Was listening to Stink-Foot by Frank Zappa yesterday, and marveled at the wonderful use of the wah-wah pedal in his guitar solo. I recall “back in the day” it was used by quite a few rock guitarists, though I also recall few knew how to use it effectively (IMO).
What are your thoughts on the wah-wah pedal? Do you think it diminishes or enhances a guitar solo? What are some examples of it being used effectively? Is it still used?
Yes, still used. Can Ben overused - Kirk Hammett is my cite. He reduces its value in his sound with his overuse.
Can be overused. Sorry.
I don’t need no wah-wah
And I know how sweet life can be
If I keep myself free
Steve Vai and Satriani both use it a lot.
Now, now. You can’t over-use it, Kirk just uses it badly. If he had taste, you could have another guitarist using one at the same time for the whole song, and it wouldn’t be too much. Curtis Mayfield is my cite.
ETA: And I still have/use one!
Curtis Mayfield is a god. Kirk? Not so much.
They can be fun when plugged in backwards with a single coil guitar.
I’ve thought about getting a pedal for covers.
I haven’t heard a wah-wah in a new song in a long time.
Wah-wah pedals will come back into style eventually. All it takes is a new hot release from a current Artist.
Wah is definitely still a thing. But I’ve gotta leave mine at home:( I either forget it’s there or I forget it’s the steak sauce, not the steak.:smack:
Too bad, I’ve got a really nice Thomas Organ Co wah from about 67 or 68… Very classic sounding.
I bought a wah pedal last week. Boss PW-3. I’d been meaning to get one for a while. I went right off using any pedals at all, but I’m slowly getting back into using them.
I have a Dunlop Cry Baby alongside my script logo MXR Phase 90, Carbon Copy and DD-3, etc. Electric players have to live with the major pedal “food groups” and get a feel.
I played with a wah rhythmically, as a lead punctuator, and just dipped a bit to affect the tone, like Mick Ronson on Ziggy Stardust and Michael Schenker on UFO’s wonderful live album. It’s all cool, but it feels like a trick I am doing more that playing.
Effects are so different for everyone. Tom Morello and Adrian Belew build their sounds on them one way; Edge and Andy Summers use their effects to build their sounds a completely different way. Most players use them as spice and color, with few always on. And digital pedal effects enable you to set up XYZ effects on one song, hit one button and have XPQ effects at different settings. Amazing.
Effects distract me from hearing my own playing and slowing the fuck down to play less and say more. Other than an always-on overdrive which pushes my amp harder, I stopped using them 15 years ago except in band settings.
Hmm. I haven’t played funk wah in a long time. It’s probably time to find a 9v battery and see if boom chicka wow sparks joy these days ;). If I’m at a place where I can keep from overplaying the effect, it could be fun.
Bread used a Wah on The Guitar Man.
If you’re going to use one, that’s the most appropriate way to do it. It adds to the song, but doesn’t dominate it.
According to Wikipedia, Larry Knechtel is playing that part. He normally played keyboards. Incredible session player that performed on hundreds of records in LA. Won a Grammy for his piano work on Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Yep, that’s why I stopped using them. The challenge of sounding interesting with nothing but strings and amp. But I have always loved spacey psychedelia, and the wah can help with that.
I recorded some demos the day I got the wah, they’re pretty quick and dirty but it inspired me to set up a Bandcamp for my solo stuff…
Those are a couple of cool 30-second bits of Indian-ish sounding psychedelia. Nice. You slowly pulse the wah to get each chord to bloom which gives it that George Harrison feel (in a very good way) with cool raga-ish fills. Really works.
I could never play like that. I can’t target an ambient feel with my playing. I target meat and potatoes rhythm grooves ;).
Thanks.
Update: Yeah, no. 
I just don’t like the distraction and would rather put a vocal-like tone to my playing through the bends I do and such. All good. Wish I could.
I occasionally use a wah-wah pedal for both rhythm and lead solos on electric guitar including during a recording session yesterday. Less often, I’ll use the wah-wah effect on keyboard, electric bass guitar, or other instruments. It’s a very simple effect where a potentiometer sweeps from very dark bass-y tone to bright treble-y tone and everywhere in between. Rotating the tone knob on some electric guitars has a similar effect though typically with less extreme tonal range and requires one of two hands to be away from the strings.
I have used about 10 different wah-wah pedals. Some really suck and some are way awesome. I particularly dislike wah-wah pedals with on/off stomp switch that makes a loud harsh crackle noise.
Which were your favorites? Because I’m not particularly fond of my Dunlop built, Vox branded wha pedal. It sounds nasty half the time, eats batteries, and has no external power input.
If it comes in a combo volume/wah, that’d be even better.
Way back in like 1991 I found an old Gibson Maestro wah pedal that didn’t work. I took it home, figured out what parts were bad and set about replacing them. It took me a few months to get all the right parts (mail order was slow back then) but I got it working. I was so excited! I had only been playing guitar for about a year, but I really wanted a wah pedal so I could make that cool “wacka-wacka” funk guitar noise.
I must have spent about 3 weeks fucking with every setting on my amp and on my guitar, but ddammit I could never get that thing to sound even close to what I was after. I put it away.
A couple of years later I pulled it out to try when soloing. A couple of weeks later I put it away again.
I’ve bought 3 other wah pedal over the years; all have been returned to the store before 3 weeks passed.
I simply do not get wah pedals. I know what I’m supposed to do, but when I do it, it sucks.
It drives me crazy because I freaking love the sound of good wah guitar, both rhythm and lead, but I just can’t seem to figure it out.