Harley Benton Custom Line AW-5 Auto Wah 4-stars Reviews

Great sound with one design flaw

First, a disclaimer: I play guitar as a hobby only, so I haven't compared this pedal extensively with other models and/or how it sounds live or in a studio. I use it with my small practice amp only. I turn it on when I'm too lazy to mess with my "manual" wah pedal.

Pros:

+ Overall, it does what it's meant to be. The sound is good and you're getting your funky stuff in place.

+ High versatility. The knobs offer enough range, so I could get from subtle to aggressive wah sound.

+ Very responsive to your playing dynamics. Of course, it might be the con at the same time - you can't just turn it on and forget about your right hand's strumming.

+ Obviously, the price.

A big con for me is knobs design and placement.

Due to the "broad" format of Harley Benton pedals, the knobs are located too close to the on/off switch. Moreover, they knobs themselves are rather large and are pretty easy to move (compared to BOSS, say).

As the result, when you stomp on the box, it is relatively easy to accidentally change the knobs' position as well, which can totally mess up your sound. It happened to me several times, if I had to quickly turn it on/off in the middle of the song and used the middle of my foot.

Yes, it helps to place the pedal carefully on the board and pay more attention how you press it, but obviously, this distracts you from playing. Another solution is putting a larger topper on the switch button.