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. This wah is specially voiced to deliver an extra thick and cutting tone.
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
tallica1708, on april 21, 2006 10 of 11 people found this review helpful
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
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
dash-rendar, on july 06, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: \
Ease of Use: It's just your generic Wah pedal operation - click down to turn it on, click down again to turn it off. The Switch is under the toe down setting on the pedal. No editing patches, as it's already modded under the hood with Zakk's tone. Manual was very good at explaining how to work the pedal and listing some of the specs. No upgrades available, and very easy to use and get a good sound of it - very throaty. // 8
Sound: My chain consists of the following - Ibanez ARC 300 > Boss TU-3 > Boss AC-3 > Dunlop ZW-45 > Randall amp. I've always been able to get a great sound with relatively no noise at all from the pedal itself. The effect itself is a very throaty, strong Wah sound. I use it for everything from rock to metal to clean funk and it sounds great in all applications. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This Wah is built like a motherf--king tank and can definately handle any abuse even the hardest of players could throw at it and still come back begging for more. I would definately gig without a backup, since Dunlop products are shit resistant. I would probably bring an extra battery just to be safe though. Wahs tend to eat batteries pretty quickly. // 10
Impression: I play the range of different styles and this Wah handles them all beautifully. Some would argue that the tone is a little weak/not focused enough, but I love it myself. I've had this Wah for almost 3 years and have not had ONE problem with it. I tried out a few different wahs, such as the Ibanez Weeping Demon and the stock Cry Baby, and I found the sound to be more pleasing to my ear.
If it were stolen, I would MOST DEFINATELY buy it again. That being said, I would try out some different wahs as well. I've been meaning to try the Dimebag wah, as well as the Mark Tremonti Morley. // 9
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
jimmy(a.u.a), on june 29, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 120
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Ease of Use: This pedal is amazing I've had it for about a year now. Its very easy to use once you get used to it. It may take a while to get down when to go from the low to high sound that creates the wah. // 10
Sound: I'm using it with a Epiphone studio Les Paul with a Line 6 Spider 3. The sound is amazing on an setting, clean or distorted. The sound is still great even if your using other effects with it. The time the sound gets a little weak is when the battery is almost dead. It sounds just like Zakk Wylde when you add the chorus effect to it. The only thing is it doesnt't sound very good with the delay effect. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This pedal is very reliable and I would defiantly bring everywhere I play. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't need a back up Wah at gig because its a very durable pedal and can withstand a lot of abuse. // 10
Impression: This pedal is good for pretty much any type of music. Personally I use it for metal and some times softer rock. Before I got this pedal I had the Original Cry Baby Wah and the Zakk Wylde Wah was a great improvement from the Original one. Its very easy to work. I would defiantly buy a new one if mine were stolen. I love the sound and the way it can be mixed with other effects. This pedal probably has the best Wah sound compared to other Wah effect pedals. The only thing I wish it had was the distortion nob like the Slash Wah does. // 10
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on march 22, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 129.99
Purchased from: guitar center
Ease of Use: This pedal is very easy to use (as are all Wah pedals)and there are no patches to edit. The manual is pretty basic but not really necessary since it is just a Wah after all. This Wah has the best sweep of all the wahs I tried out, and I tried all of them. It has a real throaty sound with the toe up and the highs come through real clear with the toe down. Also the adjustable torque is a great feature so you can make it tighter or looser depending on what you want. Also the fasel inductor is top notch sound // 10
Sound: Epi les paul w EMG 81/85- wylde wah- wylde od- Dunlop carbon copy delay- Boss ns2 - b52 at 212 triple rectifier- the effects are all great and very quiet even when all are on and the amp is dirty as hell no noise except what I play. And you can get a great black label sound out of these bad boys // 10
Reliability & Durability: The wylde Wah is definately a dependable wah- I have had it for over 3 years and have only had the potetiometer replaced once and Dunlop replaced it free even though the warranty was expired by a year. As dependable as this Wah is I still carry a crybaby with me just in case // 10
Impression: I play blues rock and heavy metal and this pedal is great for all. I have been playing for about 5 years. If this pedal was lost or stolen I would get the exact same pedal to replace it. I love that it has such great sweep range, so many Wah pedals go from off to on and have nothing in between - with this Wah you hear ever movement of the pedel. When I made my decision to buy this I compared it to the classic crybaby, the Slash wah, the dime Wah from hell, and this Wah out shined them all // 10
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
UKMaster, on september 07, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 100
Purchased from: Rowlands Music Swansea
Ease of Use: Well.. It's a Wah pedal so you just click it in to Switch it on and then Wah away. The manual just tells you stuff like where you put the battery and adjusting stuff. It is just the stock version... Don't know what else to say really! There is a adjusting rod that comes with it so you can adjust how much resistance there is on pushing it down (I think) I haven't tried it yet as I don't really know how to do it probably but I probably should read the manual! // 9
Sound: I have a EX-50 guitar running into the pedal then into a Blackstar HT-5 stack. It is not noisy at all in fact I don't even notice when it's on, only when you click it on. The effect is always quite strong but at higher pitches of sound you can't really hear it as much. It sounds good for my favourite artists (Metallica, Iron maiden). I wish the effect was stronger and more powerful but it's quite good. I know this review isn't very good but I thought I would try and contribute. // 8
Reliability & Durability: Definitely depend on it. It's like a metal brick. Very reliable. I would gig with it without a backup. I have never gigged before because I am not in a band. But it is very solid and reliable.
They have made me type in some more characters but I don't really know what else to say so saying this should make it work. // 9
Impression: I play metal and this pedal is very good for it. I have been playing for 4 years but have had this pedal about 1 or 2 years. If it were stolen I would try and get it back but if not I would probably try and get a more powerful Wah pedal. I didn't really compare it to anything only a dimebag pedal but I liked the sound of this more for what I use it for. // 8
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
GoIrish668, on april 27, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 129.99
Purchased from: Sam Ash
Ease of Use: This Wah pedal is hands-down, the best one out there. I went to my local guitar shop to look for a good Wah pedal, and I must have gone through a dozen, that didn't react well to distortion, didn't work with a neck pickup, etc. The pedal doesn't have any knobs for editing different settings, but it is perfect already. However, one of the great features about this pedal is that you can adjust thr rocker torque, meaning of course that you can change how easy it is to move the pedal. // 10
Sound: This Wah pedal is good depending on what you are looking for. For me it was perfect. I wanted a pedal that wouldn't drastically change my sound, and it wouldn't filter out so much sound that I had to adjust my volume knob. This does exactly that. It provides a small boost that is perfect for adding to a regular distortion, to come up with a great lead sound. I use an Ibanez RG770DX guitar, through this pedal, through a DigiTech RP255, into a Fender Superchamp XD. This pedal is great for putting your foot down and soloing, instead of having to tweak many other settings to get a lead sound. I play everything from classic rock, to instrumental rock (a la Satch), and some GNR. This has worked for every style that I have thrown at it. I proclaim it the "jack of all trades, master of all." // 10
Reliability & Durability: I haven't gone gigging with this pedal, but the metal casing is more than enough to protect this pedal from being dropped, banged on, etc. No backup needed whatsoever. // 10
Impression: As I said before I play a lot of Satriani and GNR, which demands a good Wah sound often. None of the Wah pedals that I have tried before have been so versatile while still delivering a good sound. In the DigiTech RP255 that I have, it has a built-in wah, but it just wasn't good enough. The Zakk Wylde Wah has a very consistent sweep, and you don't get that annoying sound when you rock the pedal back all the way. If this pedal was lost or stolen, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it back. I compared this pedal to:
- Dunlop Slash Crybaby
- Dunlop 535Q Multi Wah
- Dunlop Dimebag Crybaby from Hell
- Boss PW10 V Wah
- About 5 others
The point is, none of these pedals were as good as the Zakk Wylde. The only thing that I wish this pedal had was an LED to show when it was on or off. // 10
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
bigREDgrin, on february 16, 2009 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: West Chester Music
Ease of Use: I really like the sound I get out of it. I have hear some others say they don't like the sweep size on it, cause it's too small; but to my account it's merely a small problem once you get used to it. I went and ordered a special fuse or something for it which juiced it hard afterwards. But it adds quite a bit of gain to the tone which I like but that's not for everyone. As far as the patch and the manual goes it'; s pretty straight forward. // 10
Sound: I have it after my other effects just before the amp but I get more gain when I have it straight from the guitar to the effects. The effects are I'd say strong, plus I use a dedicated power line which probably helps. It sounds pretty much like Zakk, but you can't only rely on the pedal. // 9
Reliability & Durability: Its really dependable, but I hear that the battery holster on the bottom breaks off fairly often so that's a downer but I use a dedicated line so that helps. I might bring another of the same pedal but it's a good enough for alone. Sounds real good through a tube amp. // 9
Impression: I play mostly metal, classical, blues and rock; and it hasn't failed me yet it's always been good to me. I have been playing for 5 years, I got Boss/MXR effects B\.C\. Rich, Ibanez, Dean, Epiphone guitars. Not really anything I would've asked, if it were stolen I would buy the the Dimebag pedal instead; no gripes against this one but it's got as versatile as others. I like the extra gain boost it gives, I like don't like the fact it has a small sweep. // 10
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
xenocide01, on january 15, 2009 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 149.99
Purchased from: Zzounds
Ease of Use: Ease of Use? Firstly, it's a wah, very easy to use. But overall, compared to the Dime Wah from Hell and the Weeping Demon, I would far prefer the Wylde Wah. The included manual gives you all kinds of useless specifications. Unlike the Wah from Hell, the Wylde Wah has no adjustment knobs or "Q" settings. It's just a plain-old-guitar-pedal. No fancy adjustments, just a good old wah sound. (Though I wouldn't mind having a Sweep control, just to add my own twist on the wah tone) // 9
Sound: Anything that is good enough for Zakk is good enough for me. The sound quality is amazing. My only sound complaint is the deterioration of wah tone in relation to the number of active pedals. My set-up is pretty much perfect for the metal I play, but when placed before the distortion (between amp and distortion), the wah has the tendency to act as a volume pedal as well, cutting out volume as it is set to the up position, but when placed after the distortion, the wah tone is decreased slightly, giving you less wah and more growl. But with that said, I think this thing is still SIGNIFICANTLY better than any Wah on the market. A must buy pedal... // 9
Reliability & Durability: Although I have heard complaints about the cheap plastic covering for the battery, I have had no problems as of yet. I purchased the Dunlop power cable to go with the pedal, and that eliminates the problem for the battery casing. Other than that, this pedal is solid, and I mean S-O-L-I-D! Of course, this is what I have come to expect from Dunlop and their fine line of heavy duty guitar pedals. it's like a little Sherman Tank. I honestly don't feel the need for a backup pedal, though I wouldn't mind having another ZW-45 just in case. // 10
Impression: I play mostly heavy metal, but this wah would be perfect for nearly any style of music that the "Wah sound" fits. I have been playing for 5 years (this February), and with my Marshall MG412, Crate GLX1200H, ElectroHarmonix Metal Muff, ZW-44 "Wylde Overdrive", and either my Schecter B2-FR or my Memphis LP Custom Copy, this pedal fits like it was made for my setup. My only problem is that I didn't buy this sooner. If it were ever lost or stolen, the new one would be in the mail before I even realized the other was gone. This pedal, other than the non-existent adjustment knobs, is perfect. P-E-R-F-E-C-T... perfect. // 9
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
ierostyle, on november 13, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: £ 90
Purchased from: online retailer
Ease of Use: Simple and easy to use, your stereotypical rocker pedal wah from Dunlop, the industry standard wah pedal along with the Vox wah of course, Dunlop continue to expand there line of wah pedals with the great signature Zakk Wylde wah pedal, it's nice and easy to use, and you can adjust the torque of the rocker so extra bonus points for that! like any wah, making it sound fantastic takes practice! // 10
Sound: I personally love this pedal, I'm more of a rhythm guitarist than a lead guitarist so the beautiful rounded and deep wah tone gained from this pedal is great for me, a sound deeper than your standard wah, this wah really ecsentuates everything, it's like a wah on acid, with some pro plus mixed in there for good messure! with a bit of extra Overdrive this thing rips the competition to shreds. // 9
Reliability & Durability: Rock solid build quality all the way, until you get to the battery compartments, cheap plastic backing, once you have this mounted on a pedal board with a power supply plugged into it however, this makes for the most trivial of side factors to this great pedal, build like a tank, and has as much beef as a tank, what more can I say? // 9
Impression: I play rock, no questions asked, with some blues mixed into my hard rock style as well, it's great and I love the pedal, it's solid and dependable, if you are looking for something to throw around travell to and from gigs with and still sounded better than everyone else, look no further, how have found your wah of choice! // 9
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
hendrix4934, on january 04, 2007 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
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
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on december 26, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
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
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
Purple Platypus, on august 21, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
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
ZW-45 Zakk Wylde Signature Wah
Reviewed by:
Johnny Blade, on june 12, 2006 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
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
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!
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
i just brought this yesterday, and i know everyone will disagree, but i think it sounds really good on clean, it's got much more of a fat sound that the other wahs i tried (i tried a lot) which i love. i think the only bad point so far is the fact that if you hit the middle two strings really hard on clean on the top position it makes a bit of a buzz. great on marshall distortion with les paul standard.
The original Cry Baby can't handle distorsion. I play the original at my friend home and is was horrible.With this one, it's perfect to get a good wah with distorsion.
the thing is that the dimebag dosent have as much sweap and the distortion boost is use les cause i like my mt2 better and all those controls are kind of useless cause your not gonna go change em during a gig and i dint try the slash but still you need two 9volts for it or a 18 volt adapter witch is hard to find and the original sucks with distortion
its not because of the zakk wylde name that the price is higher- its because of the fasel inductor- it sounds way different than the standard crybaby- and the classic crybaby that has a fasel is the same cost and its not as heavy in the low end as the wylde wah
i dont believe so...
jus bought one from eBay.