Power Wah Review

manufacturer: morley date: 03/11/2008 category: guitar effects
Power Wah
This pedal can match anything you want really.
 Ease of Use: 9.6
 Sound: 9
 Reliability: 9.6
 Impression: 9.4
 Overall rating:
 8.8 
 Reviewer rating:
 9.4 
 Users rating:
 8.1 
 Votes:
 23 
reviews (5) 5 comments vote for this effect:
overall: 9.5
Power Wah Reviewed by: Donkey Fly, on february 03, 2007
1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 100.65

Purchased from: GAK

Ease of Use: First off there aren't a lot of reviews for this pedal around the net so you may feel that by buying this pedal you could be taking a risk. This is what I thought but I got it anyway. I had to choose between the Behringer Hellbabe, Dunlop GCB95 CryBaby and the Morley PWO. I chose this pedal because Morley is a great make so you'd expect a great quality product and because it is optical, no pot wearing. It's a Wah pedal so really it is unbelievably easy to use. Rock back and forth with the music and stress longer notes with it. How Can You Honestly Struggle? To turn it on you push a button next to the pedal. The battery cover is genius. It's just a little Switch that you push. Quick easy and secure. The manual that comes with this pedal is not bad. Strangely it's a print off. It's not a high quality sheet that you get with Boss or DigiTech pedals. Inside the manual you have a little Introduction saying Thank You for buying. Then it has headings: operation, connections, AC adapter, battery, battery replacement, warranty and spec. Aswell as features. So it just about covers everything you need to know. As far as I know the only upgrade of this pedal is the Power Wah-Volume and the Tremonti Wah signature pedal. // 10

Sound: The sound of this pedal is very under rated. I read a few reviews saying that the pedal was terrible with distortion, but to me, it sounds great. With clean it also sounds really good. The range of the sweep is as good as some of the more expensive pedals like the Dunlop 95Q but it is decent enough for a Mid ranged/Proffesional worthy pedal. People say that the pedal makes a humming noise on distortion. This is true if you use the amp distortion. My set up was at first. Ibanez DT200 -> Morley Power Wah -> Marshall MG100DFX. With the distortion from the amp on, I got a humming sound so I put my Boss pedal it to the mix. Ibanez DT200 -> Boss MT-2 -> Morley Power Wah -> Marshall MG100DFX. This totally fixed the problem now. I don't know if it's just my amp so if you try this pedal, try it on a couple of amps. I play all different stuff. I recenly did a gig where I played some Hendrix stuff, a RHCP song and Some Van Halen. I also play metal like Iron Maiden Def Leppard and Trivium. I can get a wah sound worthy for these sounds for sure. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Like I mentioned before, I have gigged with it and I was never in doubt that it might break. It is made of metal just like Boss pedals are. Almost indestructable. This pedal doesn't use pots. It uses optical design meaning that there is nothing to wear out so you should never have to replace anything on it. // 10

Impression: This pedal can match anything you want really. Of course you can spend more money to get a better pedal witha better range and maybe more features like a boost or fuzz box but you would do well to invest in this pedal. Worth the 55 I paid for it. I've been playing for almost 2 years (Started March 05). I currently own an Ibanez DT-200 Destroyer, Richwood Les Paul Copy, Crappy Strat Copy, Boss MT-2 Distortion, H&K Warp Factor Distortion, Marshall MG100DFX, Marshall MG15CDR, Behringer GM108 Amps. I've also owned Behringer pedals in the past. So I have a pretty decent knowledge of equipment. I'm 16 and worked in a music shot (Williams Music/Big Rock) for my work experience for 2 weeks and played on many guitars amps and pedals. I didn't need to ask any questions really except. I love the sounds out of this pedal. It is much better than I expected. I don't really hate anything about it. I compared this to the Behringer Hell Babe and I chose this over it straight away. It's a lot more stronger as a wah. I wish it had a LED light so I could know when it was turned on or off but this isn't really that much of a problem. This is a great pedal. If your looking for a Wah pedal for around 30-60 quid. This could be the pedal for you. // 9

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overall: 8.3
Power Wah Reviewed by: darkarbiter7, on march 11, 2008
1 of 3 people found this review helpful

Purchased from: UG Member

Ease of Use: This is actually the Morley Power Wah/Volume, but the volume function really is kind of pointless, so I'll just put this under the regular Power Wah. It's a bare bones wah, it's easy to use. It does have a level knob controlling the output of the wah, which is nice when you're playing high gain stuff. This is a very old one (1997). 9 for ease of use. // 9

Sound: I am using it with a strat and a Peavey classic 50 with assorted overdrives. It's more noisy than my Vox v847, but it's still not bad. This is a thick, agressive wah. I was surprised. This is a strong effect. I'm not sure what this sounds like. Maybe Zakk Wylde or Steve Vai? I dunno, but it's nice. One thing I should add, that it's not too vocal. It's more throaty and deep, which is like the polar opposite of my Vox. I'm rating the sound an 8. It isn't a spectacular boutique wah, but it isn't a piece of crap like the Dunlop Original Crybaby or the Zakk Wylde Crybaby. // 8

Reliability & Durability: It's less of a tank than my Vox, but that's alright. Everything is solid. Since this IS my backup wah, I don't really have a backup for it. The metal around it is kind of thin and weak. It's still pretty tough though. The pedal seems kind of squeaky, but that may just be because it's old. I'll have to lube it. // 8

Impression: I quite like this wah. It's better for the higher gain side of music. I think this could be a great metal or shred wah. I don't really play metal or shred, and I'm using this more for hard rock, and it works great. If it were stolen or lost, I think I'd buy a boutique wah. This is a nice wah, but it's not spectacular. But, it's a very solid backup and a good performer. // 8

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overall: 9.8
Power Wah Reviewed by: drol_52, on january 28, 2008
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 87.84

Purchased from: GAK

Ease of Use: As soon as I got the battery in and set it up, it's amazingly easy to use-pedal for wah, and the power button next to it. It's not rocket science. No controls apart from that, so you don't have to worry. Getting the battery in is simple and quick, and the instructions you get with it-that I didn't even need to look at-explain anything you need to know. There isn't really anything that could be more simple. // 10

Sound: I play this with an Ibanez RG321MH and a Marshall MG30DFX-the sound is good, it could be used for all sorts of music, I use it for metal but it works with Henrix stuff well. The only bad thing is it creates a bit of feedback if it's just the guitar, pedal and amp. But the simple solution is just to add a distortion pedal to the mix and problem solved. Apart from the slightly annoying but solvable buzz, the sound is great on clean and distortion. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Now this pedal is tough. It's made of bulletproof steel (I think) so it's pretty much indestructible. And it doesn't use pots so there's nothing to wear out or replace. It's not even scratched yet and when I use it I simply jump on it sometimes. I doubt I'll ever break this, and any backups would just be batteries. // 10

Impression: I play mainly metal, but also rock and other stuff. I've been playing about 2 years now so I've got a basic idea of a good wah pedal. And this is one. It's virtually indestructible, amazingly simple to use and sounds awesome. I've only tried it with my Ibanez so far (probably because my other guitar is horrible and the most of the guitarists near me are beginners) but I'm sure it would sound great with anything. Definetely a good choice, worth the money. // 10

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overall: 9.5
Power Wah Reviewed by: blub man, on january 05, 2008
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Purchased from: Local Store

Ease of Use: It hasn't got any knobs, so that's nice un easy. One thing Morley have done with there wah's, is to put a heavy duty stomp Switch beside the pedal, rather than underneath. This take a bit of getting used to, but so do the other types. Once you get the hang of it quickly, you really start to see why it is an advantage; you can start it anywhere, so you can avoid the classic high pitched feed-back that can occur with cry babies when first turned on. Also the switch is in a more logical position, and more accesible position, but that's all done to preference. It doesn't get a 10 because the seperate Switch can take some getting used to, but it's a minor niggle that is justified by the above advantages. // 9

Sound: I use mine through a home built, marshally valve amp (sort of like a jcm 800). I use a fat strat type guitar, a Yamaha Pacifica 112 with good pickups on the bridge and neck. I can compare this to a cry baby and a Vox wah, as a band memer owns the Vox, and a felow band's lead guitarist uses the Dunlop. Sweep wise, it's great. It has a lot ore sweep than the cry baby, but isnt (IMO) over the top like the Vox. It's enough to be noticed, but not so much it just sounds silly. Saying that the Vox and the cry baby are bot brilliant wahs, and the sweep on all of these is acceptable. One draw back of this wah, is when it's clean. It works, and works well, but it obviously wasn't intended to be for jazz, oh no. I must say I was slightly disapointed by this, but then I realised, I never would want to use it clean anyway. 99% of the time you would use a wah for solos, so this really isn't a problem. When you get some distrotion going, it really shines through. Better than the Vox IMO, and has a better range of sweep than the cry baby. It gets a 10 for what I use it for, but it won't do for jazzy stuff light blues, Put short, it craves Overdrive. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Awesome, yes I can depend on it. It's built like a brick. I really beleive, becasue it doesnt't have any knobs, that you could lob it at a car, and (as long as it wasn't run over) the car would come off worse. Durable Switch and thick aluminium (I think). But this is where it really get interesting: Instead of using pots, it uses opto circitry, meaning it will only wear out when the hinge goes, which won't be any time soon! The sound will never diteriate. Yes I do gig without a backup, but then I can't afford 2 of everything so that's a load off my mind! // 10

Impression: I play heavy blues, to rock, to heavy rock, to light metal (RATM), and this suits me down to the ground. As I said, I only use it for overdriven solos, so it's perfect. And although at £80, it's the most expensive pedal on my pedal board, I think that wah is an important effect, worth spending money on. // 10

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overall: 10
Power Wah Reviewed by: Vendetta V, on november 20, 2007
0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 80

Purchased from: LA california

Ease of Use: Well, I’ve bought it for about 15 days ago from America. It had a simple manual but I lost it in the plain. Any way it’s very easy to use. There are two ins: one for sound in, the second one for 9v DC in (it uses 9v alkaline battery too). And one out. It also got a stomp switch and a LED which shows if the wah is bypassed, if so the, power is not used for long time using. It also has a level adjuster so you can adjust the level of treble (wah). And of course an expression pedal. It is very simple to use and get a perfect sound from it. // 10

Sound: I use a Squier Stratocaster and his SP-10 amp and the wah always sounds clean and perfect on it's each setting. There’s only one effect but it sounds well. I've tryed it wit hmy amps distortion but it looks like I need a single distortion pedal for it to pu befor wah to get better sound for my ear. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It is made fully from metal and is almost indestructible. Even if you’ll try to break it with an axe you’ll get no result. So it’ll be better for you to be “Careful with that axe Eugene” (Pink Floyd). Also the battery’s place is a very safe place. It holds the battery very tight and if you’ll kick it the battery will never fall out. I would use it on a gig of course and will take for a backup only some other batteries for power. // 10

Impression: I play any type of rock or as I call it A.T.R so it’s a good match. I think I’ve been playing guitar since my life before this one. I wish it had at least a volume pedal too. But a pedal with wah and volume controls is another Morley model. If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again as soon as would be able to. The most favorite future is the level control and a comfortable stomp switch with LED and the fact that it can’t be broken. // 10

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