[wabisabied]

Puzzlingly, a search for "wah" or "wah-wah" turns up nothing in the entire forum.

I've owned a Vox V847 since the late 90s and, after it sat idle for a dozen years or so, have recently started using it again. My ear is more tone sensitive than it used to be, and I'm not entirely thrilled with much of what I get with this wah. It's what I would call a little too "tin-canny" for my ear, and I find the "highs" too hot and the "lows" just get completely lost. I've pretty well relegated it to rhythm playing at lower volumes, but I like to play lead with it as a sort of manual envelope, too. Even after fiddling with the position of the tone wheel, I'm not happy with it. It's also a signal drain when off.

So, if I'm shopping for a better wah, what are opinions on best options and why?

[hippieguy1954]

Not sure if it's your thing, but if you are so inclined, you can make most any wah have the wah tone of your choice. It is a simple circuit to mod and there is a ton of info via google as to how to do it. Just search cry baby or vox wah mods.

[tdcrjeff]

Puzzlingly, a search for "wah" or "wah-wah" turns up nothing in the entire forum.

In my experience, most, if not all, message board search engines do not work for words shorter than 4 letters. Try searching for "the" or "Bob" and see that they don't come up either.

Though not really grammatically correct "wahwah" turns up a few hits.

[strumminsix]

My next wah will be: Xotic Wah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSEIl2ouOvQ
https://xotic.us/media/wysiwyg/Effects/ ... manual.pdf

[yodasfro]

Goggle advanced site search works good for forums. Put this in the search bar on google wah site:forum

[lovetoboogie]

This is an amazing wah built to the original Colorsound specs by Stu Castledine in England...

I highly recommend checking this and his other builds out;

http://www.wah-wah.co.uk

[Gr8fulCadi]

I've sent a few emails to the Macari's site and unfortunately have not gotten any response. Lovetoboogie, did you order it straight from the site you listed above?
I may check out either RMC wahs or Wilson wahs. Both have similar clones of the Colorsound and both get very good reviews. Thought about modding my crybaby too,

decisions decisions.

[lovetoboogie]

I've sent a few emails to the Macari's site and unfortunately have not gotten any response. Lovetoboogie, did you order it straight from the site you listed above?
I may check out either RMC wahs or Wilson wahs. Both have similar clones of the Colorsound and both get very good reviews. Thought about modding my crybaby too,

decisions decisions.

I contacted Stu first at Castledine.The ones he builds are not the same as the "off the shelf" reissue from Macari. He will let you know what he has in stock and then you make payment through Macari. It was all rather easy. He builds a couple per month.

[tatittle]

I would warn folks shopping for true vintage wahs that (bc of mechanical moving parts) they tend to be worn out far more often than other types of pedals. I would xpect to go thru several before finding one that doesnt have obvious weaknesses.

I missed a sweet looking Italian made Canadian model on ebay awhile back and instead of letting things be I let my emotions guide me into buying a later version of the same pedal. The actual tone is terrific, but the pedal is basically worn out mechanically as well as the pot etc is on its last legs. They are simple circuits easy to repair, but replacing the components underminds the whole reason for buying vintage in the first place. My aim was to replace my Fulltone deluxe; but the vintage isnt reliable enough to let me sell the Fulltone. Fulltone is nice (DELUXE HAS 3 VOICES: =/Colorsound; Vintage Vox; "shaft"; but Id be curious about the RMC wahs if I was to shop for another. I always found post 1980's Vox wahs to be more reliable thAN CryBaby branded ones, but the oldest ones were often made by the same Co. (Thomas Organ etc).

[mgbills]

I love my RMC Wheels of Fire. Got it used on Reverb in almost new condition.
Wasn't cheap but it's a nice piece.

[wabisabied]

Thanks for all the info, everyone, and sorry I took so long to respond. Actually forgot I asked the question

I might try to mod the vox, looks simple enough, but will probably try a bunch of stuff out at a shop or two, first.

[DennisOliveri]

When buying a Wah pedal, you're either get VOX or the Cry Baby wah. I prefer VOX, it's a bit thinner and brighter to me. Both pedals are great anyways!

[gratefulredhead]

I picked up one of these a couple years ago and I really dig it. It has a nice range, and you can choose between two different sweep modes. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... oCTY7w_wcB

[wabisabied]

I picked up one of these a couple years ago and I really dig it. It has a nice range, and you can choose between two different sweep modes. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... oCTY7w_wcB

Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like it has all good reviews, too. I've gone whah-less since originally posting this, and don't miss it much (especially the signal drain,) but may have to give this one a demo, at least.

[MattMan]

I recently added a modified Joe-Sonic modified Cry Baby GCB95 to my signal chain, and I love it. The mod gives it some nice tones ala the classic Color Sound that Jer used.
Here's the link to get the modification from eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOE-SONIC-wah-d ... 2142279938

I put it in a broken GCB95 that I bought on Reverb for $10. Full investment was < $100.

I've got in channel 7 on my looper along with the Earth Drive (Wah > Earth Drive). I use them both sparingly. Its fun to have the option.

You can hear the wah during Space and at 16:20 mark of Magnolia Mountain jam: https://youtu.be/EgMUfXDsR4c