A Wah For Bass and Guitar?

[Awake77]

Im putting together a small pedal board that can serve double duty in both my bass and guitar rigs...I'd like to find a wah that will work well with both instruments.

 

Right now I have a Vox V847 wah, and haven't tried it on the bass yet - I know its frequency range is more suited for guitar though.

 

Any recommendations? Rocktron Tri-Wah? Morley PBA-2?

 

Or should I get a dedicated bass wah, mod both pedals for true bypass and run both?

 

Thanks,

A77

[guitargod0dmw]

It's all up to your ears. If I had to use one pedal for both, a bass pedal would work fine for guitar...and it would work on bass as well (obviously).

 

Many bass players use guitar wahs though. Doug Wimbish uses a 535Q.

 

Why not look into a wah that has adjustable parameters? The BYOC wah can do it, the Teese RMC3 can do it. Just a few options I guess.

[Poltergeist]

Morley Power Wah... sound amazing on both guitar and bass... but beware... it freakin' growls! its super agressive, IMO!

[Optimus Prime]

My Dunlop bass wah should be delivered on Monday. If I can find this thread on Monday, I'll use my brothers guitar and tell you how it sounds.

[LanEvo]

I've got an old Morley guitar wah that, to my ears, sounds better than any bass wah I've tried. I was not particularly impressed by the Dunlop bass wah.

 

Having said that, it's been a good 10-12 years since I was shopping around for a wah. I don't know about any of the newer bass wahs that might be on the market these days.

 

Emre

[REMUS]

GM is modding a wah for me I think it's a Vox, i've archived the PM so i'll go dig out the model.

 

He knows his stuff.

 

EDIT:

 

Vox 847

 

[Poltergeist]

 

GM is modding a wah for me I think it's a Vox, i've archived the PM so i'll go dig out the model. He knows his stuff.

 

 

+1!

[rummy]

Love the 535Q! I used it for the guitar. I ended up switching to the Vai wah, 'cause it was just so much easier to work with.

[guitargod0dmw]

 

Love the 535Q! I used it for the guitar. I ended up switching to the Vai wah, 'cause it was just so much easier to work with.

 

 

Do you like the sweep of the bad horsie? I never liked it as much. My guitarist switched through a bunch of wahs..first he had the Slash wah, but he didn't like having to step on the pedal to engage it, so he switched to the BH2 and liked the optical part of it, but didn't like the range...then he went tot he 535Q and hasn't been happier with the tone.

[sunburstbasser]

Its possible to change a V847 into one of the most badass-sounding wahs around just by switching a couple resistors. The one that controls gain/bass, and the one that controls output (just to keep it from being too much).

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.castledine/greenfuz/wah.html

 

I did this a while back to my V847. Lots of fun experimenting with stuff!

[rummy]

Do you like the sweep of the bad horsie? I never liked it as much. My guitarist switched through a bunch of wahs..first he had the Slash wah, but he didn't like having to step on the pedal to engage it, so he switched to the BH2 and liked the optical part of it, but didn't like the range...then he went tot he 535Q and hasn't been happier with the tone.

I used the VAI1, so I can't say anything about the VAI2. I definitely prefer the 535Q for the sound and the flexibility, but I used the VAI1 'cause you don't have to worry about turning it on and off.

[Poltergeist]

but, most important of all... what kinda tone are you looking for?

[Crescent Seven]

Ibanez Weeping Demon. Has settings for bass and guitar.

 

I'll sell mine to you for $80 + shipping, it's been used twice. I just can't get into wah...

C7

[bikehorn]

I would say you should just mod your V847 to have a 6-way rotary switch controlling the sweep range. There's just no sense in getting a seperate "bass wah" when the only things different about most of them is the sweep range(a 25 cent capacitor) and maybe a low frequency boost(a resistor, which you could replace with a pot or another rotary switch). Modding your wah will also make it more versatile and allow you to make sounds you previously couldn't. Two essential mods IMO are adding a Q knob and a gain control.

 

I'm going to build what I believe will be the definitive Crybaby for me. Everything that can be adjusted to change the sound, will be adjustable. JFET buffers on the input and output, two individually selectable inductors, true byppass, 470K pot and a colourful paint job. Everything will be in its own box, and the wah housing will actually just be an expression pedal. I could even make a vacuum tube wah sometime and use the same expression pedal.

 

Anyway right now I use an Ibanez WD7 Weeping Demon although I haven't been able to try it out on bass yet...it does have two selectable ranges(for guitars and basses, or 7 string guits), Q, bass and output level controls, and coolest of all: the ability to switch between standard footpedal controlled bypass and spring-loaded, automatic heel-up bypass. Sounds great to me and I think this is an underrated wah for sure.

[Apendecto]

I own a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe and have used it with both. It has three settings: Jimi, Shaft and some bass setting. I use it mainly for guitar (aka my bass signal up an octave) but I've used it for bass, too, and it is true bypass.

 

Yo.

[Awake77]

 

I would say you should just mod your V847 to have a 6-way rotary switch controlling the sweep range. There's just no sense in getting a seperate "bass wah" when the only things different about most of them is the sweep range(a 25 cent capacitor) and maybe a low frequency boost(a resistor, which you could replace with a pot or another rotary switch). Modding your wah will also make it more versatile and allow you to make sounds you previously couldn't. Two essential mods IMO are adding a Q knob and a gain control. I'm going to build what I believe will be the definitive Crybaby for me. Everything that can be adjusted to change the sound, will be adjustable. JFET buffers on the input and output, two individually selectable inductors, true byppass, 470K pot and a colourful paint job. Everything will be in its own box, and the wah housing will actually just be an expression pedal. I could even make a vacuum tube wah sometime and use the same expression pedal. Anyway right now I use an Ibanez WD7 Weeping Demon although I haven't been able to try it out on bass yet...it does have two selectable ranges(for guitars and basses, or 7 string guits), Q, bass and output level controls, and coolest of all: the ability to switch between standard footpedal controlled bypass and spring-loaded, automatic heel-up bypass. Sounds great to me and I think this is an underrated wah for sure.

 

 

Thanks for all the great responses guys!! This is exactly what I'd love to do - mod my V847 with custom controls. Im pretty handy with a solder gun and have the necessary tools to mod the case for external switches...do you know if there's a guide or tutorial available so I can make sure I know what Im doing? I'd love to add a Q knob, gain control, and true bypass to my Vox - that would make it perfect for what I need.

 

That Weeping Demon looks very cool too...I'm going to check it out for sure.

[bikehorn]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.castledine/greenfuz/wah.html

 

http://www.home-wrecker.com/wahmods.html

 

This page isn't a "guide" per se but explains the workings of a wah so that you might have an idea of what things you want to change/make variable.

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm