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Wah question

MichaelMcKevinMichaelMcKevin Posts: 1,161
edited June 2007 in Musicians and Gearheads
Just got my wah (Budda Budwah) and I had a question. Brace yourselves cuz this might be a dumb one.

Is it just supposed to sound like a tone knob that I control with my foot? I know that Mike does some solos and licks where he just turns the wah on and leaves it in one place. When I tried that, it didn't really sound like the wah was on. It just affected the tone. Thus, the effect was only acheived when I move my toe down and up (voodoo chile sorta thing).

Heel Down/Toe Up: Sounds like tone knob on 0
Toe Down/Heel Up: Sounds like tone knob on 10

I know the Budwah is supposed to be someone different as it eliminate the "high end quackiness" that other wahs have.
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Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    sort of.

    it's actually a moving EQ boost. so, heel down, it's boosting low frequencies. heel up and it's boosting high frequencies. sweeping that peak across makes the "wah".

    however, in certain positions in the sweep, it can be quite resonant depending on where you are playing on the neck and you'll hear certain frequencies jump out. that's kind of the trick to the whole "parked wah" thing. finding the place in the sweep that interacts strongly with what you're playing. it's not a matter of leaving it anywhere in the sweep because yeah, unless you're getting that resonance happening, it does just sort of sound like a tone knob.
  • DOSWDOSW Posts: 2,014
    I'm pretty sure that's exactly what a wah pedal is... a tone knob controlled by your foot. The 'wah' sound is a result of the tone changing from low to high.

    [edit] exhausted said it better than I did. :D
    It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    It's more like a parametric EQ than what you think of with the average tone knob. an inductor driven EQ so to speak.

    It's a sweepable tone shaping device.

    The stuck wah thing you have to experiment with to get into that position leave it and play with it.

    The Budda has a smoother sound quality to it's top end sound than say a cry baby, so when you have it in the full treble boosted foward position it dosen't go all ice pick in your ear.

    Ex is dead on, some effects are more pronounced at different places on the neck or by using different techniques.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • lucylespianlucylespian Posts: 2,403
    As the guys have said, also I'm on the team that thinks wahs are supposed to quack a bit. Often the tone will die a bit as you sweep through a wah. I notice this a lot with teh BAd CAt, but the Mesa 2C+ is not a problem. So depending on your amp/guitar combination, you might find a clean boost will help. I don't use wah with the BAd Cat now, sounds too thin.
    I assume you are using in front of the amp, not in a loop ??

    They take a bit of getting used to, getting the string attack and sweep co-ordinated to produce a good sound , instead of just sucking your tone dead.
    If you can watch a clip of SRV doing the intro to Voodoo Chile Slight Return,m that is a good exercise to copy to help there.
    Music is not a competetion.
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