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So I'm slightly pedal obsessed, as we all are, and after my last trip through Nashville, I've finally ended my wah pedal search with a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe.
I had been using the Ibanez Weeping Demon for my praise band (more on that later), so I'm used to a fairly large sweep. The Clyde Deluxe has a much larger sweep than a standard Dunlop or Vox, which I like a lot. The build on the Fulltone is also rock solid. The buffer let's me run it with my Fuzz Face no problem, so I can finally swap the order back to the more Hendrixy wah then fuzz. My praise band plays a lot of funk, and this thing sits in perfectly. I find myself using the "Whacked" and "Jimi" settings the most, but the "Shaft" setting is really great for more percussive, muted wah stuff. The wah is definitely adjustable enough to suit different guitars and amps without having too many knobs. When I have too many options, I often end up fiddling with them instead of just playing! It's a killer wah, and I highly recommend it.
That said, I thought I'd share my thoughts on other wah's I've tried to perhaps help someone else's search!
Ibanez Weeping Demon: I know some people knock this pedal, and I understand it looks more suited for a hardcore band than funk, but it's a really versatile wah. It's one of the three I have kept as it's fantastic for bass and the huge range works out really well for some of the progressive bands I play with. The automatic-on feature works really well for some quick leads and such. And the fact that you don't have to turn it on in the toe-up position actually leads to some more creative licks with it. I keep it set sort of similar to a Cry Baby with an extended low end sweep. It's not for the guy that wants a vintage tone, but it's a really killer unit that can be picked up pretty reasonably on the used market.
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB95: This is the 3rd wah I've kept partially because it was my first wah, but I also just really like the tone. Mine is older-ish. I would guess late 90s to early 2000's. It works quite well with overdriven tones, and isn't bad clean. I use it more for sessions at this point than live, and if I were to use it live more, I'd change it to true-bypass. The tonesuck is pretty noticeable. One of my bandmates is using a newer model of this, and it sounds quite good. His has a bit more high end scream, but I think that's more a pot adjustment thing. I've tried a fair number of signature Cry Babies, but I keep coming back to this old standard.
Xotic XW-1: Really nice wah! I only played with this for a bit while in a store, but I was really impressed! It's a favorite of several of my buds, and I can see why. It is a bit smaller than your standard wah without being too small. I honestly prefer full sized, but this one didn't bother me. The Xotic also has a buffer to work well with fuzz, which is always a plus, and it had some knobs on the side to tweak things up. I didn't find the tweaking quite as useful as the Clyde Deluxe, and things got fairly unusable to me fairly quickly, but the tone with everything set at noon is completely fantastic. It's a very natural sounding wah. It's very smooth and would fit well into someone's rig that wants a wah that can be more subtle than most of what you find. I found it more Vox ish than Dunlop ish. I almost came home with this one instead of the Clyde Deluxe. It did have 6 internal dip-switches that I didn't get the chance to play with, so I imagine it's even more versatile than I'm giving it credit for.
Dunlop Cry Baby Mini: I really like the way the low and vintage settings sound on this little guy. Very smooth. The "modern" sound I could take or leave. I really wish the voice switch was on the outside, but it's fine where it is. The smaller enclosure isn't for me. I'm either moving it awkwardly with my toes, or I've got the arch of my foot over the fulcrum like a standard wah, and my foot hangs over uncomfortably. I thought I would like the smaller footprint, save some space on the pedalboard, but I found with my foot placement, I still had to leave room above it or I would hit the next pedal with my toes. It sounds really, really good though. And it's true bypass, for right at $100! I wish there was a full size version of it. But if you like the smaller size, go for it, it's great!
Vox 846 Handwired: This wah is super warm, and very vocal. It's really what you expect from a Vox wah. Really, really great for clean stuff, and quite good with dirt as well. It's really well built with turret mounted components, true bypass, and switchcraft jacks. But it can only run off a battery. I suppose that's to keep it vintage correct or something, but it still seems like an odd choice on a $200 wah. I put it side-by-side with the standard 847, and while there is definitely a difference, I can't say one is better than the other. The 846 is a tad warmer with sweeter mids, but that might not be something you're after. The clear bottom plate to show off the hand-wired guts on the inside is a nice touch.
Vox 847: Great Vox tone. I think some people turn to signature and higher end Dunlop stuff when they're really looking for this tone. It's great for Clapton, Hendrix, and SRV tones. Very, very vocal, and it does really well for clean funk stuff. It's also killer with a good, driven tube amp, though if I was only doing driven tones, I'd probably go Cry Baby. It's not true-bypass, but the newer ones actually have a really nice buffer. I don't really hear any tone suck with these. The wah is a bit harsher than the 846, but by no means as gritty as a Cry Baby. Plus, the chrome top and Vox logo really looks sick!
Vox 848 Clyde McCoy Reissue: A bandmate of mine used this while I swapped between my Cry Baby and my Weeping Demon. This might be my favorite Vox wah, and of course they don't make it anymore! It has the tonal characteristics I love about the 846 but can work with dirt and fuzz more like the 847. Very vocal like most Vox stuff with a very smooth range without getting shrill at all at the top. And it's true bypass! These pop up used for well under the cost of most boutique McCoy clones, and if it's the old McCoy sound you're after, it's a great choice!
Well, this post is getting long, but other wahs I have tried that didn't quite give me what I wanted:
Dunlop Slash (both models), Dunlop Dimebag, Dunlop Bonamassa (but that copper is so, so pretty), Ibanez WH10, Dunlop Bass Cry Baby (actually really nice on guitar as well), Ernie Ball Wah, Danelectro Trip L Wah, Danelectro Dan O Wah, Behringer Hellbabe, Morley Bad Horsie, Morley Power Wah, and probably a couple others that have slipped my mind.
I have not tried any of the Teese stuff. I've read great things, just never seen one in person to try.
Hope this helps someone in their own search for a wah at some point!
I had been using the Ibanez Weeping Demon for my praise band (more on that later), so I'm used to a fairly large sweep. The Clyde Deluxe has a much larger sweep than a standard Dunlop or Vox, which I like a lot. The build on the Fulltone is also rock solid. The buffer let's me run it with my Fuzz Face no problem, so I can finally swap the order back to the more Hendrixy wah then fuzz. My praise band plays a lot of funk, and this thing sits in perfectly. I find myself using the "Whacked" and "Jimi" settings the most, but the "Shaft" setting is really great for more percussive, muted wah stuff. The wah is definitely adjustable enough to suit different guitars and amps without having too many knobs. When I have too many options, I often end up fiddling with them instead of just playing! It's a killer wah, and I highly recommend it.
That said, I thought I'd share my thoughts on other wah's I've tried to perhaps help someone else's search!
Ibanez Weeping Demon: I know some people knock this pedal, and I understand it looks more suited for a hardcore band than funk, but it's a really versatile wah. It's one of the three I have kept as it's fantastic for bass and the huge range works out really well for some of the progressive bands I play with. The automatic-on feature works really well for some quick leads and such. And the fact that you don't have to turn it on in the toe-up position actually leads to some more creative licks with it. I keep it set sort of similar to a Cry Baby with an extended low end sweep. It's not for the guy that wants a vintage tone, but it's a really killer unit that can be picked up pretty reasonably on the used market.
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB95: This is the 3rd wah I've kept partially because it was my first wah, but I also just really like the tone. Mine is older-ish. I would guess late 90s to early 2000's. It works quite well with overdriven tones, and isn't bad clean. I use it more for sessions at this point than live, and if I were to use it live more, I'd change it to true-bypass. The tonesuck is pretty noticeable. One of my bandmates is using a newer model of this, and it sounds quite good. His has a bit more high end scream, but I think that's more a pot adjustment thing. I've tried a fair number of signature Cry Babies, but I keep coming back to this old standard.
Xotic XW-1: Really nice wah! I only played with this for a bit while in a store, but I was really impressed! It's a favorite of several of my buds, and I can see why. It is a bit smaller than your standard wah without being too small. I honestly prefer full sized, but this one didn't bother me. The Xotic also has a buffer to work well with fuzz, which is always a plus, and it had some knobs on the side to tweak things up. I didn't find the tweaking quite as useful as the Clyde Deluxe, and things got fairly unusable to me fairly quickly, but the tone with everything set at noon is completely fantastic. It's a very natural sounding wah. It's very smooth and would fit well into someone's rig that wants a wah that can be more subtle than most of what you find. I found it more Vox ish than Dunlop ish. I almost came home with this one instead of the Clyde Deluxe. It did have 6 internal dip-switches that I didn't get the chance to play with, so I imagine it's even more versatile than I'm giving it credit for.
Dunlop Cry Baby Mini: I really like the way the low and vintage settings sound on this little guy. Very smooth. The "modern" sound I could take or leave. I really wish the voice switch was on the outside, but it's fine where it is. The smaller enclosure isn't for me. I'm either moving it awkwardly with my toes, or I've got the arch of my foot over the fulcrum like a standard wah, and my foot hangs over uncomfortably. I thought I would like the smaller footprint, save some space on the pedalboard, but I found with my foot placement, I still had to leave room above it or I would hit the next pedal with my toes. It sounds really, really good though. And it's true bypass, for right at $100! I wish there was a full size version of it. But if you like the smaller size, go for it, it's great!
Vox 846 Handwired: This wah is super warm, and very vocal. It's really what you expect from a Vox wah. Really, really great for clean stuff, and quite good with dirt as well. It's really well built with turret mounted components, true bypass, and switchcraft jacks. But it can only run off a battery. I suppose that's to keep it vintage correct or something, but it still seems like an odd choice on a $200 wah. I put it side-by-side with the standard 847, and while there is definitely a difference, I can't say one is better than the other. The 846 is a tad warmer with sweeter mids, but that might not be something you're after. The clear bottom plate to show off the hand-wired guts on the inside is a nice touch.
Vox 847: Great Vox tone. I think some people turn to signature and higher end Dunlop stuff when they're really looking for this tone. It's great for Clapton, Hendrix, and SRV tones. Very, very vocal, and it does really well for clean funk stuff. It's also killer with a good, driven tube amp, though if I was only doing driven tones, I'd probably go Cry Baby. It's not true-bypass, but the newer ones actually have a really nice buffer. I don't really hear any tone suck with these. The wah is a bit harsher than the 846, but by no means as gritty as a Cry Baby. Plus, the chrome top and Vox logo really looks sick!
Vox 848 Clyde McCoy Reissue: A bandmate of mine used this while I swapped between my Cry Baby and my Weeping Demon. This might be my favorite Vox wah, and of course they don't make it anymore! It has the tonal characteristics I love about the 846 but can work with dirt and fuzz more like the 847. Very vocal like most Vox stuff with a very smooth range without getting shrill at all at the top. And it's true bypass! These pop up used for well under the cost of most boutique McCoy clones, and if it's the old McCoy sound you're after, it's a great choice!
Well, this post is getting long, but other wahs I have tried that didn't quite give me what I wanted:
Dunlop Slash (both models), Dunlop Dimebag, Dunlop Bonamassa (but that copper is so, so pretty), Ibanez WH10, Dunlop Bass Cry Baby (actually really nice on guitar as well), Ernie Ball Wah, Danelectro Trip L Wah, Danelectro Dan O Wah, Behringer Hellbabe, Morley Bad Horsie, Morley Power Wah, and probably a couple others that have slipped my mind.
I have not tried any of the Teese stuff. I've read great things, just never seen one in person to try.
Hope this helps someone in their own search for a wah at some point!
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