any wah pedal out on the market now.

[Jimbleton]

is it worth buying considering what some hve said about the possible damage to my amp, cos i was wondering whether to get this or the zakk wylde wah or teh dimebag one

[Guitar-Nooby]

Slash Is My F##### Idol!! Shit! i have this DigiTech RP200A Its...Alright..I guess, i mainly use the WAH and The Distortion, Not much else.. Yea wen i get some money ima definitly buy this Pedal! Sounds Awesome!

[wilmearz]

taken me a while but hav finally clicked wiv dis pedal, sounds awesome!!!!

[Pedrofarol18]

ahaha i have one of those =D

[kevin118]

i read in some other webite that when this pedal is used with a digital amp it produces a unbearable feedback it that true?cause i am using a peavy 10 watt practice amp and i am thinking of getting this pedal.

[wilmearz]

yep kevin118 that is the case even slash only uses the disto to boost his solo slightly on some songs. dont buy this just for the disto circuit especially as you cant use it separately.

[queenslander47]

i really want this pedal. sounds sweet. plus its a "Slash" model which is reason enough for me to buy it

[Solid-snake]

dont buy this just for the disto circuit especially as you cant use it separately.

Does this mean i can't use the distortion boost only? cause i was thinking of buying one as it has a distortion circuit and a pedal tat comes together...

[wilmearz]

yes,
YOU CANNOT USE THIS PEDAL AS SEPERATE WAH AND DISTORTION (not trying to be annoying just trying to be clear) you will have to buy another disto pedal aswell as the distortion on the slash wah is only meant to be a boost and can only be used with the wah. It is good at being a boost but not a great disto on its own.

[xAvengerX]

Hey guys. i was wondering if i put a distortion infront of a wah or this wah pedal would it sound similar to like a distorted wah tone? like something in slash's solo's? I get a really soft distorted tone but alot of wah. if i put the disortion before the wah. if i put it after the wah is hardly there. I have a DS-2 and a Crybaby. and a stupud practise amp and a damn ugly squier = / . anyways thanks in advance for the help = ]

[Walternativo]

Tried it in store today. Dont be fooled; its just another crybaby with a flavor. Way too much high end for me. Movin' on...

[Kevin Saale]

Something you should note with this wah. It has internal pots for treble mid and bass. They don't have tons of range, but they work pretty well for what they are. If you have one crack it open and play with them. I found that cranking the mid pot and putting the treble at 3/4 and bass at 1/4 was very effective. I needed a eyeglass screwdriver to turn the tiny pots.