EMB Audio Rack Wah, part 2 with clip(s)

[Monty-Jay]

Alrighty...So I've had the EMB for awhile now and have a pretty good feeling for it and know how to tweak it, so I wanted to update my previous post/"review" and also provide a few clips.

First and foremost, I gotta say that the clip(s) aren't that great (and I'm not talking about the usual "excuse my sloppy playing" type of stuff...but due excuse it anyway ) and this is due to several reasons:

1) My recording setup isn't that great. All I've got to record with right now is a minidisc recorder and a few pairs of binaural microphones.

2) The EMB Audio system is more like a filter, not like conventional wahs. True, wahs are basically filters, but the EMB AUdio system is more pure to the name. It literally just filters through what sound you already have, it doesn't add or sit on top of your tone, it gets inside it and reshapes that.

3) Because of #2, if your setup/tone isn't that great, the wah tone won't be that great. Unfortunately, this is my case. All I have is my Witchdoctor (which does great rhythm crunch but lacks in the lead department) and 2 modded ADA MP1s. The Witchdoctor did sound cool and the EMB sounded more "real" but the leads were crappy. The problem with the MP1s is that I don't have a tube poweramp, or any poweramp right now. I am running it directly in front of my JC120 head. This is ok for rhythm since the tones are kept a bit tighter and it sounds alright, but it makes the lead tones extremely thin and icy sounding.

4) I've kinda been in a rut and not really into guitar too much. This is mainly due to school and other "real world" stuff that has had me down lately...so the heart's not entirely in it

So, having said that, I did make one other clip and it was direct to the computer using an old POD. Here it is: [link=http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/Members/000105797_000028029.mp3]emb audio wah, direct recording[/link]

As you know, this unit has three controls: LOW, HIGH, and DEPTH. And as I mentioned earlier, this unit is not like other conventional wahs. It does *not* use an inductor or a pot at all and it doesn't get that nice SRV/vintage greasy quack. What it *does* get is a nice fat sound and a very even tone. By that I mean that when you are playing on the lower strings and frets, the sound doesn't fart out, it stays tight. Same with the highs. When you are playing on the higher strings/frets, many other wahs will sound thinner and more honky/nasaly. The EMB keep the tone very tight and thick.

You might think the LOW control determines the amount of bass present in the tone. It doesn't. The EMB has it's own unique tone and it's automatically present and you can't change that. What you can change is the position of the tone in relation to the pedal sweep. The LOW works with the lower sweep of the pedal (naturally) and it can be very stretchy/vocal sounding near the off to lower range, or move it higher and the range seems to sit in a Schenker like position. As you get higher, the overall sweep becomes almost non-existant. I like keeping it anywhere from 7:00 to 9:00. Anything above that makes it seem smaller at first, then no sweep and you have your ****ed Schenker wah tone.

The HIGH control works the same way. Once your low end sweep is set, you can use the HIGH control to determine the amount/position of the HIGH end sweep. This seems to start working well around the 2:30 position and I like to keep it almost all the way up. IF you do keep it all the way up and then slowly rock the pedal from toe down to heel down, you can hear a slight "jump" in the tone but this can be fixed by raising the LOWs just a bit or backing off the HIGHs.

 

[Monty-Jay]

Re: EMB Audio Rack Wah, part 2 with clip(s)

The DEPTH control is something that has been puzzling me. At first, I thought it was extremely subtle and left it all the way up. Several days ago, I spent some more time (the first good amount of time I had) with it and used some cleaner distortion settings to really hear how everything worked. I was conviced that the DEPTH control was broken because there was almost no audible change at all. Other FX have a DEPTH control and what does it do? It determines the amount of effect you hear. So I thought with the DEPTH control at its lowest position, it would sound like I'm not using the wah...wrong. I could still hear it. So I slowly turned it up and it sounded the same. I thought I heard a little change at the VERY highest setting, but I wasn't too sure. I left it alone and started to work on some clips...

Now that was a few days ago and I recently went back to work with the DEPTH control because it was seriously bugging me. I had been trying to dial in a wah tone that was similar to Hammett's on FUEL from S&M (or any song with wah off S&M). Now I know many people don't care for Kirk, especially when it comes to his wah usage...and that's fine. But personally, for high gain situations, I really honestly dig his wah tone and that's what I'm shooting for. He and Slash (you can hear his EMB wah on the 87-93 CD during SCOM) are the reasons I searched for an EMB Audio wah, I love both of their 90s wah tones.


I wasn't really getting close to Hammett's tone and I didn't expect it to sound exactly like it since I didn't have the same gear...but I was hoping it would sound close. And it does...kinda. In a nutshell, Hammett was using an MII with EMGs, EMB wah, modified TS9, Triaxis, JMP1, Recto, and a Strategy 400 power amp for his solo tones. I have two superstrats, a JAckson and an LTD MII but they both have Duncans. I do have the EMB as well as a modified TS9, butI don't have the rest and as I mentioned earlier, I don't have a tube power amp. I also have Hammet's EMB wah settings. His LOW is around 1:00, HIGH around 10:00, and DEPTH at 12:00. Going off of what I previously said about settings, can you guess how this sounds on *my* setup? Yep...The LOW is too high and the HIGH is too low. The sweep is pretty much gone and you are left with a ****ed wah tone.

Two factors popped into my head at this point...1) Obviously Kirk's gear is a lot different from mine and he does build all his tones specifically for each song. 2) My EMB Audio system is "Revision 1" and Kirk had at least two of these. The first one he used in the early 90s is probably closer to mine and the second one was what he used in the mid to late 90s. BOTH were in his live racks, but he *only* used the second one during live performances. So who knows, maybe there where some changes made in the design. Kirk's rig got a major overhaul in 1995 and if you compare that to ~1992/1993, you can hear the wah tone change as well. It's stretchier, has more muscle and strength to it.

So anyway, I literally had this tone in my head, guitar in hand and started tweaking the EMB again, especially the DEPTH. I came full circle and came to the conclusion that yes, there is a difference when you adjust the DEPTH control but it *only* happens at the very peak of the rotation. It seems to add just a little more muscle to the tone.

 

[Monty-Jay]

Re: EMB Audio Rack Wah, part 2 with clip(s)

I now stand waiting for a tube poweramp (planning to buy the Carvin TS100) to see how much of a difference that makes and I'm also planning to drop a set of EMGs into another MII style guitar I have. The EMB tone is good, but it's not S&M good (for me) right now. I have spoken with another guy that also has an EMB system and he says pretty much the same thing regarding the DEPTH control, but that he could pretty much nail Hammett's tone. I think he uses a Triaxis, JMP1 and Recto

As it is, it doesn't sound like anything too special but I dig the basic tone it has and the feeling is really good, all your notes are strong and don't thin out like on most wahs. If I were to be playing some old school blues rock, I'd use my Teese for sure. If I'd be playing some hard rock, I'd have both And if you want an easy EMB type tone...Buy a Morley

MJ