Auto Wah

My band has been messing with some funky sort of tunes..."Superstition and Inner city Blues are two...and we got a request to learn "Lets Get it on"....obviously the stuff cries out for a wah...Ive noodled around with wah wah pedals but never owned on and never used one with any regularity...I do recall there was a bit of "walking and chewing gum at the same time" working the pedal while playing..and singing...so it occurred to me that one of those auto or dynamic wah pedals might be the ticket...anybody go any suggestions..are they effective for those rhythmic scratching funk things?

Envelope filters ARE fun!

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http://marsfxusa.com/04.aspx

Look into the MarsFX yesman. Its a great autowah with plenty of bells and whistles to keep you interested.

i built a tonepad ecf (envelope controlled filter) and it's great fun, the rythym stuff is what it excells at. it's based on the mxr but has extra knobs and switches. from my invetigations into what to build the older boss models (aw40 if i remember correctly) get raves and the newer one isn't as fun, and you can get them for cheap used if you can find one. but basically look for anything labelled auto wah or envelope filter and give it a whirl, and yeah they are a blast. set it, play something, twidlle the knobs, play it again, whole new something. try it with a phaser as well and it gets even better.

Hey Don,


If you can sing and play, you've already mastered the "walking and chewing gum at the same time" problem.

Just get a Crybaby! Or Vox. They're cheap, maybe even cheaper than auto wahs, and they're awesome!

10-15 minutes with one of these, and you'll be just fine. Plus, you get a lot more control with a regular wah. Vary it up, adjust to tempo changes, etc. There's a lot you can do.


Anyway, good luck with your decision.

I play and sing, but trying to play a rythmic part on a wah pedal at the same time is too much for me too so I know what you mean.

For solos a wah pedal is much better than an auto-wah, but for rythmn playing I would go with an auto-wah of some sort.

The Boss AW-3 is perfect for rhythm stuff. It's not my favorite in terms of soloing, but for rhythm that's where it excels.

The old Boss T-Wah is a great one too. I've owned two...and a Discombobulator. I love envelope filters, but I find I never end up using them.

Whatever you do, don't over use it. Wah/filters aren't used in funk nearly as much as most white guys think they are.

Try the new MXR Bass Envelope Filter. It works just as good on guitar. I really enjoy mine.

Maxon AF-9 Reissue. I have the original and it's as close to a Mu-Tron as you can get without using a Mu-Tron. Put it first in your signal chain as they like to be hit with a hot signal.

My band has been messing with some funky sort of tunes..."Superstition and Inner city Blues are two...and we got a request to learn "Lets Get it on"....obviously the stuff cries out for a wah...Ive noodled around with wah wah pedals but never owned on and never used one with any regularity...I do recall there was a bit of "walking and chewing gum at the same time" working the pedal while playing..and singing...so it occurred to me that one of those auto or dynamic wah pedals might be the ticket...anybody go any suggestions..are they effective for those rhythmic scratching funk things?

Hi Don, check out this one :
http://www.pedalspluseffectswarehouse.com/MAD_PROFESSOR_Snow_White_Auto_Wah_PCB_VERSION_p/mdprfs-pcbsnwht.htm

The old Boss T-Wah is a great one too. .

Whatever you do, don't over use it. Wah/filters aren't used in funk nearly as much as most white guys think they are.

I used it for "Lets Get It On"...perfect for that song.

I also played in a Grateful Dead cover band...worked great for a few Jerry leads.

The boss auto wah I had (maybe an early) one..worked good, but in off position
sucked major tone..

i built a tonepad ecf (envelope controlled filter) and it's great fun, the rythym stuff is what it excells at. it's based on the mxr but has extra knobs and switches. from my invetigations into what to build the older boss models (aw40 if i remember correctly) get raves and the newer one isn't as fun, and you can get them for cheap used if you can find one. but basically look for anything labelled auto wah or envelope filter and give it a whirl, and yeah they are a blast. set it, play something, twidlle the knobs, play it again, whole new something. try it with a phaser as well and it gets even better.

I too built the tonepad MXR Filter and it does sound great!.Its even sweeter when originals are fetching $250.00! :cool:

that's funny. i have my old ibanez auto wah on ebay right now. i've never had much use for it. there's a few hours left if you're interested and i started it at $75 no reserve. (very cheap as it's vintage) i'm not posting this to pump up the sale, i could care less about what it sells for, i just wanted to give you a heads up, don.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ibanez-AF-9-Auto-Filter-made-in-japan-in-the-early-80s-same-as-Maxon-/220953092557?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3371d4a1cd

Easily my nominee for 'most annoying guitar effect'. When I hear a guitarist 'wah-ing' every note he plays, I tune out completely.

I too built the tonepad MXR Filter and it does sound great!.Its even sweeter when originals are fetching $250.00! :cool:

If you can add the switches, direction especially makes a difference - did you have to mess around with the resistor to get it to work or did you do yours from a kit? Man that was frustrating they should really put a note about that in the project documentation, so simple but it took a lot of searching at diy forum to find out about that.

If you can add the switches, direction especially makes a difference - did you have to mess around with the resistor to get it to work or did you do yours from a kit? Man that was frustrating they should really put a note about that in the project documentation, so simple but it took a lot of searching at diy forum to find out about that.

No kit,just the Tonepad PCB. I installed a 100k trim pot for the resistor,but it worked best maxed out at
100k so I just put the 100k resistor back in. Its very sensitive to what IC's you use,so I bought some nos Fairchilds like the original used.Sounds like the original MXR I once owned, but the added 'emphasis' control is a nice touch. I'd like to add the up/down switch at some point,but dont really use the 'down' sweep effect much.

I recently picked up a Boss AW-2 from Ebay and one interesting thing it does well is get an adjustable "cocked wah" sound at certain settings. You can tune in the frequency just like setting a wah at a fixed point. I had to download the manual to get some ideas on how to set this thing, now I like it after trying some of the suggested settings. It's the first auto-wah pedal I've ever had, and I find it's pretty versatile. Can also get straight vibrato-type sounds also.

Al

For cheap, get one of these:

http://img.etonals.com/p/300/EM_FX25B.jpg

For a bunch more money, these simply *cannot* be beat:

http://www.sourceaudio.net/images/products/sb_gef.jpg