# What you Wah ?



## Maverick (Oct 21, 2009)

I'm thinking about picking up a wah pedal to play with. 

What should I stay away from ? How are the multi effects pedal, Zoom, etc ?

Brent


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## Jaybo (Jun 3, 2010)

My wife bought me the Zakk Wylde wah for Christmas....and I HATE it! haha. I can't tell her, and I can't bring it back. I'm screwed. Not a good sweep to it at all.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

There is an extremely good chance that the information to help you make it a more pleasing wah can be found here: The Technology of Wah Pedals


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

That sucks Jaybo, hard to get out of that one. Rehouse? 8P

I've used a Digitech all in one for years, but the treadle was terrible.
Squeeky and not smooth at all.

I have a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe that I like, but you maybe want to read the Fulltone thread.
Big sweep on the CD, tweakable drive and three different voicings.

That got bumped off the board though after I picked up a modded Cry Baby from Solid Gold FX.
Easier to tame the high end, all the tweaks are on the outside of the wah.
I also noticed a slight notch midway on the CD that isn't present on the modded CB.

Both of these options aren't exactly budget friendly though.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The new EHX units use the same kind of accelerometers that adjust the picture in your cellphone or tablet to sweep the wah, meaning there are no moving parts. I don't have any experience with them, but yu know you'll never have to buy a new wah-pot to get rid of scratchiness.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Those do look like a cool concept Mark and almost indestructable by the looks of some of the vids on them.

They would be Ok off the board, but if you wanted a wah mounted onto a pedal board, they seem useless.

EHX.com | Crying Tone - Wah Pedal | Electro-Harmonix


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

sulphur said:


> Those do look like a cool concept Mark and almost indestructable by the looks of some of the vids on them.
> 
> They would be Ok off the board, but if you wanted a wah mounted onto a pedal board, they seem useless.


That was my initial impression and criticism as well. But apparently, they have developed an attachment that lets you mount it on a pedalboard.


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## Arcane (Oct 14, 2012)

Jaybo said:


> My wife bought me the Zakk Wylde wah for Christmas....and I HATE it! haha. I can't tell her, and I can't bring it back. I'm screwed. Not a good sweep to it at all.


Plenty of mods are available that can make that Wah work for you - as Mark pointed out.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

If you are adventurous and want something the works a little different from the norm in terms of the way it responds when you step on it. Check out the Plutoneium Chi Wah Wah. It's small, it's solid and I find it sounds as good as a regular wah. 

Plutoneium

Plutoneium: Chi-Wah-Wah - YouTube


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Chito said:


> If you are adventurous and want something the works a little different from the norm in terms of the way it responds when you step on it. Check out the Plutoneium Chi Wah Wah. It's small, it's solid and I find it sounds as good as a regular wah.
> 
> Plutoneium
> 
> Plutoneium: Chi-Wah-Wah - YouTube


I'm really curious about this little puppy! 
Seriously, seems well build and can do almost everything a full format wah can does, isn't it?


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

FWIW I snagged a Dunlop Cry Baby (I think it's a RI of some sort) for a good price at a pawn shop in London ON more than a decade ago (it had to be a while ago since it was pre-fleabay, back when you could still find a good deal in a pawn shop) & have had no complaints/issues.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

I think the Plutonium Chi Wah Wah is a neat little pedal if pedalboard real estate is important to you. The only downside that I can think of is the control aspect of this wah. The treadle is pressure sensitive and as soon as you take your foot off of the pedal the wah sound will disengage after a few milliseconds. This poses a problem for certain players that may utilize a wah as a solo boost / always on sound a la Jimmy Page for example – in theory, if you had one of these pedals, you’d have to keep your foot on the treadle in order to employ that sound rather than just engaging and stepping off of a traditional wah. Just my 2 cents.

Personally I use a Vox 847 wah that I've modded with true bypass, buffer and inductor switch. I love it!


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

best advice i can give...DON"T get a signature wah...the ONLY one that everyone loves is the Crybaby from Hell..tht thing is SWEET!!

the best thing to do...get a used GCB95 (kijiji or pawn shop for like $40)...you can change out a couple parts and the thing rocks...the only difference between a lot of the wahs is a 10c capacitor...the wylde wah is the same as the hendrix wah, just with a different cap...

i did this to mine...and it is awesome!
Modifying the Dunlop GCB-95 Wah Pedal


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

I still think Crybaby is the one to beat. I've owned one for over 30 years and have only needed to change the pot once.
I bought my son a Digitech all in one unit last year in place of the wah he wanted. Really bad wah effect. I bought him a Crybaby this year.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I've got a Crybaby 95Q that I love, though it also is activated by stepping on it, so cocked wah is out, but it's got a sweepable Q and a volume boost and it's the most ergonomically pleasing wah I've ever used.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I have an RP-255 that works fine. I like it because it's a good reliable unit and does so much in one little package. At $100.00 for a new one, it's hard to say no to.


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## Maverick (Oct 21, 2009)

Thanks for the quick reply folks . Crybaby it is.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Check your local Kijiji, I see them around here from time to time for well under a hundred bucks.
I think the last one I saw was closer to $60 used.


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## Petey D (Sep 8, 2011)

ezcomes said:


> best advice i can give...DON"T get a signature wah...the ONLY one that everyone loves is the Crybaby from Hell..tht thing is SWEET!!


Gonna have to disagree with you, and everybody else I guess, on both counts. 

I have a Dunlop SW-95, which is the Slash signature wah, and I'm pretty darn happy with it. The sweep isn't huge, but it's big enough, and the gain circuit is really good.

I ended up with the SW-95 after extensive trailing of every wah I could get my hands on. Cast offs included (but were not limited to) the Weeping Demon, Vox Classic, Wylde Signature, The Hendrix Fuzz Face, The Standard CryBaby, and the CBFH.

I spent about an hour messing around with the differnt settings on the CBFH without really finding a wah effect that I liked, and I could easily have messed around with it for an hour more. I think sometimes it's possible for a pedal to be too tweakable, and for me, that's the case with the CBFH.


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## the_fender_guy (Jul 22, 2008)

The problem with both the EHX and the Plutoneium is they don't seem capable of doing the cocked wah thing. For me that doesn't work
I like the size of the Plutoneium. I've been trying to figure out how to chop down the size of a Crybaby.


sulphur said:


> Those do look like a cool concept Mark and almost indestructible by the looks of some of the vids on them.
> 
> They would be Ok off the board, but if you wanted a wah mounted onto a pedal board, they seem useless.
> 
> EHX.com | Crying Tone - Wah Pedal | Electro-Harmonix





Chito said:


> If you are adventurous and want something the works a little different from the norm in terms of the way it responds when you step on it. Check out the Plutoneium Chi Wah Wah. It's small, it's solid and I find it sounds as good as a regular wah.
> 
> Plutoneium
> 
> Plutoneium: Chi-Wah-Wah - YouTube


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I wonder how those AMT wahs are?

Someone on here got one last year, I think.

Can you do a cocked wah with those, or is it the same as the Chichi?


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## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

Wah is kind of an afterthought for me. As long as it's in the ballpark it's good enough. I use a Digitech Expression Factory. I use the whammy and univibe settings more though.


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## the_fender_guy (Jul 22, 2008)

I think you have to order the Japanese Girl online and they go for something like $135
I'll probably get one next month.



sulphur said:


> I wonder how those AMT wahs are?
> 
> Someone on here got one last year, I think.
> 
> Can you do a cocked wah with those, or is it the same as the Chichi?


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

hollowbody said:


> I've got a Crybaby 95Q that I love, though it also is activated by stepping on it, so cocked wah is out, but it's got a sweepable Q and a volume boost and it's the most ergonomically pleasing wah I've ever used.


I've got one of these too, and I love it. 

I bought an original Crybaby back in the 80's and liked it, but always struggled with the on/off switch.

95Q takes that problem away.

I also use it in a cocked-wah fashion. I bought it used and the previous owner did SOMETHING to it that allows it to just stay wherever you put it. Works great.

Morley has some wahs that work like that too - worth looking into.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

I had a 90's crybaby as my first pedal when that got stolen with the rest of my gear in Hongcouver I got a Hendrix wah which I am very happy with. Might try fooling around with it a bit as some good info has been linked to here to mods available.

Heard the Hammet wah is a good sig wah if you play with lots of gain.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

I bought a Japanese Girl AMT and I love it...different sweep than my old King Vox-wah, but it has a great 3-position Q switch for voicings and is a cool pedal that fits in a small space. Still love my old Vox, but this is a neat new toy for me. I like the look of the Chi-Wah0Wahs too, but like the old school option of setting the pedal at a certain frequency, which they can't do. Wouldn't mind having one of each side-by-side.
-Mikey


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm working up to an annual jam I do every Good Friday with some old friends; rehearsing about 30 songs for that.

I'm surprised how useful that "cocked wah" trick is - everything from Randy Rhodes to Steven Stills. It's a nice tool to have in your kit, that's for sure.


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