Wah Questions

[toddstaples]

I went with the Fulltone Clyde Deluxe. Its a lot more expensive than a Crybaby but it has a better sweep and has a few different settings on the side of the unit (Jimi, Shaft, Whacked) and also has a volume knob to equalize the volume settings. It was so much better than a Crybaby that I gave away my Crybaby to a friend of mine and never looked back If a standard Crybaby sounds fine to you nd you like the way it sweeps then save the extra $ and by all means go with that. But if you're more particular about your Wah then try out others like the Budda, Fulltone, Tease Picture wah, etc...

+1
Fulltone Clyde delux was the best i could find, with the Budda right behind it.....

[sixx_ gunner]

Great info!
Thanks to AlexL for starting this one~

I am looking for that classic SRV or Jimi sound on 'Voodoo Child"

Are these sweeps performed by rocking back and forth to achieve that sweeping sound or do you postion the pedal at a certain angle and let it ride?
Again, I have NEVER played with one, so.....feel free to throw things at me now!

I am eager to try these out the next time I set foot in GC or Sam Ash.
My local "mom & pop" guitar places don't have alot in the way of Wah selection.
I will check back after a few trials and tribulations~

[Robert Hendrix]

I run mine first too, Well, I actually have my talk box first but it's not used at the sane time the other effects are. I've tried it different ways, and it seems to be a smoother sweep first in line. When I run it after the overdrive it just sounds too farty.

[QuantumRider]

I have a GCB-95 crybaby as well, and did the True Bypass mod, added an LED, and put in a "level" pot.

The top end was way harsh for me, so the knob acts like a top-limit.

This is a super simple mod to take care of the harsh high end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnJ2bB4bFfs

[Newc]

Great info!
Thanks to AlexL for starting this one~

I am looking for that classic SRV or Jimi sound on 'Voodoo Child"

Are these sweeps performed by rocking back and forth to achieve that sweeping sound or do you postion the pedal at a certain angle and let it ride?
Again, I have NEVER played with one, so.....feel free to throw things at me now!

I am eager to try these out the next time I set foot in GC or Sam Ash.
My local "mom & pop" guitar places don't have alot in the way of Wah selection.
I will check back after a few trials and tribulations~

Yes, the "wah-wah" effect is regulated by the motion of the pedal, not the static position. Push it forward and get "wahhhhhhh", back it down and get "wooooooooooooooh".

[Bert]

Run the wah first.... that's how SRV does it. If you use a ton of gain, then you may not notice much effect from the wah, especially if you roll of the highs to control gain harshness. Wahs work best with lightly overdriven, relatively grainy distortions. And yes, the way you move the pedal has a greater effect on the tone than the actual model of wah you are using. I use a Vox V847 modded for true bypass (otherwise it's a huge tone sucker) and it works well enough. Its tone is rather "lo fi" (aka "vintage"), but it does the trick well enough.

[Bert]

Hmm.. looks like I may have been mistaken about SRV running the wah first. CHeck out this interview:

http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/002283.html

He talks about using 2 wahs at the same time... and says:

"I’m drivin’ the first wah-wah with a [Ibanez] Tube Screamer. So by the time it gets to the amp it’s like, it’s fun, it’s a lot of fun."

Interesting!

[Grandturk]

I am looking for that classic SRV or Jimi sound on 'Voodoo Child"

Are these sweeps performed by rocking back and forth to achieve that sweeping sound or do you postion the pedal at a certain angle and let it ride?
Again, I have NEVER played with one, so.....feel free to throw things at me now!

You're looking at two things - rhythm and wah position:

Not having a guitar and wah at work right now, I'm doing this from sense memory -

You're looking for a "booook-booook-chicka-boook" kind of flow on Voodoo Chile. Wah at the heel position - two down strokes on the low strings (muted) then rock up to the toe position and down/up on the highs (muted) then a down stroke on the lows again - repeat. For the riff part, hit the tow for the higher notes and heel for the lower notes - particularly sweep to the toe when hammering.

[sixx_ gunner]

Thanks Newc!

Didn't want to come off as a 'tard playing with this thing.

[hippietim]

I prefer the Wah early in the chain. After the distortion it can be pretty damn piercing.

My favorite wah right now is the Cry Baby 95Q which is switchless - there is nothing worse than "thinking" you turned your wah off.

[broken_fusion]

I have the Jimi Hendrix Version by Dunlop. It has more WAH then a regular crybaby.

[Jack Napalm]

Last year I started learning how to use a wah but got side tracked and didn't get very good at it. I had a Crybaby but didn't like the feel then got a Morley and really like the switchless concept but didn't like the sound. I then discovered the Maestro Boomerang, listen to the beginning of the theme from Shaft. The TV show not the movie.

I ended up having a Morley Bad Horsie modded to sound like the Maestro. Great sounds and a great feel. I just need to get back to it.

[toejam]

I prefer the Wah early in the chain. After the distortion it can be pretty damn piercing.

My favorite wah right now is the Cry Baby 95Q which is switchless - there is nothing worse than "thinking" you turned your wah off.

Same here. The wah always sounded better to me first in the chain. I've tried it after distortion, just don't care for it all that much, but sometimes it's cool. I had the 95Q for a little while but sold it. I now have the Morley Tremonti switchless wah and really dig that. I've also got a limited edition copper Crybaby but don't use it much any more, as well as a Crybaby that's modded more to Vox specs and has a great vocal sound... modded by our very own John (jgcable). His wah mods are great!

Another good thing for some people would be to get two wah pedals and run one before and one after distortion just to get two different flavors. Running a distortion pedal before the wah is the same as running it in an effects loop.

[jgcable]

Same here. The wah always sounded better to me first in the chain. I've tried it after distortion, just don't care for it all that much, but sometimes it's cool. I had the 95Q for a little while but sold it. I now have the Morley Tremonti switchless wah and really dig that. I've also got a limited edition copper Crybaby but don't use it much any more, as well as a Crybaby that's modded more to Vox specs and has a great vocal sound... modded by our very own John (jgcable). His wah mods are great!

Another good thing for some people would be to get two wah pedals and run one before and one after distortion just to get two different flavors. Running a distortion pedal before the wah is the same as running it in an effects loop.

Thanks!! I am starting to work on a GCB-95 this weekend. Lots of mods to be done. True Bypass, vocal, midrange boost...

[straycat]

I don't use a wah very often but keep one right after the distortion unit in my rack.I picked up a Rocktron tri wah and it does a superb job it has 3 different voicings just one 3 position knob.The boost is very smooth and has a long sweep range too.
I do love the Fulltone clyde deluxe about the best.