Morley 20/20 Wah Boost

The Morley 20/20 Wah Boost is a switchless, optical wah pedal with a built-in 20 dB clean boost, made by Morley. Instead of a mechanical pot that wears out, the treadle controls a light and an optical sensor, and there is no footswitch: you step on the treadle to engage the wah and return it to the heel position to disengage. Morley calls it "one of our classic circuits on steroids"¹.

The boost is the pedal's distinguishing feature. Morley says the 20 dB clean boost "helps you level out in the mix or ascend into guitar greatness," and the maker describes the wah's character as a wide sweep with mid-range focus that "will cut through the heaviest of mixes"¹. When it launched in 2019, Gearnews reported that it lets you dial in up to +20 dB of clean boost².

How the wah and boost work

The 20/20 Wah Boost is part of Morley's 20/20 line, announced in 2019 as a set of compact wahs built around the company's switchless, optical design. The optical system means the treadle position is read by light rather than by a mechanical potentiometer, and Morley's 20/20 switchless models are described by the maker as having "smooth and easy Switchless activation"⁵². Because there is no switch, the effect simply follows your foot.

The boost is not a separate effect with its own footswitch. On the sibling 20/20 Lead Wah Boost, Morley states plainly how the two functions interact⁶:

The same principle applies across the boosted 20/20 wahs: the boost rides with the wah rather than standing alone. Morley's press release for the line described the Power Wah models as having "a 20db Wah Boost control"³⁷, and on the 20/20 Power Wah that control is a knob that "allows up to 20 db of clean boost in Wah mode"⁸.

Other features from the maker's page include:

• MQ2 custom inductor
• LED indication
• Cold-rolled steel housing
• Quick clip battery door
• Glow-in-the-dark treadle grip¹

Power and connections

The pedal runs on one 9-volt battery or an optional Morley 9V adapter, and Morley says it is compatible with most 9V adapters, so a typical 9V pedalboard supply will power it¹. The quick clip battery door makes battery changes straightforward without tools¹. There is no stated current draw, so if you run a tightly budgeted isolated supply, the battery option is the maker's fallback.

How it differs from the other 20/20 wahs

Morley's 20/20 line includes several wahs with boost, and the differences are mostly in what else the pedal does⁹.

The Power Wah Volume is the most versatile of the group: Morley describes it as "the classic Morley Power Wah with it's vintage tone, wide sweep and 20 db clean boost and a smooth audio volume" taper¹⁰. The Wah Boost is the simpler proposition, a wah with the boost built in and a buffer circuit that Morley says "prevents signal loss and maintains tone"¹.

One related model is gone: Morley states that the MTPDW 20/20 Distortion Wah "is discontinued and no longer available." That pedal put a redesigned PDW Distortion circuit after the wah circuit for a traditional combined tone¹².

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar reviewed the 20/20 Wah Boost in June 2023, testing it with a Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Telecaster through a blackface Fender Vibrolux and a Fender VibroChamp⁴. The reviewer's overall verdict:

The review noted two limitations alongside that praise: the spring-loaded treadle "makes holding fixed wah positions difficult," which matters if you like parked-wah sounds, and the boost lacks an independent switch, so it cannot be used apart from the wah⁴. For players who want a wah that snaps on and off with the foot and a boost that pushes solos forward in the same motion, those trade-offs are the design working as intended; for players who want a standalone boost or a parked filter, they are real constraints.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

News

Questions