Which Wah?

[lemoley]

So I have been searching around for a while now as to what Wah to get and I have come to the conclusion that there are only really two competitors out there:-

Morleys Bass Dual Wah

Jim Dunlops Bass Wah

...so my question to you is which is better?

With the Morley it can be turned off and has a 'Funk' setting which sounds pretty cool but with the Dunlop its what all the greats use and its there Wah im trying to emulate e.g Flea, Timmy C, Robert Trujilio etc...

I play all sorts of music so I want it to be versatlie too.

Cheers

[cheddatom]

I have not tried them, so I am no help whatsoever and you shouldn't keep reading my post. However, the best wah I have tried (and i've tried a few - boss, guitar cry baby, some morley wah) is the Zvex Wah Probe!!!!!! You can't get funkier.

[2wheeler]

Actually it's spelt "[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration"]alliteration[/url]".



Illiteration would be not being able to spell?

[gilmour]

I thought Flea use an Envelope filter or an auto Wah?

Have you considered using one of them, if that's who's sound you are trying to emulate?

[The Funk]

The two bass wahs I can recommend:

1. EBS WahOne (which I own - very smooth)
2. Snarlin' Dogs Bootzilla (which I've tried out twice - raw)

A third option, if you already have a Crybaby and don't like it, is the Red Lion upgrade kit from [url="http://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/wah2.htm"]Roger Mayer[/url] (who designed, built and tweaked some of Jimi's effects).

[lemoley]

oh yeah, i also forgot to mention i would prefer it to be digital which i think the Morley is unlike the Dunlop

[LeftySteve]

Hi Mike
I am not really qualified to comment as I have not tried one.... but, I have read nothing but good stuff about the Emma Discombobulator (spelling?!?!) It is all analogue though.

Steve

[lemoley]

thanks for the suggestion Steve

[dirtystatic]

ibanez weeping demon maybe? its not bass specific but it sounds fantastic

[LeftySteve]

No worries.

I have just had a look at a recentish copy of Bass Guitar Magazine which has a group test of 4 synth/wah pedals. If its any use to you by all means drop me a message with your address and I will put it in the post to you.

For info, the Akai Deep Impact came out on top in the test (quelle surprise!!!)

Cheers

Steve

[lemoley]

you know guys i have just realised that the specifications that i want in a wah are just too much for any company to come up with...

True Bypass - On/Off
Digital
Volume
Amount of Wah
Different types of wah on it also - Auto, Synth etc

i think im gonna have to stick to my origianl idea and go custom

[cheddatom]

[quote name='lemoley' post='56661' date='Sep 6 2007, 07:27 PM']you know guys i have just realised that the specifications that i want in a wah are just too much for any company to come up with...

True Bypass - On/Off
Digital
Volume
Amount of Wah
Different types of wah on it also - Auto, Synth etc

i think im gonna have to stick to my origianl idea and go custom[/quote]

Why do you want it to be digital? XP-100 has some cool wahs and auto wahs, 6 memory patches and a bypass switch. You could probably mod it for tb, but maybe just buy a loop pedal? You'd need a blender to mix the wet and dry though.

[The Funk]

Got to repeat the question above: why does it have to be digital?

[lemoley]

the reason i prefer Digital over Analogue is that imo the said effect sounds alot better and also you tend not to have any problems with them due to there being no moving parts that could potentially break or need replacing etc...

[alexclaber]

[quote name='lemoley' post='56884' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:35 AM']the reason i prefer Digital over Analogue is that imo the said effect sounds alot better and also you tend not to have any problems with them due to there being no moving parts that could potentially break or need replacing etc...[/quote]

I think you misunderstand the difference between analogue and digital electronics - sounds like you're comparing pure electronics and electronics with electromechanical parts.

I have never come across custom digital pedals. Digital sounds no better than analogue - both can be great depending on implementation. Analogue pedals are much easier to fix than digital pedals and in my experieince less likely to break in the first place.

Alex

[The Funk]

I'd have to agree with that.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='lemoley' post='56884' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:35 AM']the reason i prefer Digital over Analogue is that imo the said effect sounds alot better and also you tend not to have any problems with them due to there being no moving parts that could potentially break or need replacing etc...[/quote]

How could you have a wah with no moving parts? Unless instead of "digital" you're meaning "optical" in that some pedals use light/ldr type deal as opposed to a physical pot. Some other people have said above, but, there is nothing inherently better about digital products. You certainly couldn't generalise and say "digital wahs are better quality than analog".





Has anyone else tried the wah probe on bass? I seriously think it's amazing, more people should try it!

[lemoley]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='56892' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:42 AM']I think you misunderstand the difference between analogue and digital electronics - sounds like you're comparing pure electronics and electronics with electromechanical parts.

I have never come across custom digital pedals. Digital sounds no better than analogue - both can be great depending on implementation. Analogue pedals are much easier to fix than digital pedals and in my experieince less likely to break in the first place.

Alex[/quote]

okay, before i start can i warn you i am crap at naming things and explaining stuff...

firstly there are companies out there who build custom effects pedals - in fact it was a user on here who suggested and posted a link to one in the U.K saying how impressed with his he was

secondly in the long run digital pedals do sound better than analogue, sure when you open up a new analogue pedal and compare it to a digital pedal there both going to sound great but over time due to the analogue pedal having moving and more parts than a digital e.g a resistor, flow gate etc comparred to just a microchip what do you think isd going to happen to all those components over time - i bet the computer made part in the digital lasts longer and sounds better in a coulpe of years than the many man made parts in a analogue pedal which will need replacing

trust me man when i first started playing and i knew nothing about pedals etc i bought all analogue pedals as they tend to be cheaper than digital ones and all of them sounded either crappy or not as good as their digital counter-parts - even the Crybaby i had was a night-mare

[lemoley]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='56898' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:51 AM']How could you have a wah with no moving parts? Unless instead of "digital" you're meaning "optical" in that some pedals use light/ldr type deal as opposed to a physical pot. Some other people have said above, but, there is nothing inherently better about digital products. You certainly couldn't generalise and say "digital wahs are better quality than analog".
Has anyone else tried the wah probe on bass? I seriously think it's amazing, more people should try it![/quote]

e.g im looking at my Digitech EX-7 expression pedal for guitar and the only moving part on it is the pedal, now if you get a wiring diagram for a Crybaby look how much sh*t is in there

at the end of the day man i paid lots of money for my Crybaby and it was full of problems - kept breaking and the quality of wah it produced varied

since then (and were talking years here) i have bought and used nothing but digital and how happy am i with there sound and quality? 100%

[The Funk]

Fair enough but it's a shame that the awful, awful Crybaby has put you off all the very good, very well made analogue wahs out there.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='lemoley' post='56904' date='Sep 7 2007, 12:03 PM']e.g im looking at my Digitech EX-7 expression pedal for guitar and the only moving part on it is the pedal, now if you get a wiring diagram for a Crybaby look how much sh*t is in there

at the end of the day man i paid lots of money for my Crybaby and it was full of problems - kept breaking and the quality of wah it produced varied

since then (and were talking years here) i have bought and used nothing but digital and how happy am i with there sound and quality? 100%[/quote]

In your cry baby, the only moving part is the pot built into the pedal. If you get an "optical" wah, I think morley make them, they have an LED and an LDR and in between a bit of plastic that moves up and down when you move the pedal, changing resistance, letting you wah. If you get a digital wah, there will be a pedal, and either a built in pot that will break, or an optical system. This can be digital or analog. There is nothing else that will move. Maybe after 10 years or so you will get degredation of transistors etc, but there is no "digital is better than analog" rule.

Your EX-7 has a pedal that has to change resistance somehow.

[alexclaber]

[quote name='lemoley' post='56901' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:59 AM']firstly there are companies out there who build custom effects pedals - in fact it was a user on here who suggested and posted a link to one in the U.K saying how impressed with his he was[/quote]

They're all analogue, not digital.

[quote name='lemoley' post='56901' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:59 AM']secondly in the long run digital pedals do sound better than analogue, sure when you open up a new analogue pedal and compare it to a digital pedal there both going to sound great but over time due to the analogue pedal having moving and more parts than a digital e.g a resistor, flow gate etc comparred to just a microchip what do you think isd going to happen to all those components over time[/quote]

None of those parts move! The only part that moves in a wah pedal is a potentiometer.

[quote name='lemoley' post='56901' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:59 AM']- i bet the computer made part in the digital lasts longer and sounds better in a coulpe of years than the many man made parts in a analogue pedal which will need replacing[/quote]

The parts in analogue and digital pedals are all manufactured by machines.

[quote name='lemoley' post='56901' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:59 AM']trust me man when i first started playing and i knew nothing about pedals etc i bought all analogue pedals as they tend to be cheaper than digital ones and all of them sounded either crappy or not as good as their digital counter-parts - even the Crybaby i had was a night-mare[/quote]

No, I don't trust you, you don't know what you're talking about!

Alex

[lemoley]

okay please read my post in which i stated what i wanted in this custom wah

do you think a analogue pedal is going to be capable of having all that?

now look at all the mutli-effect units out, they are the majority if not all digital this is due to fact that with digital pedals it is eay to programme them to come up with a differetn sound at a flick of the switch

im not asking you to trust me just see where im coming from

oh yeah and its not just my Crybaby that was a problem i have tried and asked other peeps about there pedals and they have said the same thing

[bassbloke]

Multi effects units all tend to be produced by large electronics companies with the R&D budgets to develop the custom ICs used in these units.

Digital designs are not superior to analogue designs, just ultimately cheaper, once the above R&D costs have been covered because you can produce an effect with a fraction of the components.

You get good digital products and bad digital products. If all digital products were ultimately superior to their analogue counterparts, music studios wouldn't bother spending top dollar on high quality valve compressors and vocal preamps, they'd pop down to Sound Control and stock up on Zoom multi-FX units instead.

[cheddatom]

I think when you said "I need digital" you meant to say "I want a pedal with lots of different kinds of wah on that I can switch between with my foot".

There is an Akai vari-wah which may be appropriate, but i've not tried it. Otherwise, Xp-100 or some multi-effects unit. I can't think of any others. I don't think you'll be able to get one custom made, or at least not easily or for a reasonable price.