Ultimate bass wah

[X111j004]

Perfect bass wah

Ok every I need your help, I am so fed up with all the bass wah’s on the market that I have decided to build my own and use it as the first pedal to launch my company. I have been building and modding pedals for a few years now. My problem is that no one pedal seams to be the perfect solution for bass. So I have gathered pretty much every bass wah I can think of to test and build the best features into one, a bass wah by bass players for bass players

So far I have gathered

ESB bass wah one
Dunlop 105q bass wah
Dunlop original bass wah (gb-100)
Dunlop geezer butler wah (just pre ordered)
Morley dual bass wah
Morley cliff Burton wah
Morley power boost what (what cliff actually used on RTL & MOP)
Dunlop 535q (used by a few bassists)
Electro harmonix crying bass wah (worst of the lot right?)
Boss dynamic wah
Ibanez wearing demon

Is there any I have missed I should be trying? This project is already costing me a little bit but hopefully I should be able to make a bass wah and With the plan of not charging boutique prices £50 of parts should never be sold for £300 cough cough darkglass (apple of the pedal world right 😂) Just kiddin dark glass are great 👌🏼
So
What features does everyone love or hate about these pedals?
True bypass? Separate switch to turn on? Toe down to turn on or 105q style of always on and returns back when foot is lifted? Built in fuzz? Variable controls inside or outside? Should the sweep be more or less than the dunlop or Morley?
What features would you’s like to see on a bass wah?
Powerful like cliff Burton or funky like the 105q or EBS?
How low does everyone tune? Does anyone play a 6 string?

Any help or advice would be appreciated. As much as I love MXR and most my pedal board contains the bass innovations lineup I can’t stand the lack of bass good bass wah’s available to bass players.

[X111j004]

Oh and if this kind of post isn't aloud then please delete

Thanks everyone

[Johnny Wishbone]

105Q is as close as I've found to perfect (for me), in that it's auto-switching and has controls for adjusting the Q and volume boost. Negatives are the crap buffered bypass (I'm not a true-bypass purist but the Dunlop buffer is a tone killer), the fact that there is a pre-set effect delay (which you can of course turn off with the internal trimmer, but why have it in the first place?!?!?) and the sheer weight of the chassis. Robust build quality is an obvious must, but surely it doesn't have to weigh as much as that?

For me, the controls on the outside is both a plus and minus - makes it easier and less fiddly to set up and fine-tune, but they can get knocked easily if not protected in a flight case or similar. On balance, having them on the inside is probably [i]slightly[/i] better.

Built-in fuzz would be a no from me, but a small footprint would be a definite advantage - I'd never buy a Morley as they take up way too much room with the massive baseplate.

[Higgie]

Check out the MSD Earthquaker Bass Wah. I've got one and it's great!

[NoirBass]

I'm not a great wah user, but by far the best I've ever tried was the EBS Stanly Clarke sig wah:

http://ebssweden.com/content2/ebs-stanley-clarke-signature-wahtone-filter/

Edited July 26, 2017 by NoirBass

[X111j004]

[quote name='Higgie' timestamp='1501083749' post='3342367']
Check out the MSD Earthquaker Bass Wah. I've got one and it's great!
[/quote]

Thank I'll give it a try

[X111j004]

[quote name='NoirBass' timestamp='1501083977' post='3342369']
I'm not a great wah user, but by far the best I've ever tried was the EBS Stanly Clarke sig wah:

http://ebssweden.com/content2/ebs-stanley-clarke-signature-wahtone-filter/
[/quote]

It's one I've never tried but I'll add it to the list

[X111j004]

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1501083638' post='3342363']
105Q is as close as I've found to perfect (for me), in that it's auto-switching and has controls for adjusting the Q and volume boost. Negatives are the crap buffered bypass (I'm not a true-bypass purist but the Dunlop buffer is a tone killer), the fact that there is a pre-set effect delay (which you can of course turn off with the internal trimmer, but why have it in the first place?!?!?) and the sheer weight of the chassis. Robust build quality is an obvious must, but surely it doesn't have to weigh as much as that?

For me, the controls on the outside is both a plus and minus - makes it easier and less fiddly to set up and fine-tune, but they can get knocked easily if not protected in a flight case or similar. On balance, having them on the inside is probably [i]slightly[/i] better.

Built-in fuzz would be a no from me, but a small footprint would be a definite advantage - I'd never buy a Morley as they take up way too much room with the massive baseplate.
[/quote]

I'd agree that the 105q is a beast for it's build and features, also I'm not a true bypass nut either. But I feel the 105q was never powerful enough for me. Great for funky, not so much for rock and metal. Always had the feeling like most bass players use it due to lack of other options. I've also dabbles with the rare Dunlop octive wah on bass. Add some fuzz to it and it's an incredibly powerful scream. I may have to make an all in one version.

[dannybuoy]

You missed:[list]
[*]Dunlop Mini Bass Wah
[*]Hotone Bass Press
[*]AMT Alien Girl Bass Wah
[*]G-Lab Bass Wowee
[*]Sonuus Wahoo
[*]Real McCoy RMC9-Bass Eqwahlyzer
[*]Wilson Bass Wah
[*]Wilson Freaker Wah
[*]Source Audio Manta + Expression pedal
[*](in fact tons of envelope filter with expression input, such as the Wonderlove)
[/list]
I'm currently using the Hotone Bass Press, it's decent, cheap, tiny, and triples as an expression or volume pedal. It sounds better than the mini AMT wah too.

[BigBassBob]

It's become something of a standard on a lot of pedals these days but something I'd want would be a blend control. The 105q was really cool when put into a clean blend loop but unless you used dirt I just didn't did its tone.

[Skybone]

And the above list has also missed the Colorsound Wah & Tychobrahe.

Edited July 26, 2017 by Skybone

[X111j004]

[quote name='BigBassBob' timestamp='1501087824' post='3342417']
It's become something of a standard on a lot of pedals these days but something I'd want would be a blend control. The 105q was really cool when put into a clean blend loop but unless you used dirt I just didn't did its tone.
[/quote]

A blend control now that's someone original for a wah

[Japhet]

The G Lab Bass Wowee Wah is well worth a look for some cool ideas.

[X111j004]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1501086754' post='3342408']
You missed:[list]
[*]Dunlop Mini Bass Wah
[*]Hotone Bass Press
[*]AMT Alien Girl Bass Wah
[*]G-Lab Bass Wowee
[*]Sonuus Wahoo
[*]Real McCoy RMC9-Bass Eqwahlyzer
[*]Wilson Bass Wah
[*]Wilson Freaker Wah
[*]Source Audio Manta + Expression pedal
[*](in fact tons of envelope filter with expression input, such as the Wonderlove)
[/list]
I'm currently using the Hotone Bass Press, it's decent, cheap, tiny, and triples as an expression or volume pedal. It sounds better than the mini AMT wah too.
[/quote]

Wilson Freaker Wah, never heard of the brand before but loving the videos so far, may have to invest in one soon

[cheddatom]

[quote name='X111j004' timestamp='1501093879' post='3342494']
A blend control now that's someone original for a wah ����
[/quote]

rather than a clean blend it'd be good to have a lo-pass blend, so keep everything up to like 200Hz clean and then wah above that. Otherwise the bass can really drop out

[Quatschmacher]

3leaf Proton, Wonderlove
Electro Harmonix Q-Tron, Enigma
Mutron
Keeley Neutrino

I'd definitely want either a blend and overall volume knob OR separate FX and DRY knobs. That's the great thing about the MXR BEF. Other pedals have great sounds but large volume spikes so being able to match the bypass and FX volumes is great. Switchable bandpass and lowpass is also great. Blending clean signal with bandpass is essential otherwise it sounds way too thin.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Quatschmacher

[Johnny Wishbone]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1501147070' post='3342778']
rather than a clean blend it'd be good to have a lo-pass blend, so keep everything up to like 200Hz clean and then wah above that. Otherwise the bass can really drop out
[/quote]
I'm pretty sure the 105Q does that, although I'm not sure at what frequency.

[BigBassBob]

I didn't like the slap tones with the 105Q... too muffled or too nasal. It would be nice to have a pure clean signal blended to get some snap back to mix with the quack.

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1501147070' post='3342778']
rather than a clean blend it'd be good to have a lo-pass blend, so keep everything up to like 200Hz clean and then wah above that. Otherwise the bass can really drop out
[/quote]

The Wahoo can do all that and more. The stock bass wah preset is very much like that, with a fixed lowpass filter in parallel with a foot controlled bandpass filter. You can blend full range clean in on top of all that as well, and also add a bit of drive, reduce the Q at the bass end to stop speakers exploding, all kinds of stuff to play with. It is a pain to program as you have to use an app to get the most out of it, and it needs isolated power to overcome noise issues.

[cheddatom]

I just use a guitar wah as I have a lo-passed clean blend on my whole effects chain

...I use a Zvex wah probe which is kind of gimmicky but I'm very used to it now and it sounds ace. I've also really enjoyed the Boss AW-3 with EXP pedal although don't bother since my cheap EXP pedal broke

[paul_5]

Uncoloured bypass (or true bypass) is a must; I've lost count of the number of Wahs that I've modded to true bypass for other players.
Blend control is pretty much a necessity for bass - in addition I'd put some sort of hpf on the wah circuit to allow the user to tune which frequencies get affected by the wah.

Just my 2p worth.

[Higgie]

The MSD Wah I mentioned earlier seems to cover everything. It has a pressure activated switch on the treadle, or a footswitch, so you can activate it when you put your foot on it, or just turn the pedal on or off. It also has the clean blend mode, and you can set the mix with an internal trimpot, or just have classic straight up wah sounds. A parallel output is always handy, and with 3 frequency bands and 4 sweep ranges to choose from, gives you 12 possible combos, or 24 if you include the switch between blended and straight. Really versatile! Seems to have quite a few of the features you would want in a wah pedal.

[CameronJ]

I've have never had much desire to buy a wah pedal (I own 3 Envelope filters) but this thread is now giving me GAS. Thanks guys...

[AJ567]

I was just thinking about this. My dream 'wah' pedal would actually be the [url="https://ironether.com/pedals/xerograph/"]Iron Ether Xerograph[/url] low pass filter (regular version), re-housed into a Dunlop Mini Crybaby shell. You would just need to add two external trimmers for resonance and volume (just like the mini bass crybaby), plus a mini toggle switch for 2-pole/4-pole. The treadle would operate the frequency pot.

If such a thing were possible, I'll write you a cheque right now...

[VAMPYRE 5]

EBS WahOne is the pedal I've settled on after buying & trying many, many wahs.
I play an Active Warwick Vampyre SN Custom 5 string.
I wanted a totally CLEAN pedal with ZERO overdrive, crackle or input overload break up - EBS.
Retains the most amount of -55 hz rumble.
Liked the Morley Dual switchless but they have a very slight bit of dirt built into them and the input gain is actually an output volume which doesn't really help!
EBS gives you clean and bottom end plus I have mine modded so the range is absolutely massive.
Mats @ EBS is a star🤘🏻🤘🏻

Bass Lead with EBS wah sample...
More (Bass 'Wah' Mixture)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/gh3/Ever-Unfolding-XII/B01CZBMEU0