wah-wah-what

  • Thread starter Thread starter ALLY
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ALLY

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is there a general rule as to where to place a wah pedal in the effect chain? i am trying to learn to use a morley, and i run into the wah and then to my effects and it doesn't seem to do much. my chain goes
(1) morley wah (2) zoom multi effects (3) ibanez delay (4) peavey amp. is it possible that one of these pedals is bogging it down or something?
 
Wah is generally placed first, before any effects (and even before preamp!)... but you can also get interesting effects placing it post-distortion.

There are no "rules" though... you should experiment....

Bruce
 
thanks bruce, i got the wah like 4 years ago when i first started playing and soon realized i had no business owning one, i just recently have been trying to use it and can't really get it to "wah". i'm not sure if it's working right or not. i get a better effect using the pedal on my zoom multi effects, that shouldn't be should it? I just checked out your site. your studio is pretty cool. iwas wondering if there were any floor plans or anything for it. i didn't see any on john sayers site with all the others. i'm a drafting/design student and have really gotten into the layouts of studios and such recently. thanks for takin the time to answer the little people questions. adios!
 
according to http://www.analogman.com this is how jimi did it--at least once...
What order did Jimi Hendrix run his pedals?
As seen in the picture in the Stompbox book, he ran his strat into a Vox wah wah (Clyde McCoy or V-846 depending on the year), then into his custom-made Roger Mayer Octavia, Then his Fuzz Face, then the Uni-Vibe, and lastly into his Marshall Amps. At least he did this on the day the picture was taken!

as for myself--I plug my 64' SG straight into the VOX, then to the DigiTechWhammy, then to the BigMuffPi, then to the Left IN of the BossSE50--here, the Left OUT goes to my 100w Fender twin and the Right goes OUT to my 400w Peavey Butcher....I also sometimes take a DRY line out of the Whammy and send it to the Right IN of the Boss processor to provide a stereo signal into the Boss....works great for me.
 
The amount of wah depends on your guitar, too. For example, using my strat in the bridge position I get a huge effect...but my Les Paul in the neck position barely wah's at all.

I use a very old Jim Dunlop Crybaby, but I would guess it's the same with most pedals.

H2H
 
I'll keep this all in mind and keep tryin. Reading h2h"s reply i started to wonder if I should maybe try raising or lowering the pickups and see what that does, but every time I try to tinker i always feel like i mess something up! thanks for the suggestions.
 
Hard2Hear said:
The amount of wah depends on your guitar, too.

H2H
Click to expand...


The amount of wah also depends on what type of overdrive/distortion you're useing, and how much of it you use. I don't know about the morley, but with my trusty old CryBaby, the less harsh the distortion, the cooler the "wah" effect.

If you have your zoom multis set on "buzzsaw death metal vomit" ;) and you can't distinguish one note from another, you won't hear any wah, whereas a more subtle "I'm channelling the ghost of jimi" fuzz will produce that classic wah you hear on yer old LPs. (does anyone besides me still appreciate the crackle of a needle?)


Also, I like to use a single coil in the neck position when I'm useing a wah.That's just me, though, do what YOU like.

One last thing....Check your battery!!!:D


Ron
 
thanks again. it does seem to work better with "lighter" distortion.
i don't really like the distortions i have now. i might start trying different fuzz pedals. i usally like a heavier distortion but i want to learn to use this thing bfore i kick it through the wall.

also you said " buzz saw death metal vomit" i have to admit i like playing heavy, but how come i can never get heavy and hear individual tones to clearly? i can hear it on the cd, but it doesn't sound that great when i play it. i know i'm playin the right notes but it all seems to bleed into one big mess. anyway, totally different subject i guess. thanks again
 
Don't sacrifice you're mids

As far as stomp boxes go, I just got a line 6 distortion modeller and I just love it. You can dial in the sounds of a bunch of different old boxes, and it stores 4 programs at a time (8 with an expression pedal) and the programs sound deadly close to the originals!!!


I like to play heavy too sometimes. My current band is a kind of post-thrash punk kinda thing. The biggest problem with that "buzzsaw" tone is actually the fault of amp manufacturers who insist on a knob labeled "contour" or somthing like that. The idea is to sweep the mids, boost the low and high freq. THIS IS BAD!!! The giutar is a midrange insturment, so artificiallt cutting thi mids leaves you with virtually no clarity in tone.

I don't know which peavey amp you have, but in my experience there all pretty much the same (I try to avoid them myself)
try starting with all 3 of your tone controls turned down all the way. Bring up the bass just enough to feel it and to start giving some bottom end definition to your tone. Then do the same with your highs. When you start to hear some clarity in the highs and lows, bring up the mids for some warmth. Play around for a while and you should find something heavy enough to pound your chest while you're playing, but still be able to hear the difference between the E and the A in that power chord you'll be chugging!!! :cool:
 
Ally,

they probably used a lot less distortion recording that CD than you might think.....
 
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