wah: yay or nay and why not just a filter pedal?

[Whiskey N Beans]

Not a wah bash thread (or cannonball) I just have never played one and feel like a phase vibe or filter pedal gets me there. So why do you prefer (or prefer not) to have a wah on your board? TIA!

[Bucksears]

I have a Crybaby that I modded to the point of noise, but don't miss it really now that I built a tricked-out MXR Envelope Filter. Definitely more versatility with that, IMHO.
I just found that I'm not coordinated enough (or maybe patient enough) to use a wah; easier for me to express through pick attack and playing rather than rocking my right foot back/forth while playing.....

[TheGuildedAge]

I have an old vox but it's not on my board. I hate wah, but everyone once in a while, it's nice to have.

[wck]

I rather have a wah for 2 main reasons.

1) The sweep is controllable, compared to the even sweep of a mod pedal.

2) Although some tones overlap, a wah sounds different than a phaser/ vibe etc. Same reason why people have a bunch of modulation/ dirt on their boards even though it sounds similar.

[dlab]

It's not the same as an envelope filter.

You can't nail funky wah-wah rhythm guitar without it - a filter's not gonna cut it because you DONT want the sweep to be envelope triggered. The filter can't go up and down on every attack in order to get that sound. A filter also won't get you there for solos - the "vocal-ness" of the pedal is just hard to replicate. It would be like trying to use a cookie cutter where you really need an x-acto knife.

I like it for those things, but I also like to use it to fake that "sweeping the cutoff knob" thing that synth players do...

[boogiejem]

Wah is great for controlling feedback when you want a note to sustain forever, I'm not other filter style effects will do that as well as a good wah.

[JUSTJOB]

I consider a wah pedal an absolute "staple" for me, and always have one handy when I play. There is so much tonal versatility added when using one. Whether for traditional type wha tones, or cutting leads, as a filter for different distortion character in a mix, perhaps for filtered delay swells, etc, etc.
A wah certainly can be used tastefully, and subtly as well, adding emotion and feeling to the song or instrumental.

[JRBain]

For what it does, nothing else will do.

Mojo or not, like any other pedal I own I use my Wizard Wah because it sounds amazing and I love the sound. To be honest I would have to be very wah-deprived indeed to use just any old wah. I prefer not to sound like Kirk Hammett, and don't use it obsessively regardless of whether or not it actually sounds good.