Wah as a Booster Pedal

[Guitar Toad]

Call me crazy if you must. Here is my story...I've been getting my first experience with a wah pedal since trading for an old Dunlop GCB-95 CryBaby. Wah's are really cool. This may be crazy, but I think this wah could serve as a booster. Leave it set in one position for high boosts or mid-boosts, or other...any of you guys ever let a wah take the place of your Tubescreamers or other booster pedals. But, this notion maybe over the top crazy. What say you guys about this? I've heard that Mark Knopfler did this on Money For Nothing.

Is this funny that I ask this question as if seeking validation from others about this, especially after a little experimenting I know that a wah really is cool when used as a booster? :laugh2:

 

[James Rock]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

Well thats really what most people are doing infront of distorted amps/pedals. And it does boost frequency but also cuts them.

 

[Shnook]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

People have been using Wah's for a tone pop since they've been around. If done properly, it does sound pretty cool.

 

[Marcel]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

I thought this well-known method for getting a cutting solo sound... But I forget which well-known guitar player was using this first...

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

Thanks, Marcel, I'm just learning this stuff. On the forum, I mostly hear/see guys posting how they cut through with OD/Distortion pedals. I've missed it where guys use the WAH. But, like I said in the intro it seems totally viable. It may become a booster tool for me more than for the wah effect.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

In an interview I read last year with Zakk Wylde, he said he used the Wah for the same purpose, to give him a little boost for solos. The position he has it in doesn't move much but when it does, it's very tasteful. From listening to how he uses it, it's more of a tool than an effect.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

I find it best not to wank around with the wah, and set it somewhere where it's hot and leave it alone. Also, it helps that my Cry Baby From Hell has a boost function on it that basically acts as an OD. Playing Metallica's Battery at a show a few weeks ago I put on the boost and let my fingers fly while cocking the wah in several positions. I think it's the best my solo tone has ever sounded!

Of course, I've tried "boosting" both with the boost effect on and off, I just find with the boost on you add extra gain that really lets your fingers fly.

 

[wildstar]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

I thought this well-known method for getting a cutting solo sound... But I forget which well-known guitar player was using this first...

I don't know who did it first. But wasn't/isn't this part of Michael Schenker's signature solo tone? Is that who you're thinking of, or do you mean earlier than that?

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

I don't know who did it first. But wasn't/isn't this part of Michael Schenker's signature solo tone? Is that who you're thinking of, or do you mean earlier than that?

Ding-Ding-Ding! We have a winner. Michael Schenker is perhaps the best- known user of this technique. Coincidentally, there's a review of the new UFO DVD in the latest Guitar Player (Alec Lifeson on the cover) that mentions this.

But yes, lots of players use a wha in a fixed position for a certain boosted/EQ tone.

 

[Kelsey]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

I picked up a vintage pat.pending Crybaby wah that was modded by a local amp tech. It sounds excellent, and I'm rediscovering the joys of wah after being without one for over 20 years. One of the things I especially like to do is to find the moving sweet spot that adds resonance to individual notes as you move across the fret board. It's a cool tool!

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

I can get a passable Sweet Child... tone out of my Legacy in the neck pos'n, through my Marshall, by setting my wah to a set pos'n. Plus it's already on for when I switch to the bridge pup for the solo!!

 

[saladin]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" has Mick Ronson using a Crybaby as a tone boost on quite a few of the songs, this is one of the first recorded uses. Now thinking about it,I'm sure "Queen Bitch" from Hunky Dory uses this effect as well-1970!!!

 

[Truant]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

Well, both Hendrix and Clapton used it in stationary positions. Though I'm not sure about ONLY as a solo boost.

They would obviously be the first two examples. Hendrix having given a prototype wah to Clapton as a gift.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

Thanks for all the info. Perhaps, I hadn't read enough wah threads to learn about the use of a wah in a stationary position.

I appreciated all the info. I guess it's not such a crazy idea after all.
Rock on.

 

[Pecan]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

Whatever works for you I reckon. If you think something you experimented with sounds awsome and you think you can use it the right places, its good.

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Wah as a Booster Pedal

We have one rule in my studio classes....There's only one overriding rule over every idea and every notion, every thought, and creative spurt....no formula or method can outweigh this rule...

If it sounds good, it is good.

It's as simple as that