Morley Bad Horsie Wah

The Morley Bad Horsie Wah is Steve Vai's signature wah pedal, made by Morley. Morley calls it their most popular wah of all time and their best-selling wah of all time¹². What sets it apart from a conventional wah is how you turn it on: it is optical and switchless, so you step on the treadle to engage the wah and step off to bypass, with no toe-down click to hunt for²³. It also carries two wah voices, Bad Horsie and a footswitchable Contour Wah mode².

An optical, switchless wah with two modes

Most wah pedals, like a standard Dunlop Cry Baby, use a switch under the toe of the treadle that you click on and off. Morley's approach is different: as MusicRadar's buying guide puts it, "The main difference with Morleys is their action, where they activate when pressed and deactivate when released"⁶. The Bad Horsie reads the treadle position optically rather than through a mechanical potentiometer, which Morley pairs with silent switching and a custom buffer circuit¹. The buffer means the pedal is not true bypass; it keeps the signal level up when the wah is disengaged, which matters on a long pedalboard.

The pedal's specs are informed by the Bad Horsie II, the second version of the design, which added a variable Q control to the switchless operation of the original⁷⁸. MusicRadar's buying guide describes the Bad Horsie II as having "a darker tone than the standard Cry Baby," with a Contour knob, switchless operation and an optical circuit as its unique features⁶.

The controls

The Bad Horsie keeps its control set small, because the default mode needs nothing. In Bad Horsie mode the pedal is set and ready; Contour mode is where the knobs live⁹²¹⁰.

The Wah level control works in both modes, and in Contour mode you can also adjust the wah frequency with the Contour control¹. Reviewing the related Custom Shop Mini Steve Vai Bad Horsie 2, MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen found the Contour knob could take the effected frequencies "from subtle and subdued to gnarly with a strident peaky top end with the toe down," and listed the two distinct wah modes as a reason to buy⁹.

Bad Horsie mode versus Contour mode

The two modes answer two different needs:

• Bad Horsie mode is fixed to Steve Vai's preferred tone and sweep, the same setting as the original Bad Horsie²⁹. No knobs to set, nothing in the way.
• Contour Wah mode lets you alter the frequency and output of the wah with the Contour (tone) and Level knobs, customizing the wah's voice to your taste²¹¹.

You choose between them with the footswitch at the side of the treadle²¹¹.

Versions: the Flame Red 20/20

In August 2019 Morley launched the 20/20 line, a pedalboard-friendly update of its classic pedals, debuting with the Bad Horsie Wah, Power Wah and Power Wah Volume⁵¹²⁷. The 20/20 Bad Horsie Wah has the same tone and features as the previous Bad Horsie, spec'd as per the Bad Horsie II, and comes in a Flame Red paint job at a street price of $169⁵¹²⁷¹³. RockBoard's PedalPedia notes the design is "now in standard pedalboard friendly size"⁴.

The 20/20 version's feature list includes:

• MQ2 custom inductor
• LED indication
• Cold-rolled steel housing
• Quick clip battery door
• Glow-in-the-dark treadle grip, using Morley's patented Pedal Glow technology³¹

Pedal Glow is the glow-in-the-dark treadle grip: after light exposure it glows, so the treadle is easier to find on a dark stage³¹.

Morley also builds the design as the Classic Bad Horsie Wah, described on Morley's product page as "The Guitar God's legendary, signature Wah with an added Contour mode," carrying the same two modes and the same step-on, step-off operation²³.

Who makes it, and who plays it

The Bad Horsie is made by Morley, now the Morley Product Group, which continues to build and update the design⁴¹⁴. Steve Vai has used his signature Morley wah for years, as GuitarPlayer's history of the Power Wah Fuzz records¹⁴, and Morley says the pedal is used by countless professionals³.

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