Wah Kit user comments

Here's what some owners of the Vintage Italian Wah Kit & Area 51 Wah had to say....

"Dan, She sounds Great!!!! I'm putting her into her new spot to work with my 1970 Marshall small box 50! It has great quack and growl too! Quite simply the BEST boutique wah pedal being built today PERIOD!"

"I get so many comments on my guitar sound from folks ranging from Little Richard's music director (he kept coming up and looking at my setup and finally blurted, "How DO you get that sound?") to big market DJs to folks at live shows. Inevitably they ask about the wah because it 'screams so good'. And when I say "Area 51" at first they look confused, then smile in recognition (thinking I'm playing 'Close Encounters' with them) Then I say, "No really! You can find 'em on the net. Great people, great product, great sound."

"This Wah is sounds so good. Not like "Guitar Center" Product line Quality. That's just like a plastic surgery tone. So I chose the Area 51 wah. And this is the best wah in the world. I love this clean, rich sound. That's so smooth like a Johnny Guitar Watson, Earl Hooker , Wah Wah Watson and Jimi Hendrix. That's so good to play Funky chops with clean tone. This wah got great tone character. This wah made My friend (who know about electric parts) say "This wah made with Hi-End audio Parts!! (such as WIMA capacitors) I never see those parts in Guitar effects!!" I respect Mr. Dan Albrecht and his craftsman ship. Because really hard to find real musician's instruments now these days. Area 51 is the one."

Takashi Matsumura (Blues/Soul guitarist with Gary Brown (among others) New Orleans, LA - Kyoto, Japan)

"Here is my review of the Area 51 wah pedal. My wah is straight standard wah. The solder work is clean & neat, with all the wires organized and the small board is laid out very nice. All the parts are of very high quality. The casting is of course solid and heavy enough to use as a anchor.

Now about the sound. To me and everyone I let give this baby a test drive, believe this is what a wah should sound like. Toe down and it screams with a musical high end, and " None of that unwanted treble " that we all hate. Heal down and the bass is what I call smooth blue, No muddiness at all, & when you find that sweet spot ( growl ) it will sound as if the heavens opened up and the angel of tone blessed your wah. I have played the Area 51 wah in Marshall's, Fender Deluxe Reverb, Fender Champ, Gibson GA-5 all of them tube amps and one Vox solid state amp & the wah performed flawlessly. I spoke with Dan and this guy is the real deal and so is his wah. You will hear the Passion of his work with that first note.

"Dan,
Thanks so much! Your wah pedal is the best I've used (IMHO) my ProAnalog Supa Quack is now back in its box and second string to yours which is on my pedalboard current line up! AWESOME!
Thanks,
Jim"

Just got it and after 2 hours and 3 amps I can say that it is just perfect. To my ears, most of the other wahs (I've owned all of them) out there are an "effect" that sounds good used in that way, but they are not something I can live with for too long in a given song because the sound wears on me. This thing sounds good throughout the range at any spot. It really is super smooth and not really an effect to me, it is a sound. I'll bet I could leave it on for an entire set and still love it.

"Having owned over 30 wahs through the years, I can honestly say - my custom "Area 51" wah eats the others for lunch, supper, and a midnight snack! Thanks Dan!!!"

"Wow. Whucka wow is all I can say! It's much more vocal as you said, and it's so smooth now - there's no harshness when you go all the way down with the pedal. Before it was harsh and nasally. The sound is unmistakable, I immediately went into Chicago's version of "I'm a man". And, of course, "Voodoo Chile". This kit is definitely worth the time and effort! I can't believe I finally have the wah I've been searching for! Thanks so much for your help and support!"

"Hi There, I recently bought your Italian Wah Kit and would like to report my findings: Installing the kit was a breeze. The manual is very well done. It took me less than 15 minutes to do the job. I really like the sound of the wah. ....it is very close to an original vintage Italian Vox of a friend of mine. Doing business with you guys was great! Thanks for making my Crybaby cry again!"

"I received my pedal a few days ago and I wanted to thank you for the nice job you did! My wah sounds richer and more vocal now and it sounds great from toe to heel: No muddy bass or shrill highs. Before the mod, my wah used to get buried every time I activated my Fuzz pedal... but not anymore! And of course, it's true bypass! So even my "non-wah" tone as been improved as a result. Thanks again!"

Jean-Francois Trudeau (Montreal Quebec)

"The wah arrived on Saturday (that was fast!) The wah sounds simply killer! Hands down the best wah I have ever played for cleaner stuff. It sounds great through overdriven tones, as well. Thanks for the great product and service. I will be spreading the word of your superb company and awesome wah kit. Thanks again for making me one happy customer."

"Last night was the first gig with it. It's great! One of the cool things is that he uses switchcraft jacks, and they're mounted to the chassis, not the PCB. Whatever is in there, it sounds damn good. As he put it on his site, very 'vocal'. The crybaby stock seemed to just 'hint' at the wah sound, mine now really gives you the wah, kind of makes my mouth move when I use it. It's got that 'growl', and doesn't drop in db's when in use. Of course, while warming up, I just HAD to try a little Voodoo Chile! That's about as close as I can describe the tone of this pedal now, just think of that song, and to my ears, it's right there. I love it."

"I just wanted to say thanks for the Area 51 wah wah. It's the best yet. Very musical - very vocal sounding. A bitch'n pedal that's true to the older ones. I'm planning to build a few more pedals as backups and I'll be ordering another soon. Thanks again."

"I finally had an opportunity today to install the Vintage Italian Wah Kit that I purchased from you. All I can say is - this has to be about the best sounding wah sound / tone that I have experienced since owning a brand new 60's Vox wah back in the sixties! I'm telling you, the quacking and the wah-ing are outrageous, man! This is the tone that I was after. Time for me to sell the '75 Vox King, RMC-1 Teese, Buddha, and Dunlop 535Q wahs!!!

"Just wanted to say 'Thanks!' for the quick shipping and quality of your Wah Kit. I installed it easily with no snags, and when it was done, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound I thought a wah should sound like. The sound of your Wah inspires me to play it, instead of putting it in the closet. I've been through lots of wahs, with lots of disappointment. I will highly recommend your product. Thanks again!

"I've owned and tried over 40 completely different wahs, ranging from $10-500 in the past 3 months...let me just say that the area 51 wah is by far the BEST wah I've ever heard in my entire life. for the price, and reliability, it CANT be beat! you guys are TOO awesome! keep up the great work, and I look forward to buying more drop in kits!"