No one makes effects like Z.Vex. Not only are these pedals the most unique looking pedals around, they are also some of the most unique sounding units to hit the guitar market. Many users like these pedals for the often “otherworldly” sounds that can be created. In many cases Z.Vex pedals could be considered instruments on their own, many of them capable of very unique self oscillation. Z.Vex pedals are hand painted so each pedal is unique all having a slight variation in the design and color. The paint job is prone to chip and scratch easily but it does give each pedal more character. The Wah Probe has been the main wah on my board for about 2 years now and is one of my favorite pedals.

The Probe series of pedals feature a copper plate that emits a RF field that alters the parameters of the effect as your foot, hand or anything gets closer to the unit. With the Wah Probe as your foot gets closer to the plate it is like rocking a traditional wah all the way forward. There is a Super Hard On built into the pedal that can be used to raise the level and gain of the effect. When this knob is all the way down you get a very clean sounding wah. As this knob is turned you can hear the sound start to break up giving more sustain and bite. For most situations I keep this knob around 10 o’clock. There are two mini pots on the bottom of the pedal, one to adjust the RF field and the other to adjust the LED sweep. I usually prefer a touch less high end on my wah so I rolled back the LED pot to hit my preferred sweet spot.

Using this wah does require a little bit of a learning curve but within minutes you feel comfortable. The Wah Probe really excels on songs like “Voodoo Child” when you are running with a OD or a fuzz as well. It can sometimes be difficult to get the fast clean funk sound, but once you learn the way the RF field reacts is comes pretty naturally.

You can get some new wah sounds out of the Wah Probe. One thing I have found exciting is to move my foot back and forth as well as up and down. When you do this you skip frequencies in the sweep of the wah giving it the sound of a manually controlled seek wah.
All in all this is great pedal. Every time another guitar player looks at my board the first thing they comment on is the Wah Probe, whether they have heard of it or not. Then usually after hearing it and trying it for themselves they usually start making plans of getting one themselves. If you are looking for a traditional wah this probably isnt for you but if you want a very flexible and unique wah this is the one.

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Welcome to my first real gear review. I’m just learning the whole critiquing process, so hang in there with me as I get better at it. Also in future reviews, I hope to add audio samples in with the review as well.

I recently got the Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter Tremolo pedal via Dave Weiner of Steve Vai and Riff Of the Week fame. I had been playing a Boss TR-2 Tremolo on my pedalboard for a while but was always wanting easier control over the tempo.

Construction:

The Shape Shifter is a slightly larger pedal at 5.5 inches wide and 5 inches tall, but has a  sturdy metal construction that feels like it will last. The knobs are chickenhead style knobs and have a very smooth feel to them.

It runs off standard 9v power, my one-spot power supply is powering it with no problems.

The buttons are probably my only problem with this pedal. They have a louder than average click to them so while this is not usually a big deal on a on/off button, on a tempo button where you will need to click it several times in a row, its noticeable, if you are in-between songs.

Features:

The Shape Shifter is a mono pedal, with  4 knobs, 1 switch and 2 buttons and 2 LEDs.

The knobs are:

Tremolo Depth:

how far the signal is dropped on each pulse

Wave Shape:

This controls how the wave is balanced. Is the peak in the middle or does it peak early and fall off, or build slowly and then drop off fast. There are some interesting sounds to be had here.

Wave Type:

This knob lets you mix between Sine Wave, Saw Wave and Square wave for a variety of sounds from smooth to chop.

Speed:

This knob has 2 modes set by the switch (either in ratio or rate mode) Rate mode is a simple slow to fast as you turn the knob. If you tap the tempo in rate mode, you get 2 pulses per tap. In ratio mode the knob is split into 4 zones 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 where you can get x amount of pulses per 1 tempo click. So if you are tapping quarter notes in your song, 1:1 gives you one pulse per beat, 2:1 gives you eighth note pulses, 3:1 gives you triplet pulses and 4:1 gives you sixteenth note pulses.

The left button is you on/off and features “true hardwire bypass” if that is your thing. The right button is the tap tempo button.

The red LED is your on/off indicator and the right yellow LED pulses with the settings.

Sound:

This pedal really sounds great. You can dial in a wide variety of tones and with the tap tempo feature make it fit very easily into whatever you are playing. The notes on the pedal say its audio path is 100% analog, but the timing is digital.  So far I have mostly used it set on sine wave, 2:1 to the tempo of the song I’m playing around 30% depth and it adds that little something extra.

Price:

MSRP for this pedal is $225 and at the time of this article it was selling for $158.97 on a popular music retailer’s web site.

Conclusion:

Pros:

Lots of control over tremolo settings, tap tempo, sturdy construction.

Cons:

Louder than average button clicks.

The Pedalboard Planner Take:

This pedal’s pros outweigh its cons by a long shot. The pedal sounds great and has found it’s spot on my pedalboard. What is your experience with the shapeshifter? Feel free to comment below!

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