Members mbengs1 Posted June 23, 2017 Members Share Posted June 23, 2017 I have a dunlop gcb-95 wah. it sounds good with some distortion pedals. but with the boss DS-1 or DS-2, its hard to hear the wah effect. adding an overdrive before the distortion helps a bit. but is there anybody with similar observation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 23, 2017 Members Share Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) You didn't mention the pedal order so I'll just assume you're using the Wah first and drive pedals afterwards. (unless you're trying to get the Motown Fuzz Wah sound which has the drive first) Many drive pedals scoop mids. Wah pedals do just the opposite, boost mids and have very little highs and lows to make the scooped mid drive pedals work well. There are a couple of things you can try. The first and most obvious is to get drive pedals with stronger mids like a Tube Screamer or Fuzz Face. The second which I use is to use a Compressor pedal after the wah and before the drive pedals. This evens up the wah pedal output so when you scroll the frequencies with the wah, the gain level hitting the drive pedal is more even. You'd adjust the comp so its gain is about 1:1 when bypassed or maybe a tad of boost. You'd also adjust it so its transparent and not overly squeezed or pumping. This will allow you to use the wah clean as well as driven. Dunlops tend to suffer from a big drop in gain and tone sucking when bypassed (unless its a newer or modified model) You want to make sure the clean wah sounds great before you kick on the drive and the comp helps immensely here maintaining your signal level. (makes playability much nicer too) I used to use a Dunlop before switching to a Morley. The Morley Wah/Volume pedal I have has a wah gain knob which can actually boost the wah volume up quite a bit so my gain boxes are even more gained up when I step on the wah switch. Between that, the comp, and the gain pedals I use I have none of the tone sucking issues you have. I'd definitely try a Compressor after the wah. I've used it with the same Boss pedal and it works fine. Edited June 23, 2017 by WRGKMC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikesr1963 Posted June 27, 2017 Members Share Posted June 27, 2017 I use a Boss DS1 and/or SD1 after my standard Crybaby Wah and it works great and is extremely noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikesr1963 Posted June 27, 2017 Members Share Posted June 27, 2017 Photos and video posted last. I made a clip of regarding the comment I made above after Marlon asked for one. The video is raw, meaning I recorded on my iPhone and didn’t mic up the amp and send through Protools. I’ve run a wah before distortion and after it. You can dial in differences but I try and find something sweet and keep it. The signal chain here is a guitar run through my 3 pedal boards and into my amps. It totals 21 pedals (I’ve collected over 20 years) powered through wall warts. I was working on my daughter Daisy Rock guitar last night and since it was hanging on the wall that's what I used for this. Signal Chain: Guitar; 10ft red Fender coil cabled; into board #1. From board #1 there is a 5ft Livewire cable into board #2. From board #2 there is a 10ft blue Fender California cable into board #3. Out of board #3 are two 4ft Livewire cables going into two amps (Crate 212 and Fender Frontman 25R into a Crate 412). The pedals on the boards are connected by either Livewire cables or Musician’s Friend direct plugs. Godlyke warts power 18 pedals. Dunlop Crybaby power supply powers the Rotovide and Crybaby. A Boss wart powers the loop station. Board #1 is the bottom one and #2 is the top one in the photo Board #3: DS1 and SD1 Settings: Amps: [YOUTUBE]mlz9VSsWo0k[/YOUTUBE] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted June 27, 2017 Author Members Share Posted June 27, 2017 great gear. the ds-1 sounds good with you're crybaby. my ds-1 through my crybaby sounds like its lacking midrange sweep or something. though it can still be heard, the wah effects is pretty subdued.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikesr1963 Posted June 28, 2017 Members Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) You can add some mids to your pedal. Take the back off and find the pot . You'll see a little gear connected to a little rod with teeth on it. Remove the screws that hold The little rod against the gear. Separate the two and turn The gear a couple of teeth toward the mid range you want. Then put it back together and try it out. If you find the sweep the way you like it you are good to go. If you want more one way or the other just remove the back and adjusted a little more. Only do a couple of teeth Add a time. Edited June 28, 2017 by mikesr1963 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members McLeach Posted December 22, 2021 Members Share Posted December 22, 2021 Okay the thing is: Frusciante uses the wah after distortion (which is kinda rare thing to do) cause the DS-2 has an extremely defined and strong midrange. If you put the wah before DS-2 the wah effect is very mild and hard to notice cause the DS-2 will fill all the tonal gaps. Put the wah after DS-2 and you will get the frusciante tone immediately and a very stong wah effect. In this case you need to max the DS-2 level (like Frusciante does) which adds bass and softens the otherwise a bit harsh tone. Ps. You wont get the Frusciante-sound with tweed amp etc. You need to have marshall'ish amp to handle that DS2-WH10 -midrange mayhem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted December 25, 2021 Members Share Posted December 25, 2021 Moving into '22, all that thing ever did and still does is morph from wah to wah. Listen to singers for clues. geez... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.