The mighty Wah

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lorez
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The mighty Wah

Post by lorez »

It seems like a minefield looking at all the different Wah pedals that are available now (when I last owned one 20 years ago there were around a handful of options). I'm considering getting me some funky pedal action and wondered if anyone had any pointers, advice or recommendations. Its a long term project (due to funds being low at the moment) to discover which I want to get so I'll start here to get a short list and then go out and try as many of them as I can.

Cheers

lorez
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benecol

Post by benecol »

This was me a little while ago; liking wahs is frequently the love that dare not speak its name, but I love using them for goosing fuzzes, or putting between a fuzz and a distortion. Anyhow: I've previously owned a Budwah which I bought because a) it was purple, and b) because back then, £1 was worth about $4. Happy days... It's since been sold, but I replaced it with a Vox V847 (pretty much their entry level model) which, with a simple true bypass mod (which admittedly, I've not done yet...) sounds just as good to my tin ears.
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Post by Mages »

the V847 is the reissue of the original wahwah made by vox. so the one hendrix used, etc. blah blah. I have one as well. I think the key to getting the most out of a wah pedal is to not think of it from the perspective of "funky". there is a huge variety of lo-fi toenz that can be had out of the thing. it's also great for wooshing tonal washes when combined with some delay and reverb. or just generally amping up any solo 10 fold.
benecol

Post by benecol »

Arr: it was trying to sound like Six Organs of Admittance that made me want a wah again. This has not, however, stopped me from busting out Isaac Hayes moves every time I plumb it in.
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Post by willlin »

The budwah is absolutely lovely, although a quick google search reveals they are no longer purple!

Both the Zak Wylde and Dimebag dunlop wahs are suprisingly nice too.
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Post by Johno »

George Dennis, really great pedal. Can be picked up fairly cheap.
I had the GD30.
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George
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Post by George »

I've got the classic Crybaby in LIMITED EDITION WHITE(!) which I don't really play anymore. It was fun when I first started playing guitar cos I could get instant gratification while not being able to play much, and I was dead into Hendrix.

It's a good pedal, regarded as the standard wah etc but when I plug it in nowadays I don't like it and I can't control it - quite a harsh treble and the sweep isn't as smooth as I'd like. Sits in t'corner.
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Post by robroe »

slash wah
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lorez
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Post by lorez »

some to add to the list to check out. thanks folks keep them coming.

One question I have though is why are there so many flavours now? It seems Jim Dunlop has one for ever guitar player to make it on to the cover of a guitar magazine.
plopswagon wrote:I like teles and strats because they're made out of guitar.
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Bacchus
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Post by Bacchus »

The Boss PW10 v-wah does all these wahs pretty effectively, as well as allowing you to program your own wah (to an extent) by messing around with q and sweep and such. It's an awesome pedal.

It also has a stack of overdrive/distortion sounds, quite a good uni-vibe clone (you control the rate with the wah paddle, so you can speed it up o slow it down on the fly. entertaining), and a bass synth type sound that is great fun. This stuff is all fun and quite useable, but it's the wah sounds that are great.
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Post by MISSINGNO. »

I'm not much for wah anymore, but the new Ibanez WH10 re-issue wah seems really good. If you're into the Mars Volta or RHCP sorta thing.
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Post by taylornutt »

BacchusPaul wrote:The Boss PW10 v-wah does all these wahs pretty effectively, as well as allowing you to program your own wah (to an extent) by messing around with q and sweep and such. It's an awesome pedal.

It also has a stack of overdrive/distortion sounds, quite a good uni-vibe clone (you control the rate with the wah paddle, so you can speed it up o slow it down on the fly. entertaining), and a bass synth type sound that is great fun. This stuff is all fun and quite usable, but it's the wah sounds that are great.
+1. I have one and can echo the same sentiments. I typically use the crybaby, Morley, and Vox settings. I turned the gain completely off because it affects the signal even when the pedal is not engaged. It's perfect if you want lots of different sounds. I only use it occasionally so it works great for me. At some point I would like to try some normal wahs to compare the feel of the other wahs.
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Post by Dingus »

I'm one of the few who dished out the cash for the:

Teese Real McCoy Custom RMC-3 (Tune-able Wah):

http://www.realmccoycustom.com/RMC3.htm


I love the damn thing, I can tune it to whatever wah setting I like, or use one of the sample settings that replicates many famous/old wahs.

All in all I probably could have settled for his cheaper RMC-4 Picture Wah (that's the setting I have it on most of the time anyway), but love having the options for endless wah wankery. Although most of the time if I'm using a wah pedal, I'm just playing Cream or Hendrix.

Additionally I'm a big fan of the "buy it once, buy it right" concept, it's hard to argue with the reusability of a wah that I can make sound like any other wah out there.
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Post by Dingus »

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Post by laterallateral »

I like my Vox V847 but I'm a wah noob. I only use it Prince style e.i. Playing it cocked, in order for my leads to better cut trough the mix.
For that, it works fantastically.
Last edited by laterallateral on Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:05 pm; edited 115,726 times in total
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Post by matt.dines »

That's a really cool wah. I doubt it's worth the extra as you could probably spec up a standard cry baby circuit for alot cheaper. So that's alot for a relic case. Iv got a 535 that I picked up really cheap and I use it all the time. The behringer hell babe seem very value and is the same cicuit as a budda wah.
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laterallateral
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Post by laterallateral »

I bought a Hellbabe before settling for the Vox. I think QC can be a bit of an issue with these. The boost on the one I got would not disengage and the effect itself was injecting a lot of static in my signal. That's the only one I played, though. They might not all be like that.
Last edited by laterallateral on Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:05 pm; edited 115,726 times in total
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Post by the isaac eaton »

I have a really nice modded crybaby from the 80s i think. It is probably one of the best sounding wahs I have ever heard, but my problem with it is I just dont use wah that much at all. I dont really do "guitar solos" per say, and when I do they are just very fuzzed out. I use wahs for ambient stuff, but it kinda upsets me that I have this great wah on my board and hardly use it at all. I use it when we do a rage cover, but thats about it. I might sell it one day, if you guys are looking for an amazing wah let me know, I feel like im just letting it go to waste.
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Post by hotrodperlmutter »

i can't figure out how to use my hendrix fuzz wah
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Post by JJLipton »

Theres an Eddie Van Halen wah now, i can barely think of any songs he used a wah pedal on.