Does anyone want to read about some wah pedals?

Cirrus · August 2023

Because I've got 4 all of a sudden.

So if anyone's interested in how a Crybaby Standard, Crybaby Classic (Red Fasel), Crybaby Clyde McCoy and USA Vox V847 compare, speak up. Just don't want to write a bunch of stuff if nobody is that fussed...

Roland · August 2023

I’m always interested in this kind of thing.

theatreanchor · August 2023

I’m interested.

Modulus_Amps · August 2023

What's your favourite and why?

Benm39 · August 2023

Yup definitely as looking to buy one soon!

Cirrus · August 2023

They're all good

tone1 · August 2023

Does anyone want to read about some wah pedals?

Go on then, wah not….

Cols · August 2023

What does it sound like if you connect them all in series, put a board across all of them and play them simultaneously?

Cirrus · August 2023

Cols said:

What does it sound like if you connect them all in series, put a board across all of them and play them simultaneously?

Really bad. Really, really bad.

I recommend it.

Moe_Zambeek · August 2023

Cols said:

What does it sound like if you connect them all in series, put a board across all of them and play them simultaneously?

Maybe reverse every other wah for more fun!

TimmyO · August 2023

Cols said:

What does it sound like if you connect them all in series, put a board across all of them and play them simultaneously?

Oh we did that at a forum gear jam. 7 I think.

GoFish · August 2023

What happened to the great write up? Tis the sort of thing that could help someone searching in the future, even if they're all good. Kirk Hamnets could be lurking and trying to improve his tones and you have forsaken him!

Cirrus · August 2023

Yeah, it was a bit of a word salad. I've done some clips, just working out the best way to do a write up

Cirrus · August 2023

Ok so...

First comparison. Explorer with '70s T-Tops, bridge position, into Helix preset with delay, reverb & stereo clean AC30s.

Thoughts:

The Vox is nice. It's got a little grit, and a good flow from low to high. I actually did this one last, think I strummed slightly harder.

The Classic with the Red Fasel has a big volume boost: The circuit itself distorts, especially heel down. The advantage is, heel down has a better change of not disappearing in the mix through a combination of sheer volume and distortion generating some grit. I really like the throaty lower half, but subtle it ain't.

The Clyde is clean and has a big range. It's quite focussed and has a very smooth sweep, the best "mapped" frequency sweep compared to the physical position of the pedal. The pedal actually has a few more degrees of movement, so it's got warmer heel and sharper toe down and that actually is a downside for me - live, I like parking it toe down with the neck pickup for repeatability and the Clyde is too sharp/thin like that. I could adjust the pot rotation but then the heel down will be too mellow, and I use that too..,

The Standard (Courtesy of @thecolourbox , who started me off on this little adventure) The bottom half of the frequency sweep seems to occur in the bottom 25% of the pedal movement, so it sounds faster. It's kinda clean too, but somehow not as locked in as a Clyde.

Cirrus · August 2023

Clean Sweep 2.

Vox - It's a little sharp at the toe down position, and you can hear the slighly dirty character as the heel goes down.

Classic Red - Again, more gain in this wah, so more grit. Toe down, it's not as sharp as the Vox. In fact, there's a certain thickness below the toe down upper mid frequency peak that makes it pretty useable and stops it sounding peaky. As in the first clip, I like that the distortion in the bottom half of the range adds a bit of definition even when it's really woofy and crunchy sounding. It seems to pick out a few more harmonics in the top half as it sweeps back up near the end.

Clyde - Really thin/ harsh at the top - the filter sounds sharper, a higher Q. I think that does, however mean that it almost has a synth like laser precision as it sweeps down and back up the range, it seems to capture every harmonic as it goes equally. It's really, really good, it just has too broad a range for me.

And the Standard - I'd say in range, Q and sweep, it's fairly similar to the Vox, just slightly cleaner. Heel down, I think it drops some volume compared to the others.

Cirrus · August 2023

Heel Down test.

This is a big one for me. You know that meme, "Haunting Mids" that went around forums a decade or so back? This is haunting mids for me - that distant, evocative sound.

Vox - Annoyingly, a slight buzz in the background. This one is the noisiest of the four. I can get rid of the Buzz by changing from a standalone supply to my board's DC7, but then it seems to develop a buzz when toe down. Sigh. I like the tone. It's got a vowely, slightly gritty thing going on, and doesn't turn into mush.

Classic Red - Loud. Too Gainy. There are situations where that gain would be good, but this isn't it to me. Seems to go mad on one particular note, which is a shame because some other notes sound nice. It doesn't have as much focus as the Vox, which seems to tuck in the bass end nicely.

Clyde - This sits similar to the Vox, to my ears, but is cleaner. Maybe a little thinner.

Standard - Hmmm. Apart from the Classic which is murdered by its own volume in this comparison, I think there's not loads in it. This one actually seems a bit gainer than the vox, whereas in the previous two comparisons I'd say the reverse was true.

Cirrus · August 2023

I also have 3 distorted comparisons, but that'll be a job for tomorrow.

Creed_Clicks · August 2023

These threads always turn into someone going wah wah wah wah.

GoFish · August 2023

There's a George Harrison song that will blow your mind ....

Cols · August 2023

Cirrus said:

Cols said:

What does it sound like if you connect them all in series, put a board across all of them and play them simultaneously?

Really bad. Really, really bad.

I recommend it.

I was rather hoping it might summon Kirk Hammett.

goldtop · August 2023

Nice comparison. Did you do any funk-wah clips?

I've got one in the cupboard somewhere. Think it's the 'Original Cry Baby' from 90s. I only bought it to get those Schenker-style half-cocked wah tones. (And I play with that so rarely that I can use the Kemper.)

Should just get it sold.

fretmeister · August 2023

Only just spotted this thread.

I had hoped it would include a Morley 20/20 Power Fuzz Wah.

ah well.

Snags · August 2023

I'm sure if you send him one he'll include it

ElectricXII · August 2023

@Cirrus Thanks for posting this. It has inspired me to hunt out my old Vox 847. I might even gig it on Saturday.

dano · August 2023

Great write up, I've owned the standard crybaby (stock and modd'ed), Clyde and Vox over the years, plus a few others. I seem to remember the Vox sounded best with distortion, and the Crybaby clean, more funk stuff

My go to now is a standard crybaby with a couple of the usual mods.

I seem to recall the Vox Clyde (the 848 ?) sounded different to the 847, a bit more mid range honky, and i was quite unimpressed with it at the time. The Clyde you've tested is a Crybaby, which is interesting (I guess licensing the name has changed over the years).

I think Vox did another model in the mid 00s which was very, very nice, an 845 ?

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Does anyone want to read about some wah pedals?

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Does anyone want to read about some wah pedals?