I've got the blues.... The wah pedal blues.... Had a RMC 3, but got tired of having to adjust it whenever I wanted to make a change. Had a RMC 2, but dumped it because I didn't bond with the sound. Prior to that I had a regular Crybaby and a 535, neither of which had true bypass but the tones weren't too bad. I guess that leaves Fulltone and maybe Area 51. I just don't know what to try anymore.
What type guitar & amp are you using & what style of music are you playing ? Are you trying to emulate any certain player or sound ?
I have humbucker loaded guitars but use coil taps from time to time. My amp is a Rivera S-120 and I mainly run the "Fenderish" channel, set clean, and add grit via a Mosferatu and a Zendrive. My style of music runs from jazzy, to funky, to rockin to ambient/trance. Experiemental to say the least. As for musicians whose sound I'm trying to emulate, I really like Michael Kang's wah sound from the String Cheese Incident. I also dig the clean, disco/funk sound of Avi Bortnick. I enjoy Clapton, Hendrix, and Stevie but wouldn't say that I'm trying to sound like them at all. I mainly use the wah for more rhythmic passages and less on the leads, but occasionally it's nice to cut loose on a lead. Hope this paints a decent picture. Thanks for the help!!
If you liked the 535, try the Fulltone Clyde Deluxe. I A/B'd one against my 535 (thanks Graham! ), and although I did prefer the Dunlop, it was close, and if I'd been more into more vintagey semi-overdriven tones I might have picked the Fulltone. They're in the same ballpark, but the 535 works better with high-gain tones IMO. (I'm not concerned about 'true' bypass.)
I've been seriously considering doing this. I heard a regular Clyde in shop a few years ago, but was into my RMC 3 at the time and dismissed it. From the various clips I've sampled, it sounds pretty good but one can never tell what it will sound like in the context of one's own gear. It's still a toss-up between the Clyde and the Clyde Deluxe I think. Some lobby there is a difference in the basic sound of these two pedals, but I'm not really sure. Have you had experience with both pedals?
if you like the crybaby, why not get one modded for true bypass and an led? I got one from doobtone off of e-bay that I like a lot.
Yeah, I'd really like to go the Crybaby route again, but they're soooo hit-or-miss. Plus, my current standard is the RMC 3, which in my opinion, murders the Crybaby. The more and more I read about the Clyde Deluxe the more it looks like something I might have to try. I think the extended throw, the 3 different sweeps and the adjustable volume might be all I need to dial in my sound.
get a vox, a V847 or 848, and then send it to George Blekas at pedalworx. Top notch service, and he turned my backup wah into a *killer* pedal - very vocal and vowelly. And as good as it sounds by itself, it sound better with a band. /brian
Yup, that's what I have too. Paid $89 for it at zzounds. Sounds fantastic, has the Fasel inductor, 100k Hot Potz and true bypass. What more can you want?
I really dig the Area 51, esp. w/ the new options (Growl and Q controls, etc.). Like a goodItalian wah w/ true bypass, quiet, etc. Good guys too! http://www.area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/area51_wah.htm
Pretty much any wah can sound decent through a clean setting (IMHO), but in terms of an overdriven wah sound, I though that my Vox clyde pedal (V848) sounded as good if not better than the teese wizard wah I used to have (with both single coils and HBs). And true bypass to boot. Fraction of the cost of the fulltones (though I am sure those are good pedals as well).
I had an RMC3 and got tired of flipping it over and removing the cover to tune it. I found it almost impossible to dial in a wah sound that way, mostly because it's on the floor and the controls are on the bottom. You've got to play and work the wah to tell what's going on. By the time I set my guitar down and went to all the trouble to make a change, I couldn't appreciate the slight differences in the tone. Basically I felt like it's versatility was working against me rather than for me. I wanted a simpler wah. At that point I heard Buddy Miller with Emmylou Harris use a Clyde. It sounded sick, so I got one. It was the sound I was looking for from the first time I turned it on. I've had it for over 5 years and I'm still totally satisfied with it. I'm sure the Deluxe is nice, but coming off a RMC3, considering the extra $s, and not wanting to mess with a good thing..... I think I'll just keep my regular Clyde.
I built my wah pedal using Fulltone pot and inductor and it sounds fantastic. I "tuned" it to sound as close to the old ones as possible, and added two (external) controls. One is a 4-pos gain switch and the other is a pot that controls the midrange. This way i can adjust it for singles and humbuckers, plus different gain levels for clean or dirty... what i mean is that you can get an average wah, mod the s**t out of it and live happily ever after... Plus, there are lots of different parts out there to choose-experiment. On the other hand, if you don't want it this way, try the Fulltone Clyde deluxe which is also quite tweakable...
