I have found this to be the best Wah out there at a reasonable price. You can argue the switching all day long, I love it. I found that most wahs have a small range of usefullness and a large range at the top and bottom of the sweep that were simply useless. THis caused me to stay in a very small range of rocking with my foot. This wah doesnt have that problem. It has a smooth and long sweep. I also enjoy the spring loaded resistance the pedal provides. I have problems with my feet and only having to push down helps a lot with my control of the pedal with the spring pushing it back to starting position. I have an original run Bad Horsie, had it for years, build like a tank, never any problems. I use this last to take advantage of the buffered output. It improved my tone and clarity using a 20 foot cable. I also love the large platform for your foot provided, most other pedals are like trying to be a gymnast on that sliver of footspace provided. Overall usefull across the entire sweep, sound isnt over the top, Buffered output, foot and control friendly and build like a tank.

In most cases, when you have a product that an artist has co-designed or has their endorsement on it, you may think you will sound just like the artist. In the case of the Bad Horsie, yes, Steve Vai did have it built to his specs and he does use it. But,I don't play like Steve so I had to adjust it to my specs. You can adjust the "turn-off ratio" via an adjustment inside the unit, which is what I did. It can make your clean tones bark and spit, but after a bit of woodshedding, I learned to control that by adjusting my playing. I don't normally use it for clean setting, but if I do, I use it for a midrange adjustment. The wah works great for overdriven tones and by learning to use it, you can produce some great sounds. It isn't for everyone, but I really like it and it works great for my playing.

I had purchased the original Bad Horsie when it was first released- even got the signed Vai poster with it. Is that a good thing? Pros: It is built like a tank and has withstood years of heavy use. This wah eliminates the "pop" noises associated with most wah pedals when engaging them on which often can be terrible when going through a high gain amp. No useless controls are also a plus. The down side- SEVERELY limited wah tones. Effectively, this is really "off" or "on." There is very little play on the travel of the effect with toe down vs. up. The mid Q freq. is all but erased leaving a moderate low to ultra top end. This often results in a harsh distortion overall. Being an optical wah, all subtle "washing" effects are impossible. The spring loaded treadle makes toe up/down playing impossible without using your foot so using it as an extended tone control is out of the question. Great for limited live use. If you are looking for an actual dynamic wah, look elsewhere.

I have to give credit where credit is due. In this case, Vai did well. However, I cannot really say this is true bypass. With it "disengaged" on a clean channel, this thing sucks the tone right out of my guitar. Works well if you physically bypass it. I recommend using a Boss LS-2 and simply bypass it when not being used, but then this defeats the purpose of not having to stomp a pedal to turn it on. With that said, is the no on/off switch really worth it? It makes more sense to use a wah with an on/off that is true bypass. This feature is no different than using a Cry Baby and leaving it on. The advantage on the CB is that you can turn it off.

I love using wah, but in shows I don't seem to have time to push buttons to turn my wah off and on before and after I use it; I need to be able to start using the wah and then stop as quickly as possible. The Bad Horsie is a dream come true. I step on and it gives me beautiful sounds. Then, I step away and keep playing. Simple. And, it sounds amazing. It's the most expressive wah I have ever used and I will never buy another one.