Morley George Lynch Dragon Wah 2

The Morley George Lynch Dragon Wah 2 is a switchless, optical wah pedal designed with George Lynch, the guitarist of Dokken. It came out in 2009 as one of four new Morley models, all hand assembled in the USA, and it carries the approach Morley is known for: Switchless Activation, where the wah turns on when you put your foot on the treadle and off when you take it off, with no button to stomp¹².

What sets the Dragon Wah 2 apart from a standard wah is its three modes: Traditional, Wow Mode and Wah Lock¹. A Notch knob lets you choose the wah frequency of either the Wah or Wow sweeps, so the pedal can be tuned to your rig rather than swept as-is¹.

The three modes and the Notch knob

The Dragon Wah 2 gives you three ways to use the effect, selected rather than stacked¹:

MusicRadar's Simon Bradley described the Wow mode as "extra gnarly for heavily distorted guitars tones"¹, which fits the pedal's origins with a player whose sound is built on high-gain rock. On the 2022 Immortals Series reissue, Morley describes the same idea in its own words: "The WoW mode shifts the envelope of the Wah over to give you a Deep Vocal Wah Tone"⁵³.

Wah Lock is the mode players ask about most. On the original it electronically locks the pedal in wah mode¹; on the reissue, Morley says "Wah Lock engages the Optical Lock filter emulating a Parked Wah"⁵. A parked wah is the fixed midrange peak you get by leaving a conventional wah halfway down and playing through it, a sound used across hard rock and metal, and here it is a mode rather than a balancing act with your foot.

The Notch knob works across both sweep modes, letting you choose the wah frequency of either the Wah or Wow sweeps¹.

Build, battery and inputs

All four 2009 Morley models, the Dragon Wah 2 among them, use a cold-rolled steel housing; MusicRadar called it "the bulletproof, road-worthy cold-rolled steel housing construction you expect from Morley"¹. The Immortals Series reissue keeps the same idea, with a rugged and lightweight cold-rolled steel housing⁵.

Power is standard 9V operation, and the reissue adds a quick clip battery door, so a battery can be fitted or swapped without tools⁵. Morley also states the reissue works with guitar, bass or keys⁵, so the sweep is not restricted to the guitar's range. The companion George Lynch Mr. Scary Wah from the same series carries the same claims: standard 9V operation, quick clip battery door, and compatibility with guitar, bass or keys⁶.

From the 2009 signature wah to the Immortals reissue

Morley's own history timeline records the George Lynch Dragon 2 Wah as released in 2009⁴, and MusicRadar's launch coverage noted the pedals were available in the UK at a suggested selling price of £174.99¹. Morley has a long run of signature wahs: Guitar World notes the company "has created signature wahs for the likes of Steve Vai, Mark Tremonti, DJ Ashba and Dokken's George Lynch"⁷.

In May 2022, Morley reissued the pedal as the Immortals Series George Lynch Dragon 2 Wah, which Morley describes as "a reissue of George's famed signature Morley Wah"⁵³. The announcement stated it was "Now available exclusively at Pitbull Audio in Limited Quantities"³, and the product page still lists it as an exclusive limited-edition reissue with Pitbull Audio⁵.

GuitarPlayer's Dave Hunter has noted the signature unit is now made by the Morley Product Group⁸, and Morley itself claims the distinction of having built the first Switchless activation wah², the design family the Dragon Wah 2 belongs to.

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