Flower Pedals rethinks the wah with the foot rocker-free Hosta

Flower Pedals has introduced the Hosta, an analog wah pedal offering plenty of filtered wacka-wacka sounds in a standard effect pedal enclosure.

The pedal sports an analog filter with digital control, with Flower touting that the analog circuitry is “based off the most well-known wah in history,” and utilizes a genuine red fasel inductor.

The Hosta offers direct control over four parts of the analog wah circuit: Level, Gain, Frequency and Q.

There are also three different wah modes, Auto, Fixed and Envelope, with each mode controlled via a Tap/Ramp footswitch and A and B knobs. Further tweaking is available by holding the On/Hold footswitch.

In Auto mode the wah is controlled by an LFO, with four different, continuously variable shapes available. Additionally, the Tap/Ramp switch allows for tap tempo with subdivisions and ramping. 

Fixed mode, meanwhile, allows the user to set the position of the wah filter. The Tap/Ramp footswitch can then move the wah to a second position, set to the speed of the user’s choice. In this mode, the Hosta works somewhat like a standard wah, only controlled via the tap switch. An expression pedal can also be connected for more traditional wah functionality.

Finally, in Envelope mode the wah is controlled by the intensity of the guitar signal, much like an envelope filter. In this mode, the A knob sets the threshold of the envelope detection and the B knob sets the sensitivity of the envelope detection circuit. The Tap/Ramp switch can be used to toggle between filter up and filter down.

An Exp/Tap jack on the side of the enclosure allows for either external tap connection or an expression pedal to control the Tap/Ramp functions, while an internal switch allows you to choose between expression and tap.

The Hosta Wah Filter is available for $279. For more information head to Flower Pedals.