The best wah pedals

Hey y'all,
Let's hear about the best wah pedals that you have owned, tried, or lusted after. I have always loved the added dimension that a good wah can add to your sound. I have used a bunch over the years and I keep coming back to Dunlop Crybaby series wahs. I currently use a limited edition Crybaby with a cool textured metal finish. It just sounds good. I have also used Morley pedals with the electro-optical circuitry with mixed results. I used the Vai pedal, but I really didn't think that it had a very good sweep or tone to it. Anybody try the George Lynch signature wah by Morley?
So what wah wows you?

I have a Wilson effects Rippah Q wah - with vintage wiring

Has pretty much every wah tone you will ever need

I use an Ibanez Weeping Demon, have done for a very long time. It does awesome lead wah's for the high gain stuff.
It doesn't do the vintage tones that well.. I prefer a Hendrix wah for that. (don't have one, but sometimes use my bassists crybaby which I modded to Hendrix spec)

I've always lusted after a Zakk Wylde signature wah, it has such enormous fatness to it while still having that classic sound.
Basically it does what the classic should do under high gain circumstances
I also have always liked the Dimebag wah, every crybaby tone under the sun is in there..
The downfall is that it uses SMT components.. somehow I don't like that (although theoretically they should sound the same af full size)

The coming weeks I'll be testing out the wah's on my GSP, the Clyde model sounds promising.

m0jo said:

I also have always liked the Dimebag wah, every crybaby tone under the sun is in there..

The coming weeks I'll be testing out the wah's on my GSP, the Clyde model sounds promising.

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Yeah!!! The Dimebag is an amazing wah. I have a friend that swears by his. It really can do a wide range of styles equally well. The Q knob works great.
When you say you'll be testing out the wahs on your GSP are you talking about the GSP1101? What kind of controller are you using?

I'm a crybaby man myself. I do like the Dime wah but any crybaby is a good call. I used a morley Vai for a long time but never got to where i liked the tone or sweep. Just never worked for me. I'm now using the wah sound in my TC Electronic G System. I'm still getting used to it but it has some potential.

Peace, Joshua

Daryl said:

m0jo said:

I also have always liked the Dimebag wah, every crybaby tone under the sun is in there..

The coming weeks I'll be testing out the wah's on my GSP, the Clyde model sounds promising.

Click to expand...

Yeah!!! The Dimebag is an amazing wah. I have a friend that swears by his. It really can do a wide range of styles equally well. The Q knob works great.
When you say you'll be testing out the wahs on your GSP are you talking about the GSP1101? What kind of controller are you using?

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Yeah man, the Dimebag wah was developed by Dimebag .. used by Jofn Fruciante! If that isn't versatility I don't know what is

Yeah I recently got a GSP1101, right now I'm just using my RF4, but I'm buying a Boss FC50 to run it the first couple of weeks.
Come payday I'm buying a Gordius Little Giant (and flipping the FC50 )

If you're looking for a midi controller check out the Gordius products, they're compact, but they pack a punch like you wouldn't believe.
I've gone for this so I'm 100% sure it can handle any expansion of my rig.
Hell I'm sure one Gordius Litte Giant could easily run The Edge's rig! :lol:

It seems the Dimebag is a popular one . . . I have one too - I love it and I have no plans to get rid of it. But honestly, for gigs I just use my G-System out of sheer convenience!

I have a GSP-1101 with a GCP/GCX arriving this week, so I'll be testing that out too; and if I switch to that setup for gigging I'll probably just use the GSP-1101's wah for the same reason (unless it really sucks) . . .

Cool I hadn't heard of the Gordius before. It looks pretty killer from the website info. I like how compact it is. I am using the old school ART X-15. It is a great unit and works perfectly with my G Major2 without hardly any setup. It has the two expression pedals and the only 2 downsides to it are the size of it's footprint and the quadrature encoder strips that the expression pedals use. The Gordius unit kind of looks like something that Pete Cornish would make. It doesn't appear to have an expression pedal though. What kind of expression pedal are you running?

I used to own a standard crybaby. Endless problems with dirty pots. The frequency range was wide (too wide). The low end was useless and the top end was just a screeching noise. Also the transition between high and low was too sudden. The only realistic aplication for it was the Barry White sort of stuff rocking it heavily with the tempo of the song. I tried the hendrix model and was simmilar but a bit clearer with heavy distortion... Tried a couple of standard morleys and a couple of george dennis (standard and parametric wah). They sounded too processed in my opinion.

I have a 90's vox (v847) and it's excellent. Nice mid sweep and without useless highs and lows. Sounds very 'vocal'. And the distance of the pedal's movement is slightly shorter giving you more control.

A couple of months ago i got hold of a 1974 vintage colorsound (the same model Brian Robertson used to use in thin lizzy). It sounds quite close to the vox but with some important differences. The low end can be 'too low'. The distance the pedal travels is the longest i ever came across. And the Q value is higher on the colorsound. Therefore, it produces even a more natural sound. For the same reason it sounds much better as a filter (the long distance of the pedal makes this application easier in this case).

I like both but i prefer the tonal quality of the old colorsound. I use the vox live and the colorsound in the studio (sometimes as a booster). They sound great.

One that I always felt that flew under the radar but was super versatile and looked super cool to boot was the Snarling Dogs Whine-O-Wah.
three modes, switchable volume boost, true bypass and could cover everything from vintage to modern tones.

Here's the wahs I've owned:
Morley Horsie: awesome auto off, fantastic for harmonic/whammy bar tricks, cool watery clean tones....but just doesn't have the low end guts & body compared to Dunlops

Dunlop Standard: always a solid tone, the only problems are they seem to get noisy/need cleaning after a year or so + it drives me crazy there's no indicator light

Dunlop Jimi: I like this one even better than standard- I think it's pitched a bit lower (?)

and now my secret weapon, the only wah I've had people come up to me after shows and say- "That wah tone was great!"

Dunlop Bass Wah : Obviously awesome on Bass, this thing flat out rocks on guitar. I believe it has a hi pass that allows the low end to be uncolored, the wah goes to the higher frequencies. It is subtle, but really yields a clarity. I love using this in bits and parts of my hi gain rhythms for a quick effect (see soundclick). Q control and volume controls enable a Wide variety of applications....and the best part? It has an Auto Off!

I have friends with high priced boutique wahs- there's great tones there, but to me seems priced a bit high- give me the Dunlop Bass Wah!


ps: those digital sim Wahs totally suck, I haven't heard one that is usable

for me the best one is the Dunlop Crybaby From Hell. I've owned it now for about 5 or 6 years and it's perfect... I can dial in several great wah voices and I have the perfect wah voice for my needs.

I've tried the boutique's and though there are some very cool wah units this one is by far the best for me

Anyone ever tried the Dunlup DCR-2SR rack wah? Thoughts & opinions?

My fave is Bad Horsie 2. Love the auto off and I like the smaller sweep range.
Another fave is the CAE MC 404. Switchable Fasel inductors and a boost.

Mikal69 said:

One that I always felt that flew under the radar but was super versatile and looked super cool to boot was the Snarling Dogs Whine-O-Wah.
three modes, switchable volume boost, true bypass and could cover everything from vintage to modern tones.

Click to expand...

I own a Snarling Dogs Blue Bawls wah..

It has pretty good tones, but a lot of noise as well!
It's heavy as a ton of bricks as well!

What I like a lot is the long sweep on it! Wah more than the *thunk* to *thunk* problem I allways have with crybabies!

M0jo: 'What I like a lot is the long sweep on it! Wah more than the *thunk* to *thunk* problem I allways have with crybabies!

I agree with M0jo's opinion on the Crybaby's response evn though that 'thunk' effect may be what you are after for certain percussive effects.

About the long sweep pedals Im not sure if i prefer it or not. As I mentioned earlier the Vox's sweep is quite short but full of useful frequencies. Always found it more controlable than the crybaby. The Colorsound has a longer sweep than the crybaby (i've heard it has one of the longest sweeps out there) and even though it is so much easier to find and stay on the frequency you want, i feel a bit lost after 12 years of using a vox wah...

were those snarling dog wah's the ones with a barefoot shape on them? I've heard good things about them but never tried one myself

IBA said:

M0jo: 'What I like a lot is the long sweep on it! Wah more than the *thunk* to *thunk* problem I allways have with crybabies!

I agree with M0jo's opinion on the Crybaby's response evn though that 'thunk' effect may be what you are after for certain percussive effects.

About the long sweep pedals Im not sure if i prefer it or not. As I mentioned earlier the Vox's sweep is quite short but full of useful frequencies. Always found it more controlable than the crybaby. The Colorsound has a longer sweep than the crybaby (i've heard it has one of the longest sweeps out there) and even though it is so much easier to find and stay on the frequency you want, i feel a bit lost after 12 years of using a vox wah...

were those snarling dog wah's the ones with a barefoot shape on them? I've heard good things about them but never tried one myself

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I use wah mostly for leads, pretty slow wah-ing.
More for expression than a wacha-chacha-wacha-chacha type paying.
So the long sweep works well for me, but the shorter sweep could be handy for the more percussive effect.

By the way; the Ibanez Weeping Demon has an at least as long, maybe longer sweep.
And another advantage to the Ibanez: auto switching!

With the spring on the pedal I just have to touch my toes on the top of the pedal to wah instantly!
So it's much less involved than having to get your foot properly on the pedal, like any crybaby style.
I like that a lot, it means it's not impeding on my creativity.

I have a crybaby 95Q which IMHO is the best wah out there.It's got a boost switch,volume dial,and eq dial.You don't have to hit a switch like other wahs just step on it and when you stop it goes automatically into the stop position

walshinator666 said:

I have a crybaby 95Q which IMHO is the best wah out there.It's got a boost switch,volume dial,and eq dial.You don't have to hit a switch like other wahs just step on it and when you stop it goes automatically into the stop position

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Yeah that's what I meant with the Ibanez haha, you formulated it way better.

What I've been wondering about the Dunlop auto switching: how much counterpressure does the spring give?
I found a friend's morley a bit stiff.. while the Weeping Demon is very smooth

It's not to stiff and not to easy either,it's for me anyway a perfect feeling wah.If something goes wrong with this one i'd get another