Rex Brown

For a player with a career this long, his pedalboard is unusually stable, and it centers on one piece of gear: a Morley Pro Series II wah he bought in the 1990s and nicknamed Old Blue. That pedal has since become his signature model, and a handful of other makers, including Origin Effects and DryBell, name him among their artists.

The Old Blue wah

Brown first started collecting Morley pedals in his youth in the 1970s and acquired his Pro Series II Wah, Old Blue, in the 1990s¹. Since then it has found use on Pantera records, including The Great Southern Trendkill and Reinventing the Steel, and has been a constant feature on his live board². Morley says he has used the trusty wah for nearly three decades, on countless gigs and on multiple Pantera albums⁴¹.

At NAMM 2025, Brown joined forces with Morley on a signature wah pedal based on that long-serving unit². The new pedal is a modified recreation of his Pro Series II Wah, built with the original circuit and through-hole components¹. Where the original was a stock Pro Series II, the signature version has a modified wah sweep that Morley says captures the sound of the famed 1970s Morley wahs he grew up with⁴.

What the signature pedal has

The pedal works with guitar, bass or keys¹, and Morley announced it as available now at Sweetwater in January 2025⁴. Pedal of the Day described the release as a collaboration showcasing and updating an effect Brown has been using for decades⁵.

Other pedals on his board

Brown's board is not only the wah. Carl Martin lists him as a user of the Octa-Switch MK3, a switching pedal for moving between effect loops⁶. DryBell quotes him on the Unit67, a pedal he says appears on every pedalboard he uses, with bass or guitars⁷.

He is also an Origin Effects artist, and his own words there describe two of their bass pedals. The DCX Bass is a tone-shaper and drive pedal for bass guitar, reimagining a classic preamp with a wide range of clean and overdrive tones, EQ frequencies optimized for the instrument, and Adaptive Circuitry that gives a treble response reacting to playing dynamics⁸. Guitar World notes it offers the exact same set of controls and range of effects as the DCX Boost⁹. Brown says of it:

He also endorses the Origin Effects BASSRIG Super Vintage, a preamp pedal, saying:

Brown has also kept a long-serving Morley Pro Series II wah on his board, a unit he calls "Old Blue" and describes as "That's my little secret weapon"². At NAMM 2025, Morley announced a signature wah with Brown based on that same unit². Of his setup more broadly, he has written simply, "That's all you need."¹¹

Why the wah has lasted

The story is one of continuity. Brown collected Morley pedals as a kid in the 1970s¹, bought Old Blue in the 1990s², and kept it on his board through Pantera's studio years and the reunion²³. The signature model, announced at NAMM 2025, brings that same circuit back as a current production pedal, with the sweep modified toward the 1970s Morley wahs he grew up with⁴². For a player comparing wah pedals or building a bass pedal board, his setup is a simple one: one wah held for decades, a drive pedal for extra gain, a preamp for amp-like tone, and a switcher to tie it together.

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