Cocked wah pedal anyone?

[Dave_11]

It seems like every week I find something new on the internet that I can't live without. Last week it was a cocked wah pedal for those early 80s Priest solos. Not that I can actually play those early 80s Priest solos, but I suppose have to start somewhere... The Dunlop Crybaby Q Zone puts out some really nice tones on youtube clips, but I didn't want to spend $150 on one. I found the Park and Ride kit from PedalPCB, which is supposed to be a Q zone clone, so I have one of those coming.

I'm just wondering if anyone else is rocking a cocked wah pedal, and how you are using it.

 

[slade]

That’s mainly how I use my zw 45 wah. I also rock it around a few notes.

 

[Edgar Frog]

They are cool. I made one back in the early 90's out of an old Crybaby. I just rehoused it in an electrical outlet box with the pot shaft and switch sticking out the top. I was then able to turn the pot where I wanted it and turn it off and on with the switch. Wish I could have patented it back then but I was just a broke teenager at the time. I was smart and innovative though. I just wasn't a fan of the wah, wah aspect but loved the cocked wah effect so I figured what the hell. Don't know what happened to that thing.

 

[Dave_11]

They are cool. I made one back in the early 90's out of an old Crybaby. I just rehoused it in an electrical outlet box with the pot shaft and switch sticking out the top. I was then able to turn the pot where I wanted it and turn it off and on with the switch. Wish I could have patented it back then but I was just a broke teenager at the time. I was smart and innovative though. I just wasn't a fan of the wah, wah aspect but loved the cocked wah effect so I figured what the hell. Don't know what happened to that thing.

That's really cool you had the idea to turn your wah into a pedal. Too bad you couldn't cash in on it. When I was young I had the idea to make plug-in pickups. My only guitar was a Tele and it was a real pain to take the bridge off to switch pickups. I thought it would be great if you could just remove the strings and then unplug/plug a new pickup in from the top. I even called one of those 1-800 numbers from an ad on TV for a place that would help you patent your invention and had their package mailed to me. Of course I didn't have any real notion about how I would design such a pickup system so I never sent anything back to them. I'm sure they were just running a scam where they would steal your idea anyway. And apparently no one in the guitar world really thinks this is a good idea because all these years later everyone is still soldering their pickups in.

 

[Dgd73]

I have an EHX Cockfight that I bought used that is pretty decent. You can plug in an expression pedal to use as a traditional wah also. It also has a fuzz circuit and a talking wah mode. Of course if you are just wanting a variable Q, you would be paying for options you might not use. That said, I have a cry baby 535Q that you can adjust the Q sweep so I pretty much use that for any cocked wah type sounds (mainly Money for Nothin'). I only play at home, if that matters.

 

[slade]

For switching different pickups around, I would use the smallest wire caps and electrical tape. Probably most of us have done it this way. The company Mad Hatter has a solderless passive pickup harness that makes it easy to swap pickups. Probably your idea.

 

[purpleplexi]

I was to the local jam yesterday and I was given valvestate to play through. I was going to take my own amp but laziness prevailed. The only way I could get a sound I liked was using my wah. Had it switched on and in various positions the whole time. Saved my ass really.

 

[anitoli]

EHX Cockfight. Set it and forget it. Stays in the same spot. You don't have to hunt for the cocked wah tone.

 

[Dave_11]

For switching different pickups around, I would use the smallest wire caps and electrical tape. Probably most of us have done it this way. The company Mad Hatter has a solderless passive pickup harness that makes it easy to swap pickups. Probably your idea.

Thanks for the Mad Hatter suggestion. I checked out their system, but ouch the price. I actually made a post a couple of weeks ago asking for quick-connect ideas. I'm wanting to convert all of my humbucker guitars to some sort of plug-in system so I can swap pickups around quickly. Someone suggested GFS Kwikplug, but GFS is out of stock at the moment. I'll probably just go with some cheap pre-wired plugs from ebay.

If anyone is interested, there is a used Dulop Q-zone priced at $82 shipped on Sweetwater's gear exchange. If I would have seen it before I ordered my clone kit, I would have bought it since it's only about $25 more than the kit/enclosure/shipping.

 

[slade]

I have one of their kits in a lp copy that I have. It’s all top quality stuff. The owner was extremely helpful in helping me with any wiring questions that I had.

 

[Blake F]

As a Schenker fan, I bought a Fulltone 'Secret Freq.' and I can say don't waste your money on this one.

I *would* like to throw something into this discussion though, and pardon if it's the wrong place but you never know when someone has the answer to something.

I have been chasing Schenker's tone for a while now (the old tone from Strangers in the Night). I know there are a lot of people who say 'I can get that tone with x,y,z' but unless they heard him live like I did in '78 I really doubt they're nailing it. It was that killer Marshall tone you only get with the right Marshall that has all the right internal components, the right cab, the right guitar and the right player. I have a '69 Plexi 50 which I now have the internals just right, and I have the right cab (you can tell when you hear it- G12M/25 from '69 too) and a great sounding V with a hot t-top. I have the exact basic killer Marshall tone I heard 100%.

I have 3 different vintage wahs. The problem is, the wah effect on all of them is WAY too extreme. If you really listen to Schenker's tone, the wah is very subtle. I have an actual McCoy, a 60's Fasel-equipped Jen wah and a BYOC wah that has internally adjustable pots for most of the wah factors, but *nothing* gets it right. I have gone through the amp's FX loop with it, but the level's aren't correct and it distorts. Below is an extremely rare photo of Schenker's gear from the Strangers in the Night recording. I bought the WEM echo and it definitely imparts a more musical tone you can hear on the recording.

I can run through a Fryette Power Station, and using it's loop, I can put the echo first then the wah (this order makes the wah less) and get close but the wah is still too extreme.

Does anybody have a wah that isn't so extreme?

The other important aspect is that when the wah is too extreme the whole sound loses that insane Marshall crunch. If you listen closely to Schenker's tone, he has the crunch in spades, beautiful leads (which the WEM echo definitely is helping with) but there's a subtle wah on it.

If it's interesting, you can see Schenker's echo has been modified for XLR (those jacks aren't standard). Because of the XLR, he was probably mic'ing the cab, then running into the mixer then out the PA (is my guess). The wah looks like it's going front-end, but how's it so subtle? I did here a rumor his wah was modified and I"m about ready with a circuit inside the wah that will allow me to blend the wah with the original signal- only requires one transistor and a few resistors. Maybe this is what he had done.

Any ideas folks?

 

[PowerTube44]

A cocked wah is also good for certain Boston tones.

 

[Kutt]

I'm lukewarm on Morley products but got their Pitbull Audio exclusive George Lynch wah last December. It's very good and has a cocked wah filter/switch built right in. Highly recommended. Their Wah Lock model is almost identical to this one.

 

[purpleplexi]

EHX Cockfight. Set it and forget it. Stays in the same spot. You don't have to hunt for the cocked wah tone.

I've thought about one of these a few times and on the basis of this thread and the fact that I'm big into Mick Ronson at the minute I bought one that was floating past used. Got a quick go with it this morning and I fucking love it - it just nails so many great tones. I've never had a fuzz I kept for any length of time but this one is just great - super sweet and sustain for days and with the wah spike in the right place it's just rocking. I've now bought a suitable expression pedal to add to the fun. It's a 9.9 out of 10 for me.

 

[Dave_11]

I've thought about one of these a few times and on the basis of this thread and the fact that I'm big into Mick Ronson at the minute I bought one that was floating past used. Got a quick go with it this morning and I fucking love it - it just nails so many great tones. I've never had a fuzz I kept for any length of time but this one is just great - super sweet and sustain for days and with the wah spike in the right place it's just rocking. I've now bought a suitable expression pedal to add to the fun. It's a 9.9 out of 10 for me.

I checked out the Cockfight in my quest, but kind of ruled it out because it had so many other features and I wanted a pedal that just did cocked wah. I thought I'd get lost in knob tweaking. But your experience may be changing my mind...

 

[Dgd73]

I've thought about one of these a few times and on the basis of this thread and the fact that I'm big into Mick Ronson at the minute I bought one that was floating past used. Got a quick go with it this morning and I fucking love it - it just nails so many great tones. I've never had a fuzz I kept for any length of time but this one is just great - super sweet and sustain for days and with the wah spike in the right place it's just rocking. I've now bought a suitable expression pedal to add to the fun. It's a 9.9 out of 10 for me.

Cool. Mine is an older one, but I read that on the newer ones there is a switch inside that lets you run fuzz only. Kind of defeats the main purpose of the pedal but I guess some people like the fuzz a lot. Nice as an option I guess.

 

[purpleplexi]

I checked out the Cockfight in my quest, but kind of ruled it out because it had so many other features and I wanted a pedal that just did cocked wah. I thought I'd get lost in knob tweaking. But your experience may be changing my mind...

It does need some fiddling there's no doubt. To my ears as soon as I set the tone knob above halfway it just sounded terrible - thin and screechy and not nice. Keep it below that and you can get all sorts of sounds. I've decided to stop using it like an effect and just get the best cranked amp sound I can get. For that it's as good as any other pedal I have. Shouldn't be surprised really - the only other fuzz I ever liked was a muff which of course is also EH. Without the fuzz on the cocked wah into a cleanish amp is also very cool. I suppose you could put a separate boost in the chain. Haven't tried that.

 

[Derek S]

A little OT but there's another way to get a pretty cool, semi-cocked wah vibe using an old Boss BF-2 Flanger and setting the knobs a very specific way, lots of 80's players did this. It's more subtle but still gives you some distinct/focused mids that will play nicely in the mix...the dude from TNT really made it popular and usually had great tones.

 

[Dave_11]

A little OT but there's another way to get a pretty cool, semi-cocked wah vibe using an old Boss BF-2 Flanger and setting the knobs a very specific way, lots of 80's players did this. It's more subtle but still gives you some distinct/focused mids that will play nicely in the mix...the dude from TNT really made it popular and usually had great tones.

I tried using my Deluxe Electric Mistress on the filter setting to get a cocked wah effect, but it didn't sound right. I only played with the knobs for a minute or so and then gave up, but maybe I'll get it out this weekend and try again. My pedal kit is shipping from Germany and will be a while getting here.

 

[yladrd61]

I have a '70s Morley Power Wah / Fuzz that works great as a cocked wah boost.