ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah Review

Built from the ground up with great tone and rugged durability in mind, this pedal can stand up to the crushing stomp of metal?s reigning king of lead guitar. The Wylde Wah features a heavy-duty raw-metal casing and roadworthy components to withstand years of ass-kicking abuse. With guts that have been finely tuned to Zakk?s specs, this wah is specially voiced to deliver an extra thick and cutting tone.

Ease of Use:	9.8
Sound:	9
Reliability:	8.8
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	9.2
Users rating:	8.9
Comments:	46

overall: 9.3

Featured review by: tallica1708, on april 21, 2006

Price paid: $ 189

Ease of Use: This wah pedal is awesome. Really easy to use. Just put some batteries in, connect it to your guitar and amp, and step on it! The pedal is adjustable, this means that you can set the softness or firmness of the rocker (pedal). It is also really strong. // 10

Sound: Sound is amazing when playing on full distortion. This pedal is designed to give that extra cutting edge tone. When using it on clean tones, it gives a slightly crunching sound so it is not as clean as I would like. I use it with a Ibanez Jem and a Fender amp. Sounds great when rocking to songs with full on distortion such as BLS or Metallica. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I can depend on it for sure. I would not take a backup. I haven't gigged with it yet but it looks like it can withstand alot of abuse. After all, it is durable for a Zakk Wylde concert. // 10

Impression: I play rock and metal music. if this was stolen, I would go straight back to the shop and buy it again. I love the tone, the fact that you can adjust the sensitivity of the pedal, the looks (gun metal finish with an bullseye embossed rubber top), and the quality build of the pedal. // 9

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: Johnny Blade, on june 12, 2006

Price paid: $ 191.52

Purchased from: Buzz Music

Ease of Use: It is a wah pedal the easiest of all pedals to use. Plug it in and rock it! // 10

Sound: The guitars I am using at the moment are 2 SGs 1 Epiphone SG Custom tuned to D and a Gibson Tony Iommi Signature SG tuned to C#. The amp is a Laney GH50l & 4x12 cabinet. The wah tone from this pedal is the best I have ever heard. A little throatier and fatter tone to the standard cry baby which I also own. The standard cry baby never sounded very good with a heavily distorted amp, but this one handles it really well. I can now get the sound of Electric Funeral and I have finally after much practise have nailed the solo to the 1976 classic Dirty Women. So excellent wah tone! 10 on the sound. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This thing is also one of the strongest looking pedals I have ever seen. Probably because it has no paint, it is just plain chrome. But thats ok because thats what my standard crybaby looks like now to, the paint has worn off most of it. I would use it at a gig without a backup without a problem. // 9

Impression: I play Black Sabbath so this pedal is a good match for that, even though Tony Iommi hardly ever uses a wah on many of his studio recordings he dose some good improvisations live with one a Tychobrahe I think and it sounds awsome so I use one now on alot more solos. I have been playing for about 6 years now and have 2 other wahs a Vox and a Dunlop Standard Cry Baby. This one beats them both and possibly any other wah in my opinion. If it were lost or stolen I would go and buy another one. I like how you can adjust the rocker, I tighten it up seems easier for me that way. I did compare this with a Dimebag Darrel wah but I didn't like the army pattern look and the sound in this is exactly what I wanted. Good for anyone who plays rock or metal. // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on december 26, 2006

Purchased from: Long & McQuade

Ease of Use: It's got 1 input, 1 output, 1 DC9V jack and one Switch, and no knobs to f--k around with. Brings new meaning to plug and play. Just pop a battery in the bottom, plug in, crank up the gain and getcha pull off that shit. As far as getting a good sound out of it, you just need to figure out how to time ur wah sweepage with the peaks of your "drama" notes and screamage galore results. Manual is as straightforward as the pedal. // 10

Sound: The sounds it's possible to get out of this thing are just incredible and many can be achieved just by timing ur foot differently. Extremely fat in the heel down position and all the screamage anyone could ever need in the toe down position. Best results in my opinion are achieved by hitting a note with the wah in heel down, bend the note up and synch ur foot up with the bend and slap a big ol' vibrato on there to really get her singin. But, like I say, opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one and nobody needs another one so try one out and make up yer own damn mind. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Well it's made out of 3mm thick steel all around so I dun think I'll have problems. As for gigging without a backup, that's a big no-no no matter what equipment ur using. It looks pretty spill-proof and it can take all of my weight comin down on it (and I'm no lightweight) so maybe I'd chance it if I absolutely had to but that show would be no fun cause I'd be worried about breakin my shit the whole time. // 10

Impression: Overall impression? It's a full blown work of musical art is what it is. Just plug 'er in and let 'er wail, if you don't got the chops, then don't buy more expensive equipment to bog you down and clutter up the place, a good rule of thumb is don't buy equipment cause you think it'll make you play better or sound better, wait a couple years until ur ready to take advantage of upgraded playability and sound before you spend a lot of money on shit you'll use once or twice. // 10

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: Purple Platypus, on august 21, 2006

Price paid: $ 98.75

Purchased from: Local Music Store

Ease of Use: Crybaby: so easy, even your drummer could figure it out. Stomp it and rock! Sometimes I wish it was like a Morley where it activates as soon as you depress it without a Switch but it's such a great feeling when you just slam your foot down and start rocking a sweet solo. // 9

Sound: I'm an unlikely user of the pedal; Fender Stratocastor through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212. However, I almost always use it in conjunction with my MXR doubleshot dirtortion for huge, soulful solos. When it comes to a wah for lead guitar this is by far the best I've used. It's also nice for slowly sweeping through clean arpeggios and making crazy airplane sounds. I have a regular crybaby that I use for doing funk and more classic tones but the Zakk is my main method of mayham. Not the best all around wah but it's perfect for what it's made for. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Haven't had a single problem yet; though I haven't had it very long I didn't even bother sending in the warrantee card. I use it at all my gigs without a backup. It's a solid peace of machinery. I give it it's fair share of abuse onstage and it takes it all. // 10

Impression: I bought this thing without trying it for half price as a local music store was going out of buisness figuring that if I didn't like it I could always sell it for more than I actually paid for it and still less than it was worth. Then I got home and hooked it up to my board, kicked on the doubleshot and gave it a slow sweep, it was so thick and the wah sound was so pronouned that I never had the heart to get rid of it. If you are a fan of deep, throaty wah sounds then look no further. I wouldn't be wasting my time doing a review if I didn't either love it or hate it. I don't think I can live without it now that I've owned one and used one. Everyone is always complimenting me on my lead tone and this is a good chunk of the reason. However, like I mentioned earlier, if you play funk or something where you want more or a percussive or trebley sound, this probably isn't the pedal for you; try an original. // 9

overall: 7.5

Reviewed by: hendrix4934, on january 04, 2007

Purchased from: Music store

Ease of Use: It is very easy to get a good pure wah tone out of this effect. It's not a complicated effect at all. Once you turn it on, then it works. This unit has not been upgraded, and it doesn't have to, it works very well. There is no manual. I don't no what editing patches are though. // 10

Sound: This pedal is being run through a Traynor amp. The amp goes into the wah wah pedal. The pedal goes into a Fuzz Face which then goes into a normal Jackson guitar with Seymour Duncan pickups. When I change from a normal tone to the wah wah pedal, the sound doesn't get louder or softer. It doesn't have any settings, but it still works well. The effect (when working right) sounds great. When the wah wah pedal is pointed up then it is much softer. There is a big volume differance between the forward position and back position. So, it's hard to use it while soloing. I play Voodoo Chile with this pedal, and it gets a sound close to Hendrix. There is a throatier wah tone because of modified circuitray. It sounds best when I use my Fuzz Face with it. I also add a bit of chorus to it. I think the sound is great. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The reliabilty is it's only weakness. There are top quality input and output jacks and a rugged, die-cast zinc housing. There is also an italian-made fasel inductor. But, when I use it a lot at gigs, it doesn't always work. Sometimes there is a high pitched sort of "screaming" when the pedal is pulled up. And when pushed down, it doesn't work at all. I don't especially need the wah wah pedal for every song, so I wouldn't bring a backup. But also I can't afford two good wah wah pedals. // 5

Impression: I play a lot of blues and classic rock, and some Steve Vai. I expected it to not work that well because it's Zakk Wylde, but it does work very well for any genre of music. I have been playing for about 7 months, and I also own a Fuzz Face. There is nothing I would have asked before buying this product. If it were stolen I would probaly look at some other wah wah pedals. But, in my opinion, a wah wah pedal is a wah wah pedal, and there is not much change between this, and the original cry baby. I love it's sound, I don't like it's lack of reliabilty. There aren't any features, but that's fine. I compared it to the original cry baby, and I don't really know why I chose this one. I just liked it better. I wish it had some other features that oculd control its tone though. // 7

Comments

[MaAal_MaAan]

thanx, i was really waititng 4 a review on this.
jus bought one from eBay.

[GuitarJunkie]

im sure its a good wah pedal...but it seems a bit overpirced just cause of the name slapped on it

[mouldysandwich]

i couldnt be bothered writing a whole review but you have to get it. it sounds awesome, its piss easy to use and wouldnt break if you strapped a bomb to it. it rocks!

[InSaynePig]

^My thoughts exactly. I love that you can just plug it in and it sounds great without having any little knobs to mess with.

[BLAKK:JAKK]

itr's a nice pedal but the price.....

it's just because it has "zakk wylde" in it

[Slash_HuDsOn]

why dont just buy a regular cry baby and turn up the gain a bit? saved u some money right there

[aero-all]

i think slash's new wah pedal is better.. i own them both..

[InSaynePig]

^Oh **** I'd never seen that one before, now I want that, too. Isn't it ridiculously expensive though?

[jumpmanhat]

Crybaby From Hell owns all!!!

[headcharge911]

It all costs way to much cos its got a name on it.

[cerveza]

best wah i've ever played
PERIOD

[ArcherTheVMan]

BLAKK:JAKK wrote:

itr's a nice pedal but the price.....

it's just because it has "zakk wylde" in it

wrong. read a magazine review like total guitar if you want to know why (i cant be arsed explaining and you won't listen to me anyway.

[flyingsheep223]

It looks fantastic and souns good too

[Im_Like_Heroin]

my local music store has this wah cheaper than the normal cry baby

[guitaron]

bought this pedal about 5 months ago, beat the crap out of it almost daily and it'll probably last forever and with great tone. Expensive, but a good buy just the same.

[srt4]

zakk wylde is buff

[xxadamnxx]

save your money and buy the hendrix wah, thats what zakk actually used until they made one for him, the thing is only $80 and sounds great

[BLAKK:JAKK]

^ you're right man...if you want something that zakk used buy the hendrix wah

[thepagesaretorn]

REIGNING KING OF LEAD GUITAR?!? -_- i dont believe so...

[narmi]

Zakk Wylde doesn't even use this pedal.

[dimebag7]

I tryed this out and a normal crybaby, choose the crybaby, was less and sounded pretty much the same i must say.

[Rivers]

Should I even be considering this wah if im not into metal?

[slashlover]

why do you read a zakk review if you dont like metal?

[mysteryguitar]

I LOVE ZAKK WYLDE PLAYINGMETAL!!!!!

[steamin']

why dont just buy a regular cry baby and turn up the gain a bit? saved u some money right there

dont bother doin this anyone....i bought a crybaby n play black/thrash metal. Turned my wah into a volume control :|

Should I even be considering this wah if im not into metal?

yea, it still works well with other types of music

[mysteryguitar]

i love guitar and im not on rack, i repeat, NOT on CRACK. but i lov playing with this pedal because it does bring out lots of qualities that you cant really get with other pedals

[jsav4589]

all this pedal is is the crybaby classic mixed with the jimi hendrix, the fasel inductor is the classic part and the modified circuitury that makes a warmer sound is the jimi part. overall this pedal is really good for lead parts. it is kind of overpriced but what the hell, y not buy it, its really good.

[gynther flynt]

well i saw this pedal at thomann for 129e, but the slash wah is 185e...

[powerage225]

response to many other posts,

-not just expensive cause its got Wylde on it, great wah
-it IS only good for playing metal, or heavy music i guess, too much gain for anything else

[kNoThEaD666]

FUck I am still wondering whether to buy this pedal or a lot of weed!!!!! ahhhh or the Dimebag Wah.....hmmmmm!!!!! WWRD.....what would Randy do?

[MaAal_MaAan]

look on eBay, i got mine at 189 AUD with a 20ft cable and shipped from the USA!

[Gitter_Wizard]

this thing sucks, it works better on a bass than it does on a guitar, because the hz is for lower strings.

[PyroPlegic]

how good is the new "slash" wah pedal?

[mouldysandwich]

note to all:
this pedal rocks unless you use an adaptor for it. the input jack for the adaptor wasnt well soldered on (on mine anyway) and after plugging it in several times the jack broke off and the whole pedal stopped workin... it was easily fixed, but just a bit of hassle

[Warheart1188]

The Zakk Wylde Wah is great. It's just a simple pedal with no fancy knobs and switches like some other wahs( e.g. The Crybaby from Hell). Its got great tone and its versatile.

[fear no beer]

best wah iv tried hands down,this baby makes your wah sound likes zakks wah sound,especially with a zakk wylde les paul

[Mad-Mardegan]

189 isn't that much at all...stop bitching!!!!

[Davidian]

Great wah.

Checked/Deleted.

[MEGADETH1122]

i got one of these for christmas and the clicker aleady broke

[ISM]

Don't listen to ppl tellin u to buy a normal cry baby; cos I hav one of those (original cry baby) and it can't handle distortion.

I'm gonna get this cos I need summit that speaks with my distortion pedal/s.

MVL.

[TOB00]

didnt really like this one, the base treble shift is much to tiny for good wakka wakkaing

[dumb-metal-head]

i agree with ISM, crybabys tend to be better at funk and that kinda thing, but they cant handle distortion so good, this one seems to be designed for it. its definatly going on my to buy list.

[High_o]

this is the least subtle wah ever. i dont believe its worth that much, seeing as the only expensive modification from a gcb crybaby is the fasel inductor. and yes, it omnly does metal well

[Jimbleton]

wot do u all rekon this or the slash wah or the dimebag wah

[High_o]

wot do u all rekon this or the slash wah or the dimebag wah

dimebag for metal, slash for other stuff