# Ibanez wau wau



## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

So hot on the heals of saying I never actually buy anything on CL, this pops up. For $50, with only a bad solder joint on the battery clip, I couldn't leave it.










70s Ibanez wau-wau. This is one weird ass *big* wah pedal. Sounds almost like a phaser. Huge sweep, much of it really muddy, and there's a little volume boost when you kick it on. 

Gut shot: It has a weird looking inductor wrapped with green wire.
Can anyone tell by looking if it's bypassed? I don't hear a difference with it in the chain...









A couple of family shots: 
70s Thomas Organ Cry Baby (CA); 70s Jen Cry baby (Italy, red fasel); Ibanez WauWau; Teese/RMC Wheels of Fire; Plain old Dunlop GCB-95 crybaby (with a whipple)


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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

Sweet find!


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

Very nice, it almost looks at a glance that it is true bypass, as there are wires going from the input and output to the footswitch.

I'll shoot a pic of my old Royal Wah/Fuzz pedal, I would say it is about the same vintage. Always good to find a cool old wah. I've got a WH-10 that is a great wah but no where nearly as well made as that one!


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

I thought it looked to be TB, and those two end lugs are jumpered. Not sure if it's been modded. Such a big enclosure for such a tiny little board in there. They could easily have made it 1/3 the size. Theres an Ibanez fuzz-wau as well that sounds cool, but I've never seen one of those.
It's certainly cool, and oddball, sounds nothing like any other wah I've ever heard. More like a cross between a phaser/fakey univibe and a mutron. I get the feeling it would be interesting on a bass.

Disassembly is a real pain -- I pulled the whole thing apart to clean all the grunge out; yes, I washed my wau -- and every part seems to rely on two others so its a real juggling act trying to put it back together again.


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## Archer (Aug 29, 2006)

No way you can tell if it is a true bypass by looking at it. 

CHances are it is not a true bypass pedal....but really who cares? Most people that harp on true bypass dont know what it _really_ means anyway.


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

looks like it's wired true bypass (assuming that the grey wire attaches to the output jack).


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## Archer (Aug 29, 2006)

In the era that thing was produced true bypass wasnt really a concern for most makers. Ibanez pedals in particular had some strange wiring going on back then.


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

There is nothing strange about what I see in that picture about the wiring, pretty straight forward and old school.


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## Solid_Gold_Soundlabs (Sep 20, 2006)

Thats true bypass...most of the older japanese stuff i've seen is true bypassed from the factory. Grey wires are shielded wires to avoid noise/interference.

I used to have a mica fuzz wau which was basically the Ibanez wau with a close variation of the standard fuzz. I didn't really care for the wah as it was a bit on the thin side. The fuzz was out of this world....really nasty over the top octaves and overtones! Started my love affair with the standard fuzz and superfuzz!

Nice to know i'm not the only nut who bathes his pedals!!


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Solid_Gold_Soundlabs said:


> Nice to know i'm not the only nut who bathes his pedals!!


I lifted your MO when you fixed up my Jen


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