Wah-wah technique [Archive]

EBGB

03-18-2006, 01:04 PM

I use a Crybaby, sometimes not well enough for my taste. I'm used to tapping my foot to the beat, and I don't think the wah sounds best like this. Do I need to develop skill wah-ing off the beat? Work more with partial sweeps in a sweet spot?

Also, I think I sometimes wish the pedal was reversed to bass down, treble up.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Luke

03-18-2006, 02:16 PM

You have to learn to keep the time in your head. You do not have indepence of your limbs. The wah movement should be done to give the guitar sound a vocal feel. Going up and down on the down beat constantly must get repetitive quick, not to mention sound unmusical. You could wire the pot backwards, but do not seek that as a crutch to avoid the real issue.

Dickie Fredericks

03-18-2006, 02:17 PM

You probably dont like it so much cause its a Cry Baby? Im not too fond of em anymore myself. I too tap alot to the beat if its just a noddling solo. However if its a part of the songs structure I'll make the sweeps more to the changes in chords or what have you.

Hope this helps. FWIW I really really dig the budda wah I got from StopGo here.

Stopgo

03-20-2006, 06:49 PM

Glad you like it :JAM

Shredcow

03-20-2006, 08:57 PM

Like what Luke pointed out.. its going for a vocal sound that would make your wah playing so much more musicial. Imagine you are singing lines with your guitar... helps to start with slow solos.

Aside, one hting I like to do with the wah is to swell harmonics... at the start of the wah, the treble is muted, so whatever harmonics I have going on are muted.. then as the wah goes on, the harmonics swell out... pretty interesting.

SlyStrat

03-20-2006, 09:52 PM

Just start out "playing" the wah along with each note. DON'T wah with the beat. Thats the sign of a BAD wah player. And boring.
Eventually you'll break away from the Wah-To-The-Beat pattern. Then start playing around with various wah sweeps(heel or toe) on different notes. Also notice that you can play one lick, yet pump the wah at different speeds during this lick, making it sound like more licks. Try a real slow sweep, medium, then real fast.
Use the different wah sweeping speeds at various times during your solo to set a mood with each phrase. High notes don't "wah" as good as lower ones. I notice I use my toe down more with high notes.
I like to pause the wah when I bend and vibrato.
To me one of the best wah players is Clapton. Listen real close to his wah work on "White Room". Its inspiring. Robin Trower too.
The pedal can also be kept stationary for a tone control. Hendrix did that a lot.
I love playing wah. I practice with it a lot. Used correctly it triples my Lick Library.
And I like my Vox over the Crybaby. But I want a Fulltone Clyde wah.
Hope this helps.

KHK

03-21-2006, 04:47 AM

You have to learn to keep the time in your head....The wah movement should be done to give the guitar sound a vocal feel..

Yep, what you do with the wah should be connected to your right and left hand rather than the beat. I think of it as a big tone control that is used to accentuate my note choices and/or rhythm choices. Alot of what we play is off the beat, no?

slipperyfingers

03-21-2006, 06:50 AM

My suggestion would be to listen to some great wah songs...Blind Faith - In the Presence of the Lord..is a good one. Just work on one lick at a time to start off with...and like some others have said....you are trying to vocalize your riffs...oh yeah, and look in the mirror while you are playing...If you do not look like a fish, you are not doing it right :)

-SF

Sharkey

03-22-2006, 05:55 PM

wooldl

03-23-2006, 06:51 AM

Give the Los Lonely Boys CD a listen for great wah technique. Henry is really good at tasty wah licks.
I try to emulate guys like Henry, Clapton, Haynes, etc., but I wind up not using a wah all that much.