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I just realized how to use my wah better.


mbengs1

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I have a dunlop gcb-95 crybaby. it sounded ok but whenever i try to use it for lead stuff like satriani, it always sucked. i guess its different from satriani's vox wah. but i tried to tell myself the wah is not an easy pedal to operate and u gotta work hard at it. i put my foot on the pedal and it sounded much better. looks like i don't need a new wah. but i still want one coz i love wahs.

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no i just changed the way i approached using the pedal. i'm more careful with the sweep so the wah can be heard better. its more obvious, rather than rocking it quickly and the wah effect is not that heard. i guess it can be considered psychological because i'm basically doing the same thing just slowly.

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I noticed a difference in the way Clapton and Hendrix used the wah pedal. Clapton, for the most part, rocked the pedal back and forth as if he was tapping his foot to the music. Hendrix, on the other hand, used the pedal to sculpt each note individually.

 

Since Clapton used his right foot and Hendrix used his left foot I wondered if it was a left brain right brain thing so I did a little experimenting (not the '60s kind) and discovered that I do indeed approach the pedal differently when using different feet.

 

Depending on what type of effect I want to get with the pedal, I will use my right foot for the rhythmic stuff or my left foot to focus more on the individual notes.

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The wah always sounded like an alien voice to me. Like a bad phone line connection where the actual words were garbled but you could still hear the pronunciation.

 

Using it to get those sounds is allot like driving a car pushing on the gas pedal standing up.

You change speed with the traffic of the song. If you're running a race then you obviously use it more aggressively. For laid back stuff you can just articulate the notes like you would singing lyrics to a song.

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I noticed a difference in the way Clapton and Hendrix used the wah pedal. Clapton, for the most part, rocked the pedal back and forth as if he was tapping his foot to the music. Hendrix, on the other hand, used the pedal to sculpt each note individually.

 

 

 

Since Clapton used his right foot and Hendrix used his left foot I wondered if it was a left brain right brain thing so I did a little experimenting (not the '60s kind) and discovered that I do indeed approach the pedal differently when using different feet.

 

 

 

Depending on what type of effect I want to get with the pedal, I will use my right foot for the rhythmic stuff or my left foot to focus more on the individual notes.

 

 

 

This is an interesting approach, however I wonder if hendrix's use of his left foot has more to do with him being left handed?

 

 

 

 

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This is an interesting approach, however I wonder if hendrix's use of his left foot has more to do with him being left handed?

 

I'm sure that is the reason why he did it but the result was different than the typical rhythmic style of the right handed players using the right foot.

 

I now use either the right or left foot depending on the result that best suits the music at the time.

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I'm sure that is the reason why he did it but the result was different than the typical rhythmic style of the right handed players using the right foot.

 

 

 

I now use either the right or left foot depending on the result that best suits the music at the time.

 

 

 

It does sound interesting, I'll give it a shot with my wah probe. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

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This is an interesting approach, however I wonder if hendrix's use of his left foot has more to do with him being left handed?

 

 

 

 

As far as I know though the hemispherical assignments of the brain remain unchanged. Right Hem. artistic, intuitive, cosmic, hedonistic and Left Hem. analytical, logical, pedantic, ...

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I noticed a difference in the way Clapton and Hendrix used the wah pedal. Clapton, for the most part, rocked the pedal back and forth as if he was tapping his foot to the music. Hendrix, on the other hand, used the pedal to sculpt each note individually.

 

 

Earlier tonight, I heard some Mark Farner wah pedal work on "Paranoid" off the red album (the 2nd album from Grand Funk Railroad). To be honest, I couldn't stop laughing for a solid minute. It had been at least 20 years since I heard that song, but it reminded me how mechanical Farner's wah pedal work was in 1969. wah ewww wah ewww wah ewww wah... like Clapton's time keeping approach.

 

 

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I believe wah foot preference has more to do with your foot stance than your hands. For instance, are you regular or goofy foot on a board? Which foot do you kick with? Which foot do you lead off with when you run?

 

 

i can use either foot but I use my right foot most of the time.

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