5 Reasons to Wah
Wah pedals are iconic. I think we can all agree with that. You don’t have these effects pedals sit at the feet of guys like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix without leaving a mark on rock’n’roll history. And even though this is an effect that we inevitably associate with the late ’60s and early ’70s, it was actually one of the first guitar effects ever created. #themoreyouknow
Today, I want to break down what wah is and explain why you need a wah pedal. I can hear you already. “But, Josh, I’m not in a ’70s funk band. I don’t exclusively do covers of Hendrix, Clapton, and the theme from Shaft. That means I don’t need a wah pedal, right?”
Wrong.
Don’t worry. This is honestly the best news you’re going to hear all day. Wah pedals don't have to be used exclusively for ’70s funk; they can do a whole lot more. It’s a surprisingly versatile effect when you look at it the right way. In this article, I want to show you how I like to use wah and hopefully convince you to put one back on your board.
History of Wah
Our very first guitar effects ever were invented in the ’60s, starting in 1960 in a Nashville recording studio. Marty Robbins is recording “Don't Worry”, the mixer channel on the bass guitar messes up and creates the fuzz effect, and guitar history blows up from there. Think of the Cambrian explosion with guitar pedals, and you’ve got the right idea.
For the sake of time, I want to move forward to the year 1967. This is the year that the wah or wah wah pedal is invented. Although the phonetics of the name suggest a baby crying, this is actually made to replicate the sound of a trumpet. In fact, the first Vox Wah pedals were named after trumpet player Clyde McCoy, though a guitar pedal named after a trumpet player is admittedly a little weird.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: What self-respecting guitarist would want to sound like a trumpet? But I’m glad that someone did, otherwise this amazing effect may have never been invented. Pretty quickly, musicians picked up on this unique guitar effect that honestly didn’t sound much like a trumpet, but did add a strange new dimension to their sound.
Then Hendrix put a wah pedal in his rig at Woodstock, and the rest is history.
5 Ways to Use Your Wah
Today, I want to go through some unusual ways that you can use your wah pedal. When we think of wah, we think of psychedelic rock in the ’60s and funk music in the ’70s. I think about those cop shows like CHIPS and Shaft. Don’t get me wrong. All of this is cool music, but it’s not the only way you can play your wah pedal.
I want to break on through to the other side, and show you 5 new ways to use a wah pedal that aren't so upfront and in your face. They aren't as funky. They're actually textured and more about tonal manipulation. I want to show you a few tricks that you can add to the way you play right now, and bring out something extra and special in it.
Before I jump in, let me tell you about the gear we used in this episode of the JHS Show. I used the Dunlop Cry Baby with the JHS “Super Wah” Mod. That said, these are all very basic techniques, meaning that any wah will work. If you have a pedal and it goes, “Wah!”, it'll do any of these five sounds and even more. Don't get hung up on that. In the episode, I made sure I used standard gear for this exact reason.
Pseudo-Synthesizer
This first method breaks the rules right up front, because why not? A good rule of thumb is that you put your wah pedal first, and then you put all your other pedals after it. That's a fairly standard pedalboard routing situation.
But for this technique, you want to put your fuzz or distortion before the wah. Just hear me out. In the demo, I set up my JHS Kilt as a heavy, gated distortion fuzz to push gain into the wah and make every sweep very, very vowel-like. Essentially, what happens is when I play three chords and sweep slowly, it's almost like a synthesizer. It's a really cool sound. This has been one of my go-to pedalboard setups for years, and for good reason.
Stand-Out Distortion
For this second method, we're going to go and put the wah first, like normal people. Then we're going to use the drive distortion second after it. In the demo, I set up the Kilt as a heavy overdrive distortion. After that, I just sweep three chords and add movement to the sustain of those chords.
This is a great trick if you're trying to stand out in a band mix and play a sound that’s a little more creative and unique. It's a real go-to for studio musicians and live bands alike.
Parked Wah
For the third method, we're going to go with a parked, cocked, or fixed wah sound. People call it different things. For the sake of clarity, I'm just going to call it parked wah. We start it off by, once again, setting that Kilt up as a distortion. We play some single notes. Now, here’s where the parked wah comes into play.
What I mean by “parked wah” is a lot easier to show than tell, so if you have time to go back and watch the JHS Show episode this article is based on, I’d do it. If you’re unable to (or just don’t feel like it) I’ll describe it as best as I can: basically, in the demo you see my foot searching for a certain spot. I'm listening, because I want to find feedback and hold onto it. A wah is a mid frequency equalizer that's kind of variable, and it has a boost to it. So, in the demo you’ll see me sweep, find that feedback effect, and park the wah in that position.
It's kind of a fixed filter effect; you find it and can leave it on for hours. This is the ultimate example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Shoegazer Ambiance
I'm a huge fan of ambient guitar, especially shoegazer, and this fourth method really leans into that. Take your distortion and put it into your wah, and then add delay. Boom.
I’m a fan of the Ibanez DDL Digital Delay, but you can use any delay for this as long as it has some long-ish delay times. Basically, I’ll play single note lines, letting the delay linger as a big ambient pad sort of texture, and then I’ll sweep the wah underneath that. The end result is this moving ambient pad, and it’s completely beautiful. Seriously, this is one of my favorite sounds. Even if you don’t think you’ll like it, try it for me. Please.
Reverb Wah
Number five is a fun one, and because we live in the modern age of effects, it’s becoming more and more applicable. You’re starting to see this effect in a lot of pedals, including a few of mine, like the Panther Cub delay or the Spring Tank reverb. They give you the ability to tap into an effects loop on their reverbs and delays. Simply stated, I'm going to show you what a wah pedal sounds like in the effects loop of a reverb. Again, you’ll want to go back and watch this JHS Show episode to get the full effect, but I can testify that it’s pretty dang epic.
In the case of the Spring Tank, you just plug in a TRS splitter cable, and then you connect it to the input and output of that wah pedal. The beauty of this setup is that the wah only affects the decay of the reverb. The natural clean guitar sound isn't going to be touched, and because it's in that loop, it lets you sweep only the brightness or darkness of the decay of the reverb. It's a really cool thing.
I can't tell you how much I love this setting because it would be impossible. I love it that much.
Tips For Buying a Wah
Before we wrap this up, I want to give you some tips if you're looking to buy a new wah.
First off, don't go buy any kind of device that does wah and volume. You just end up with a “jack of all trades, master of none” situation, and it'll disappoint you. The way that a wah sweeps and a volume sweeps with the circuitry inside and that whole scenario, they're just different enough that it just never feels right to me. So just buy a wah. There's some super affordable options out there, especially if you buy one second-hand, so let's hit those first.
Any standard Crybaby Wah or Vox Wah is great. You can buy those and have no fear. If you want some extra mojo, the JHS Modified Super Wah is a great option. We can mod the Crybaby or the Vox. You get a “Q” control to change how that vowel sound floats, and then you also get a boost to make the wah rise up above the mix a little.
You’ve also got the Bob Bradshaw's Wah that Dunlop builds, better known as the Dunlop CAE (Custom Audio Electronics) Wah. You might've seen this. A lot of people use it. It's a really great wah with a lot of good options, including a nice heavy boost. You've also got different inductors you can choose from with this pedal.
Another great option is the BBE Ben-Wah. These are getting cheaper by the day, but that’s exactly the reason I’d buy one now. You never know when a pedal is going to suddenly be a collector’s item, and then the $50 pedal you had in your Reverb cart suddenly turns into a $500 pedal. I’ve seen it happen too many times. BBE pedals are also quality; they're made to last, so why wouldn’t you buy one? They're based off of a classic Italian circuit (the old Vox Wah) which allows you to control how it sweeps. It's really hard to complain about this wah for the money.
If you’re willing to spend a little more money, you can always get the classic Fulltone Clyde Wah. This thing is pretty much industry standard when it comes to pedals that are handbuilt in America. This is a super well-made piece of gear and it just sounds awesome.
Now, my personal favorite wah is the ProAnalog Supa Quack Wah Wah. The name alone is worth the investment, guys. The only downside is that this might be a little hard to find, as the company that originally made it has closed its doors, but you can always try to track one down on eBay or Reverb.
So, if you already have a wah pedal, go try a few of these new methods. I think you’re gonna like them. And if you don’t have a wah yet, go buy one immediately. Either way, I want you guys to wah your brains out before this day is over. I think that’s reasonable.