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Which Wah for "Full Sweep" sound?

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(@katmetal)
Prominent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 726
Topic starter  

So, I recently purchased a Snarling Dogs Wonder Wah 2, & it sounded pretty good; I was happy with it when paired up w/ my Jackson DK2 Dinky. I tried using it with my Pedal Steel Guitar, & I noticed something different;

1) Unless I lower the gain output on the guitar itself, (the guitar has a gain pot on the output of the pickups) the sound will distort very easily when pressing the pedal to the treble position.

2) This pedal seems to be "Full Bass" for almost the whole travel, until you get to about 1/4" to the treble end of the travel; then it sweeps very quickly to treble.

Is this "normal"? I can't say I am happy with it working like this. It wasn't as noticeable when playing metal/rock w/ lots of overdrive, but in the clean steel guitar setting, it is not comfortable to play at all. What do you guys think? Would an original crybaby give a more even sweep throughout the entire range? Is there another pedal that you would recommend?

Thanks, katmetal :)


   
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(@fly135)
New Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 1
 

I have a Morley Wah that is many times better than my Crybaby GCB-95. I'm going to mod the GCB-95 because I want a toe switch, which the Morley doesn't have. The GCB-95 is awful off the shelf. Don't know anything about the original CB.


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

I have a Morley original Bad Horsie, pretty similar to what you are describing. I bought it because I liked the feature that it turns on automatically when moved, but I really don't care for the Wah itself.

I also own a Dunlop original Crybaby and a Vox 847. To me, the Vox is superior except it only runs on batteries. The Dunlop will accept a DC adaptor. But both of these pedals work great with a clean tone. The Vox is outstanding with clean tone, not as good when used with distortion. But the Dunlop is very good as well. Another difference between these two is that it is very easy to turn the Dunlop on and off. This can be a problem, sometimes when simply using the Wah I have accidently turned if off when I did not intend to. The Vox is very different, you have to apply some force to turn it on or off. This is good when playing, you don't accidently shut if off, but you really have to press down quite hard on the switch which is not so good. But to me the Vox sounds fantastic.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@katmetal)
Prominent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 726
Topic starter  

Thanks for the replies, guys.
Wes - on the Vox; Can't you mod it & install a jack for an adapter? My Snarling Dogs has a switch that you have to apply a fair amount of pressure to turn it off, I like that feature. This would be a great pedal if the sweep would be more uniform across the whole spectrum.

And then, there is the issue of the distortion that I mentioned while trying to play clean...I don't know where that problem is coming from. Maybe I need to spend some time at the guitar shop trying out different pedals.


   
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(@anonymous)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 8184
 

people really seem to like the budda bud-wah. check harmony central for user reviews of various pedals.


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Wes - on the Vox; Can't you mod it & install a jack for an adapter?

Sure, you could do that. You can buy a simple 9V DC adapter at Radio Shack and run it under the bottom plate on the Vox. Like most Wahs the rubber feet screw off to remove the bottom plate. I haven't tried it, but I have the One Spot power supply that comes with the 9V battery connection.

Like I said, the Vox V847 is fantastic on clean sounds, this Wah was made famous by Jimmy Page. It has a wide sweep, especially compared to the Morley I own that has almost no sweep at all. The Morley is dull and lifeless compared to the Vox, very nasel sounding too. The Dunlop has very good sweep and probably sounds better with distortions than the Vox. But the Vox is awesome with a pure clean tone.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@scrybe)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

you could always try the crybaby 535Q which offers a lot more versatility in the wah sounds produced.

it takes a bit of time to get your head around it (I found it quite difficult to guess what settings to dial in for random songs when I did the resident guitar spot in local jam nights), but I suppose that depends on how good you are at techie stuff and how complex the rest of your rig is (I get bored easily with techie stuff and desperately want to just play the thing than spend hours configuring it, but my rig is very simple so I could put up with the 535q's wide range of settings).

i've found other wahs are great at certin specific styles or jobs, but the 535q is much more an all-rounder, so to speak. its a bit more expensive than most wahs too, but cheaper than buying several wahs to find one/a group which suits all the things you need it to do.

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@witchdoctor)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 124
 

There are a lot of choices for wahs depending on your budget and taste. The best budget choice is the Dunlop Classic Crybaby, with the Fasel inductor- actually a very decent sounding wah with a throaty sound. The Budda sucks. WAY overvalued. cheesy, grindy sweep and no real throat. The best, money not in the equation, is the Chicago Iron Parachute Wah. ENORMOUS sweep, almost a synth overtone and EXTREME throat. about $350? last time I looked. The Teese RMC2 is cool, reminiscent of the vintage Colorsound wahs. The Fulltone Clyde is a bad ripoff of the RMC1- get the Teese. Any of those are pretty good, there are lots of others too- experiment.


   
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(@stratman_el84)
Estimable Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 141
 

I have a Morley Wah that is many times better than my Crybaby GCB-95. I'm going to mod the GCB-95 because I want a toe switch, which the Morley doesn't have. The GCB-95 is awful off the shelf. Don't know anything about the original CB.

I use a standard recent-make classic CryBaby. Out of the box, the sweep is wrong, at least for me. I corrected it by simply opening the pedal bottom plate, bending the plastic strap back, and advancing the gear on the potentiometer 1 tooth. This put the "sweet spot" of the response knee at a usable spot in the pedals' range of mechanical movement. Try it. I've gotten many comments from other guitarists who hear me at gigs and see my pedalboard and ask/tell me: "my CryBaby sounds like crap!!..how do you get that wah to sound like that!?!?" :o

When I tell them what I did, they're usually skeptical, but I've talked to a few that have tried it, and they admitted it made a huge difference. I also have a Morley PWA. The CryBaby sounds much better to my ears, and I prefer the bypass switch of the CryBaby to the Morley.

Cheers!

Strat


   
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(@witchdoctor)
Estimable Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 124
 

Basic truth about wahs;

Just like your guitar, your wah needs to be set up when you buy it. Open the bottom plate up. There is a screw holding a plastic retainer, loosen it. Pull the gear forward and away from the round gear; turn the round gear to one side or the other, to more treble or bass at the top of the sweep. Reassemble the gears and tighten. Before you attach the bottom, use the wah to make sure you are happy with the sweep. You can buy a Teese wah and if it is not set up it will sound wrong for you; set it up until you are happy with the result.


   
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(@john82)
Active Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 6
 

I've been using a crybaby for years, and it has always suited my needs, no matter what style of wah i was looking for.

it's got that classic wah wah sound that you can hear on tracks from the sixties...
some of the other pedals that i've heard just don't get that sound exactly, know what i mean?

i never considered getting other pedals!

Johnny from guitars101


   
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 ecca
(@ecca)
New Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2
 

Which pedal will enable me to reproduce the wah wah sound as was in "If" by Bread ?
It presumably will have an oscillator built in .
Cheers
Ecca


   
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(@gnease)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5038
 

Hmm, the intro to If sounds like a combo of tremolo (real trem as in the volume variation effect often mistakenly called "vibro" on amps, def not pitch "trem" on guitar) plus a slow wah. If by "oscillator" you mean the tremolo part, that could be considered "modulation," and maybe something you could find together with wah on one of the modern autowah pedals. Not sure.

Bread may have done it by using an amp with tremolo (e.g., the "vibro" in Fender VibroChamp or Vibrolux) and either using a wah to manually sweep during the performance or using manually swept EQ to create wah during the studio mixing process.

I'm sure there are additional methods by which to create the overall effect, but the amp "trem" plus either wah or autowah seems the most straightforward.

-=tension & release=-


   
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 ecca
(@ecca)
New Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2
 

Thanks for swift response.
I've cracked it using software..
I bought Coyote WahGT.
It has an inbuilt oscillator to provide the tremelo and by using the automation on the recording software ( Adobe audition ) managed to get a very reasonable sound.
I tried it with tremelo and wah wah but it didn't sound right.
I'd send you a swift sample of it if I knew how to attach it.Cheers again,
Ecca


   
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