I want to buy a good Wah Wah pedal. Any recommendations?

[Feanor IV]

Hello,

I'm looking for a good wah wah, as I really adore this effect, especially in the way used by, for example, Uli Roth (the best use wah wah has ever seen, imho). Can you guys recommend any good ones?

Also, will I need any other effect in chain to get the best out of my wah wah?

Thanks a lot,
Menelaos

 

[faderbug]

uli jon roth is an awesome player (propably the best kept secret in guitar hero world) but when it comes to wha's jimi hendrix is the man!

buy one with a photo-electric sensor in stead of a regular pot. saves you a lot of frustration cleaning or replacing noisy pots.

 

[juststartingout]

Dunlop cry baby.

 

[MadAudio]

Cry Baby all the way!

Avoid the Steve Vai Bad Horsie wah pedal at all costs. It stinks.

 

[Track Rat]

I have a couple. A Cry Baby and a Buddha. I feel the Cry Baby sounds better to me.

 

[Feanor IV]

Yeah, I was actually considering the Cry Baby (classic). Well, does anyone know *which* one I should buy? I mean, the guys from Dunlop have a few models of these..... I've read good things about the 535Q. Ah, btw, @MadAudio: I've heard the Bad Horsie playing, and it does stink indeed!

 

[Fuzznut]

I have a Vox Wah (made in Italy) from late 60's. Best wah pedal I've ever used, it def has the right vibe! It's pretty much the same model used by Jimi Hendrix and others. It has the Fasel Inductor inside. Cry Baby from the same era will do the trick too. But don't buy the new reissues, believe me, those don't sound right at all.

THE best wah pedals made today are Geoffrey Teese's RMC wah pedals. These babies sound exactly like the old ones. Check out some reviews at http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/Geoffrey_Teese/

Geoffrey has his own website too but I think the site is down for now or something... The link doesn't work. http://www.realmccoycustom.com/ ...

Other good wah pedals are Fulltone, Buddha etc. but nothing compares to Geoffrey's stuff.

just my 2cents...

 

[SureShotStudio]

i owned a cry baby and hated it, i now own a colorsound wha and i love it, i also owned a george dennis wha which i also liked very much but it died on me a while ago.(i bought it second hand)

my 0.02 euro

 

[bubbleboy]

wah

feanor i have had a crybaby 535Q for years. it is an amazing product. if you want a wide array of options vs. just a single wah effect, get this. it is so durable. it comes with a settings booklet that some people might look down upon, as i did at first. it shows you how to get the hendrix fuzz wah sound, the tom morello sound, kim thayil sound, steve vai sound, etc. BUT, my argument for this is you can work with these and then tweak it to your own liking. i love my Q. i don't think it's optical, but i fucking hated that steve vai 'bad horsie' optical one. another one i'd recommend is the vox original, but not as many options as the Q.

 

[Aaron Cheney]

Fuzznut and Bubbleboy got it right. The best wahs available right now are Geoffrey Teese and Fulltone. I personally like the Fulltone better, but no one beats Geoffrey for customer service. As far as specific models, if you are looking for old classic Jimi tones, you'll want either the Fulltone Clyde or the Teese Picture Wah. All the other Teese models are "hot-rodded", and boost your signal, which I personally don't care for.

If you can't afford one of these, then go for a Crybaby 535Q. It's the nicest of the Crybabys. None of the rest are any good, IMO. The 535Q at least has true-bypass, and sounds fairly decent. I would not waste any money on a regular Crybaby. They sound alright, but the build quality is pretty bad and they crap out fairly quickly, plus they are not true-bypass. Speaking of which... true-bypass is a little over-rated and not absolutely necessary on many pedals, but when it comes to wahs you absolutely must have it!! Wahs are tonesuckers BIG TIME.

I'd also take MadAudio's advice and avoid the Morley pedals. Yuck. The "photo optical" wahs are good in theory, but I have yet to hear anything that can rival the sound of the Fulltone Clyde or Teese Picture wahs.

A

 

[Snap]

I've owned a Dunlop Cry Baby, a Dunlop 535Q and a Morley Bad Horsie and out of those the 535Q is definitely the best. I've played on a friend's Fulltone wah and really liked it, I think it has a better tone but it's not quite as versatile as the 535Q.

 

[Chill]

Dunlop GCB95 with three resistors changed. Total cost ~$35 for a used pedal plus <$1 for three resistors. It's amazing what potential the circuit has given the way they ship it. Stock it's a good wah sound, but with small mods, it is an awesome sound.

 

[dirtythermos]

I have a Whine-O from Snarling Dogs that I get good sounds from.

 

[Scottgman]

I own a Budda wah and a good friend owns a newer (not vintage) Vox wah. Those are the two best sounding wahs I've ever used personally. Haven't tried the Teese or the Fulltone.

In the past, I've owned a couple Crybabys (the 535Q and the standard Crybaby). I've also owned the first Morley optical wah (it wasn't the Bad Horsie). The 535Q was pretty good but the I think the Budda or Vox wahs blow it away in sound quality. The Morley wah was trash-- I didn't own it long.

Aaron is right about the true bypass. You should definately get a wah with true bypass. When I got the Budda (to replace the Crybaby), it was almost like I got a new guitar/amp. The tone was that different (better) with a true bypass wah in the chain-- no kidding.

 

[pennylink]

Another vote for Geoffrey Teese.

I use his Wizard Wah that I'm really happy with. Works well both with single coils and humbuckers. One great big sweet spot. Sounds great cocked open. True bypass.

Teese's Picture Wah is probably one of the best current production wahs available if you like a vintage wah sound. The Wizard Wah is a little darker sounding, with a more "modern" twist.

 

[ibanezrocks]

For any classic rock kind of sound the original crybaby is still the best

 

[5150 Musician]

hahahahahahahahaha

Cry Baby all the way!

Avoid the Steve Vai Bad Horsie wah pedal at all costs. It stinks.

Hahaha you make me laugh. I pity you and all your opinions in tone if you think the Steve Vai pedal is shit. Probaby one of the best wah's I have heard; but hey, see for yourself. Don't let someone with bad taste cloud your thoughts of getting one.

p.s. You might as well call yourself BadAudio...

 

[boingoman]

Hahaha you make me laugh. I pity you and all your opinions in tone if you think the Steve Vai pedal is shit. Probaby one of the best wah's I have heard; but hey, see for yourself. Don't let someone with bad taste cloud your thoughts of getting one.

p.s. You might as well call yourself BadAudio...

Sorry, dude, that pedal sucks. Cheap construction, small sweep range, and you can't take your foot off it, because of that stupid switchless thing. That part is preference, I like to set mine in one position and leave it sometimes. But it still doesn't rate.

I'm a Vox guy at the moment.

 

[MadAudio]

Hahaha you make me laugh. I pity you and all your opinions in tone if you think the Steve Vai pedal is shit. Probaby one of the best wah's I have heard; but hey, see for yourself. Don't let someone with bad taste cloud your thoughts of getting one.

p.s. You might as well call yourself BadAudio...

Since you're obviously only 12 years old, I'll refrain from flaming you. You don't know jack about me, pal, but I know that Morley pedal is a piece of crap. I've tried it. It sucks.

 

[Son of Mixerman]

I have an original Morely Bad Horsie and I like it because it does what I want it to. Its not too aggressive and it works well when you use alot of effects units like pitch shifting and chorus units. For live playing the switchless things is nice because it doesn't clunk. I haven't any problems with quality or durability except ripping the battery out on acident. There is the BH2 which gives you more choice in the sweep. I've owned quite a few wah's and all of them had different qualities that fit one style more than another. The best way for me to find a wah is to find the player than best fits your style and equipment list and give it a try. I like Vai's music and tone. So the BH was my choice, but Tom Morello has a great wah sound to me as well. I used to be a pedal junky and had lots of different ones, the less live work I did they slowly disappeared, all I have now it a BH1 and a SD-1. I went to a Bradshaw style system and now thats gone too.

My advice is to go try a bunch out and see which one tickles your fancy.


SoMm