By Ed Malaker
Posted 04/29/2019
The wah pedal is one of the best-known effects commonly found on a guitarist’s pedalboard. With its unique distortion capabilities, it is one of the few effects that is well known to even non-guitar players. It is expressive, giving the guitar an almost vocal-like quality, and guitarists such as Steve Vai have used the wah very successfully to simulate entire conversations. Most would agree that Jimi Hendrix made wah popular in the ’60s, along with Eric Clapton and a few others. Wah was a huge part of the rhythm guitar of ’70s funk and disco, and it is still used in every genre of music today, more than 50 years after its invention.
Because you manipulate the pedal with your foot, you can use it even while playing complex musical passages. Different brands of pedals, and many times even different models of the same brand, use a different frequency as a tone center for their wah. The sweep of the pedal as well as the difference between the start and end of the wah effect also varies between brands and models. If you are on a budget, you should take a good look at several different wah pedals before choosing the one that is right for you. Here are a few to consider.
Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby Wah Pedal
The original Thomas Organ Cry Baby pedal is an American branded version of the Vox Wah. The Dunlop GCB95 Cry Baby Wah Pedal is the modern version of the Thomas Organ Cry Baby. This modern interpretation features several technical improvements over its vintage namesake. It was created by Jim Dunlop when he bought the Cry Baby brand from Thomas Organ in 1981. more…
Vox V847-A Classic Reissue Wah Pedal
The Vox V847-A Classic Reissue Wah Pedal is a modern version of the original Vox Wah. The V847-A is designed to have the original Vox tone while adding a few modern updates to bring the pedal into the modern era. For instance, many wah pedals suffer from a loss of tone when the guitar is plugged into the pedal, and often, this tone loss can be considerable. This 847-A Classic Reissue, however, features an input buffer that helps match the impedance and preserve the unprocessed guitar tone when the effect is off. more…
Electro-Harmonix Next Step Crying Tone Wah Pedal
A very modern styling of a classic, the Electro-Harmonix Next Step Crying Tone Wah Pedal is quite unique because there are no moving parts at all — no pots, foot switches or gears to get dirty and wear out. Instead, the bottom of the pedal is contoured, which helps make it feel like a traditional wah as you rock it back and forth. more…
Morley Mini Wah Volume Pedal
The Morley Mini Wah Volume Pedal is actually two pedals in one, housed in a very compact unit designed to fit on even the smallest of pedalboards. The Morley Mini Wah is compatible with the guitar, bass, and keyboard. It features a wah designed with vintage tones and a moderate sweep in mind. more…
Electro-Harmonix Wailer Wah Pedal
Yet another great pedal in a long line of great pedals from Electro Harmonix, the Wailer Wah features a circuit that is very similar to the Crying Tone Wah but with a traditional rack and pinion style design. This traditional style, with movable pedal and a steady base, is much better suited to a pedalboard than the Crying Tone. more…