My Plutoneium Chi-Wah-Wah V2 has landed - courtesy of Canada's Axe and You Shall Receive!

This Optical Spring-Loaded Auto-Return Wah has been on the wishlist for a while - where hardly anyone seems to stock it nowadays, and where there are no UK dealers currently (not sure there ever were?) - in fact very few in the whole world - so it’s always been a little hard to get hold of. I have long wanted one of these - and I spotted quite recently - that my good friend Scott Hager at Axe and You Shall Receive had one in stock - and here we are!

This is a beautifully made ’Weapons Grade Engineering’ device and it has a certain heft to it as well as numerous high quality design and manufacturing details. For a device that’s around 15 years old - it’s a pretty serious feat of engineering - where it still remains relatively unique in many ways. 

It turns out that the Plutoneium brand is run by Ed Quek and Todd Kepus - where it’s an international 3-way collaboration - taking in Singapore, California and London! The pedals are shipped from California, where I believe they are also assembled!

A key facet off its operation is its Switchless Optical Actuation - which means you don’t need to click it on and off to deploy - it auto-switches every time you press or release that spring-loaded treadle!

I understand that this was both the first proper Mini Wah (compact pedal size), and also the first of the spring-loaded Auto-Return Wah types. It was originally launched right at the start of 2010, and the there was a V2 upgrade 4 years later (2014) - which delivered more low-end and a smoother and more even taper.

Dunlop / CryBaby didn’t have a proper Mini Wah out until the CBM95 in 2015, and their own Mini Auto-Return - the CBM535AR arrived in 2020. Those CryBabies were much easier get hold of, and I acquire all 3 Core mini versions, the two already mentioned, and the CBM535Q.

I always thought I was going to like the Chi-Wah-Wah, and indeed I do prefer it to my regular previous CBM535AR mainstay. The Chi-Wah-Wah really has a great sounding and potent quack to it, and those easily accessible top-facing controls are great!

Controls - Level (±Output Volume - ± Attenuate / Boost), Contour (Q-Bandwidth : Wider > More Focused), Gain (> Drive + Full Frequency).

I personally don’t find the taper to be quite that smooth and even - but you quickly get used to its pattern - it’s certainly effortless to use! I tend to have the Level set pretty high, but then with both Countour and Gain set in the middle / at noon - that gives me the perfect full-fat texture that I like!

As regards auto-return Wahs - the only limitation here is that you can’t do the Mick Ronson cocked-way trick by parking the treadle mid-way through its range. There are several interesting pedal-brake technologies out there though - where I’m sure someone could engineer a function which you could click into cocked-way position and then tap to release (if that was your desired intent!) - there are a number of mechanical devices out there which already do similar.

Also - it would be quite nice to have had some sort of ’Taper’ control - where you could further fine-tune the transition / curve / attack of the onset of the quack - extending or narrowing the active quack range of the taper! It doesn’t really need it though as it sounds great already and is really easy to use, while I’m not convinced that the taper is necessarily absolutely perfectly spaced yet - while I guess it performs well enough already.

All-in-all a fantastic high quality ’Weapons Grade Sonic Device’ I’m naming it my official favourite Wah pedal to-date - it really does sound magnificent. The pedal itself is quite obviously of exceptional quality - this is a top tier product for sure - which defies its diminutive dimensions! It really is a full-flavour device!

I’ve generally tended to prefer Auto-Wah pedals for those purposes in the past, but I have so enjoyed deploying the Chi-Wah-Wah - that I’ve decides to make it a permanent slot fixture in my chain.

At the end of last month I announced ’Peak Pedal Mania Madness’, but since then I’ve added 2 more pedals - so it’s properly insane at 54 pedals now! - the other key addition is TheGigRig’s Wetter Box - but more of that later!

All-in-all I’m delighted with this one. You can order it direct from the Plutoneium Reverb.Com Store - or from Axe and You Shall Receive like I did. MAP / RRP is at $189 which is very reasonable for this high quality pedal.

I personally find it odd that that people are still rocking those old-school massive wah-rockers - when they could have one of these - they are less than a 1/3 of the size of a typical Wah - so much more practical - the same length as a 125B pedal near enough! I thoroughly rate and recommend these - definitely A-tier.