Overall Rating: Perfect wah for the purpose I bought it for- a Crybaby simulator. The other settings are really pretty good, especially for an all-in-one unit. I must say, though, it's a bit of a Catch 22. If you're not sensitive enough to care abou...
Overall Rating: Perfect wah for the purpose I bought it for- a Crybaby simulator. The other settings are really pretty good, especially for an all-in-one unit.
I must say, though, it's a bit of a Catch 22. If you're not sensitive enough to care about the subtle differences between wah models, you probably won't need all the candy offered here (unless you care about the optical pot like I do). If you care about the subtle differences and want this many wahs, you'll probably be more apt to buy the real deal.
Theoretically I could use it as a multi-distortion pedal, but Boss drives have never really appealed to me. I'll use the fuzz since I don't own one (until my real Big Muff gets repaired), but that's probably it. The univibe setting is useful, but I don't know that it's an effect I need.
All in all, I'll still give it a 10 for being the perfect Crybaby wah for me. Everything else is gravy.
Sound Quality: I got this a few years ago- I had just had the pot go bad on my second Crybaby and was at Guitar Center trying to figure out a replacement. Something about the new Crybaby model (my two were both pretty old) just didn't have *that* sound- maybe they were revoiced at some point? I had already gone down the Morley route (my first wah was a Morley- great for solos, but not for that funky wah tone), already dismissed Vox as too subtle... and I was stuck.
The ever-helpful (when it comes to upselling an expensive pedal) salesman came out and suggested I try the PW-10. I had seen the pedal online and in magazines but had always dismissed it as a gimmick. Seriously- a programmable wah? Why on earth would you need that? Nonetheless, I still sat down with it and tried to dial in a classic Crybaby tone.
My mind was blown. I was able to dial in the Crybaby tone and so much more! The optical circuitry promised that I would never again have to deal with a dirty pot. That was enough for me, and I bought it on the spot.
For a long time, this was enough for me- a great Crybaby tone with silent sweeping. A few months ago, I actually sat down and explored the rest of the options.
The Morley sound is close, but not exact. The sweep is similar, but I wasn't able to get an exact match. The Vox setting was more upfront than I remembered, but is too similar to the Crybaby setting to be useful. The Univibe setting is cool, but I don't have anything to compare it to. The Voice setting is interesting, but I can't imagine a way I could use it. Advanced wah just seems to run the whole range of frequencies, but it didn't seem to be very musical. It might appeal to some, but it's not for me. I didn't spend a lot of time with the Bass Wah or the Custom settings.
The drive settings are interesting. To manually change the drive setting, one needs to access the hidden "drive select" mode (which involves resetting the unit while holding specific buttons). Instead, most users would modify the factory presets, as I did. I found a functional fuzz tone (supposedly modeled after a Big Muff fuzz), but that's all I've been able to salvage. I might dig a little deeper, but you really need the manual to help you get to it.
10 for the Crybaby tone, and no opinion on the other "candy".
Reliability/Durability: Never had an issue, aside from my ignorance of that darn drive knob.
Ease of Use: A little more complicated than your typical wah. Tons of knobs to tweak plus a bunch of presets... and it's a pedal that can easily sound bad. HOWEVER, if you spend some time with it, it can (and does) sound great.
I do have to admit that I had ignored the drive knob, and one day it got turned SLIGHTLY. Suddenly, I had slight distortion through the pedal- both on and off. Because I had never used that feature, I didn't recognize the problem and ended up collecting on the Guitar Center warranty. Before the check arrived, I was able to figure out that the drive knob was the problem... but it is an example of TOO MANY KNOBS. :-)
The advanced settings are not very user-friendly. Most involve powering down the unit, holding buttons while restarting it, and moving into convoluted modes that are not indicated on the pedal itself. The end result is that one requires the manual to even access these settings.
Basic use gets an 8 in ease, advanced use gets a 4 for being user-unfriendly.
Customer Support: No opinion.
Purchased From: Guitar Center
Price: $120.00 USD
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