Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

[sixstringsamurai333]

I'd never used them before - always been a Dunlop man myself. Had a couple of Vai Morleys, liked them but they were just so big and ugly I had to ditch them again. Big fan of the Zakk Wylde Crybaby, though that's gone from my rig now and I currently have a 95Q.

Anyway, I digress! One of the local music shops basically shoved a Vox Handwired V846 and a Satriani Big Bad Wah into my hands the moment I walked in, so I took them home and had a go. They were pretty distinctly different philosophies of wah pedal - classic, spartan design vs Swiss Army knife designed by ol' chromedome godfather of shred himself.

I wrote some thoughts and did some clips here, if anyone's interested:

http://sixstringsamurai.co.nz/2013/03/18/vox-v846-handwired-vs-joe-satriani-big-bad-wah-renaissance-man-vs-modern-warfare/

Pretty interested to see if there are other Vox wah users out there. It seems like Dunlop dominates the wah scene most of the time.

[Bludave]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I have an 847 modded by John Spina, I also have a Vox Clyde McCoy and I own two vintage Thomas Organ Company Crybaby's. The old Crybaby is my favorite. It gives me a very Hendrixy type of tone & that's is what I love. My first TOC wah had some issues with the pedal. It would just slide down so I had to keep my foot on it or it would just drop. I sent it to get repaired and while it was out being fixed I bought a second one.

As far as brand new Wahs go I would take a real hard look at Real Mcoy Wahs made by Jeffery Teese or the Fulltone line. These wahs IMHO are the best out of the box wah you can buy today but they are a bit pricey.

http://realmccoycustom.com/

http://www.fulltone.com/products/clyde-standard-wah

In both of these cases their are a lot of options. You can get wahs that have a tremendous amount of adjustments. I like a pretty standard wah that you just step on it to turn it on and go! Even though a couple of the wahs I have are adjustable, I have them set the way I use the and hardly ever move anything.

[AudioWonderland]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I have used an 847 modified for true bypass since about 2000. Classic Wah tone. Exactly what I wanted. Prior to that I had a Dunlop Crybaby. I liked it too. When it was lost in the fire I went shopping and preferred the Vox and have had it ever since

[Chickenwings]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I have an old vox wah made by colorsound (early 70s i think). Its a clear and cutting wah - but being a colorsound one, the gear has crapped out so im in the process of trying to transplant the circuit into a crybaby shell. I'd use it live if i cand get it working again! lol
FWIW..for the person wanting a modern (i.e. reliable) vox sound, the yellow fasel inductor dunlop wahs sound pretty similar (i have a yellow inductor circuit in my MXR/CAE)

[Matt42]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

The best wah I've owned was a V848 McCoy wah, I'm using a standard Dunlop now, but if I find myself using it enough in my new band, I might try to get another 848.

[GAS-a-holic]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I have a Dunlop Jerry Cantrell wah that I use live because of its adjustability, but I still use my late-sixties Vox King Wah for recording. The Vox constantly needs cleaning because of it's age, but I love the sound of the thing! The Dunlop is more practical for live use (adjustable tone knob, AC adapter) and sounds great, but the Vox has that vintage tone.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

The newer Vox wahs from the 847 on are made by Dunlop..According to Teese telling me this several years ago...I own an 847 that I've had since it was re-issued in 93..Not sure about the most recent Vox wahs though?

[bungalowbill]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I dig the 847 and the older Thomas wahs....just don't have a use for them anymore.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I dig the 847 and the older Thomas wahs....just don't have a use for them anymore.

Wahs are cool,providing they don't get used in every song! ;o)

[speed2dirt]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

The newer Vox wahs from the 847 on are made by Dunlop..According to Teese telling me this several years ago...I own an 847 that I've had since it was re-issued in 93..Not sure about the most recent Vox wahs though?

Hey Strat*,
I know you used to mod wahs as was previously mentioned. What mods did you do and how did it alter the tone? I know your wah mods are pretty highly regarded around here. Are you still modding wahs?

*No names were used to protect the identity of the innocent.

[bungalowbill]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

Wahs are cool,providing they don't get used in every song! ;o)

The dreaded Kirk Hammett syndrome.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

Hey Strat*,
I know you used to mod wahs as was previously mentioned. What mods did you do and how did it alter the tone? I know your wah mods are pretty highly regarded around here. Are you still modding wahs?

*No names were used to protect the identity of the innocent.

I only do mods every once in awhile and normally for band mates or friends...I used to change resistor and cap values to change the overall tonality of the wah..The right inductor plays an important role...Basically I tryed to get my wahs to have more overall sweep,beefier sounding..Not every wah that I Modded was the same though..One of the best mods,is to put say a 1k pot in place of the Q1 bias resistor and have it sweep from say 270 ohm to the stock Vox value of 510 ohms..This gives the wah alot of gain differences..The lower this value,the more gain the wah has..The rest(for me) was just going with better caps and switching different values of caps and resistors to get the wahs to sound different and change the sweep...I'm still using my original Vox 847 that I bought and modded back in like 93..At one point I had like 4 wahs..Now I Just have this one...Its a great wah..very vocal..I once also owned a Teese Picture wah,but I returned it because I Liked the way this 847 of mine sounded better..Teese makes great wahs,so no offense to his stuff..

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

The dreaded Kirk Hammett syndrome.

I Love Robin Trower,but he's another excessive wah/Univibe user! ;o) But it is his tone and style..

[Securb]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I am strictly a Morley guy. I love the vocal tone of a Morley and the long deep range of the pedal. I have had a 70's PWB since the early 80s, I just retired it. The big silver Morleys are not board friendly and the wear and tear on the pedal was starting to show. I replaced it with a mini Morley vol/wah and I am more than happy with it. It has the classic Morley sound and it is 9 volt powered. I have tried Cry Babys and Vox over the years but I keep going back to the Morley.

[sixstringsamurai333]

Re: Any of you guys dig Vox wahs?

I really do dig the vocal qualities of Morley wahs, especially for bringing high gain solo playing to life ala Steve Vai.... but I always felt like there was a certain warmth lacking from them, which I only got from Dunlop-type wahs with Fasel inductors. Anyone else feel that way or is it just in my head??