Tips with using a wah pedal.

[greendy123]

I know that using a wah pedal is more experimental gear that just gets better as your experience increases. Do you guys have any good tips on how to use a wah pedal or know of any good songs for me to practice using my wah pedal on? All I mostly know is how to do the quick sweeps and trying learn to do the slower sweeps.

[Kac]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

watch videos of Joe Satriani

Live in SanFransisco is a good one.

Rock On!

[nuntius]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

At the very least listen to and learn the intro to Voodoo Chile by Hendrix...

I second Satch also

You just have to learn to feel where you want the inflection and overtones; and at the end of the day that's just going to come through experience. Wah away!

[shreder75]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

just don't overdo it =)

[Marinblues]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

I'd say listen to some Hendrix and Robben Fords blues stuff (especially his track "Cut me to the Bone"). I'd recommend Wah Wah Watson for some great wha wha rythm work.

Here's are my humble contribution to the wha:

Shout! clip




Marin

[greendy123]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

At the very least listen to and learn the intro to Voodoo Chile by Hendrix...

I second Satch also

You just have to learn to feel where you want the inflection and overtones; and at the end of the day that's just going to come through experience. Wah away!

Yeah Satch is pretty good. On his latest album the song "The Souls of Distortion" is basically a wah pedal through the whole song. Guess I keep practicing that and some of the others you guys suggested

[wickedmartini]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

Hendrix, Vai... The sweet wah licks in tunes like THe Joker by Steve Miller... When you get a wah you find yourself paying more attention to the subtle uses of it... And, as somebody said above, try not to over use it... Have fun..!

[PFDarkside]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

Is there some wah in Tangerine by Led Zep?

Start by accentuating either the beat or the up-beat as you are playing normally to get a feel for the pedal. The leave the pedal back and only sweep it forward to accentuate certain notes (random timing). Also try sweeping slowly as you play a lick or riff. Once yo umaster those few techniques try to cop some of the above examples and you should be good!

[Simon_F]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

Not all wahs are the same. You have to spend time with YOUR wah and really become familiar with it to get the best out of it. Where the sweet spots are, and how to make it talk. Just wailing away on your guitar while you whack the pedal up and down rhythmically works pretty well in some tunes, but you'll sound so much better if you can coordinate your hands and your wah foot so that you actually make the guitar talk. If you find yourself making silly faces you're probably on the right track.

For example try whacking the pedal forward then back as you aggressively slide a note down the neck. Front of the pedal goes hard down as you pick the note, then back up as you slide down. Make it go WOWwww! It can take a little while to get the timing just right, but it sounds so cool once you master it.

Another neat trick is just playing with the wah half-c0cked. Find the sweet spot in the middle and keep it there while you solo, maybe going either side a bit to add expression. Michael Schenker did this on a lot of classic UFO tracks. Brian Robertson with Thin Lizzy too.

Brian Robertson's solo on Lizzy's "Don't Believe A Word" is fairly short and demonstrates superb wah playing. Well worth checking out.

Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" is textbook.

[Bludave]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

Essential Wah Wah listening.

1. Cream Tales of Brave Ulysses..... White Room (studio version)
2. Hendrix.... Voodoo Child slight return, Rainy day Dream Away. Or anything off of Electric Ladyland!
3. SRV's version of Voodoo Child is excellent as well

A Wah Wah has a much greater range when you keep the gain down. If you listen to these fine examples of great Wah Wah work you will notice that the Amps are overdriven just slightly. This allows the Wah a much greter effect on the tone when you rock the pedal. When you are using a lot of gain and distortion it brings the mids and bass up an it tends to take away from the Wah effect. Try to learn to use Wah Wah using very little or no distortion........ enjoy!

[ratherdashing]

Re: Tips with using a wah pedal.

One thing you can also do is simply use the wah as a tone control. And yes, it sounds MUCH different than your guitar's tone control (the sweep is much larger). Push back on your heel, but leave it halfway up, and you can get a very mellow lead tone with a big chunk of the treble rolled off. Combine this with high gain and you get an almost synth-like tone.

A perfect example of this is "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits.