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moosers
Published on 12/17/11 at 14:26
The Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah is a somewhat unique pedal that takes a different approach to wah and filter effects. Personally I'm more of fan of a traditional wah wah pedal, but I recently had a chance to try this out and I can see it's worth. The pedal has two 1/4" inputs (one labeled for bass and one for guitar), a 1/4" output and 1/4" jack for an expression pedal if you choose to add one to the mix. Personally I think it's a good idea to get an expression pedal for it if you're going to own one, but I haven't used one with this pedal. It's powered by either a nine volt power supply or battery and isn't rackable since it's a foot pedal.
UTILIZATION
There are definitely a good amount of controls available with the Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah. The AW-3 includes a new unique "humanizer" setting that gives you more of a talk box sort of sound that emulates human speech. There are two separate "vowel" controls with manual and sensitivity parameters that gives you the chance to choose what vowel you'd like the wah to sound like. It also has a decay control and a few modes to choose from to further your sounds. The manual might be a good thing to have to get started if your aim is to learn the pedal inside and out.
SOUND QUALITY
Admittedly, I wasn't expecting all that much from the Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah, but I have to say that I was surprised with it's versatility and the amount of cool sounds that are possible with it. I'd be curious to try it with the expression pedal as I think that would really up it's game and give it the best balance of a traditional wah and more unique filtering effects. It's a super clean pedal too and quite modern sounding.
OVERALL OPINION
The Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah is a cool pedal to check out if you're interested in unique filter and wah wah effects. I won't be buying one of these, but I do like it for use in the studio. I can definitely see how people could do some great things with this pedal, I just prefer the simplicity of my Dunlop Crybaby and there's definitely something more organic sounding about it even though it can't get nearly the same amount of sounds as the AW-3. If you use or want to use wahs and filters a lot, the AW-3 is worth a gander but it won't be for everyone.
UTILIZATION
There are definitely a good amount of controls available with the Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah. The AW-3 includes a new unique "humanizer" setting that gives you more of a talk box sort of sound that emulates human speech. There are two separate "vowel" controls with manual and sensitivity parameters that gives you the chance to choose what vowel you'd like the wah to sound like. It also has a decay control and a few modes to choose from to further your sounds. The manual might be a good thing to have to get started if your aim is to learn the pedal inside and out.
SOUND QUALITY
Admittedly, I wasn't expecting all that much from the Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah, but I have to say that I was surprised with it's versatility and the amount of cool sounds that are possible with it. I'd be curious to try it with the expression pedal as I think that would really up it's game and give it the best balance of a traditional wah and more unique filtering effects. It's a super clean pedal too and quite modern sounding.
OVERALL OPINION
The Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah is a cool pedal to check out if you're interested in unique filter and wah wah effects. I won't be buying one of these, but I do like it for use in the studio. I can definitely see how people could do some great things with this pedal, I just prefer the simplicity of my Dunlop Crybaby and there's definitely something more organic sounding about it even though it can't get nearly the same amount of sounds as the AW-3. If you use or want to use wahs and filters a lot, the AW-3 is worth a gander but it won't be for everyone.