Me + Bass Wah Pedal = Confused Mole

Moledaddy · #1 10-20-2008, 03:10 PM

I recently bought a new (to me) amp. The guy gave me a Whorley Bass Wah pedal. As far as effects go, I have never used anything but a Boss overdrive pedal and a Sansamp before. And I've never used a wah pedal playing guitar either. I'm having trouble knowing when to use it and how far to push it down and up. Can you guys give me any tips on using a bass wah please?

Thanx!

niftydog · #2 10-20-2008, 03:59 PM

That'd be "Morley" and as for what to do with it, there are no rules, just do what sounds good when you feel like doing it. This ain't Rocket Surgery!

soulplane83 · #3 10-20-2008, 04:05 PM

A good starting point would be to just rock the pedal like you would if you're tapping your foot to the beat of the song.

RCCollins · #4 10-20-2008, 04:20 PM

But you're not obligated to move it up and down AT ALL. If you find a sweet spot where the filter just sounds cool, you can leave it in that position and rock on.

FortessOne · #5 10-20-2008, 04:40 PM

Not if it's a Morley.

cheapbasslovin · #6 10-20-2008, 04:53 PM

It's kind of like when you were starting to learn bass. Butcher it until it stops sound so butcher-like. Usually the learning curve of a wah is a little speedier than for the instrument itself.

Experiment with speeds that may not be intuitive to the time you are playing. Slow passes on a fast run can give a pretty cool effect without being too distracting to your playing.

It'll come with practice.

Sir Edward V · #7 10-20-2008, 09:37 PM

I have been using mine by just pushing it all the way up and using it as a filter that way recently. That plus a chorus and or OD sounds awesome... I recently discovered this combination. sounds awesome playing chords high on the neck on my 5-string (EADGC) it reminds me of some les claypool tones

RCCollins · #8 10-20-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FortessOne

Not if it's a Morley.

Aw geez, is it that one? Worst Morley ever, a power wah would be better

Moledaddy · #9 10-21-2008, 11:26 AM

Ok... I'm relativley new here, so I don't know if this is going to work (trying to post a picture on here), but here is an example of what my pedal looks like, except mine is blue. If I run through the pedal and keep it all the way up, will it change the sound, or do you have to push it down to a certain level?
I guess I should explain why I am asking questions that probably seem rather simple is because I haven't had a chance to really try it out yet. I would imagine it will be like anything else. it would take practice and time.

It's not like it's rocket (SURGERY) science!

I've never heard of rocket surgery before niftydog, That's a new one. I might use that!
Thanks!

RCCollins · #10 10-21-2008, 11:35 AM

I can't tell one new morley model from another but one thing you could do is listen to some tunes that feature bass wah and work on those until you get a feel for the pedal and what it can do for YOU.

Start with N.I.B by Black Sabbath: everybody else did, and it goes over great in P&W (the latter, not really). The intro is unaccompanied wah-wah bass, and it's a fairly simple, broad wah sweep that a Morley should be able to emulate reasonably well.

JanusZarate · #11 10-21-2008, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moledaddy

If I run through the pedal and keep it all the way up, will it change the sound, or do you have to push it down to a certain level?

Wow, you're really new to wah.

Basic idea of a wah pedal: when the pedal is toe-up (like in the picture), you get a bassy sound with less treble. When toe-down (pushing it forward all the way), you get the opposite - more treble, less bass. Halfway in between, it's midrange-focused and has less bass and treble.

Think of a wah as a weird EQ pedal which shifts the peak as you move your foot.

The thing I should point out about the blue Morley (and this is true of the old all-blue Bass Wah and the new black-with-blue-text Dual Bass Wah) is that it's switchless.

A traditional wah (like your standard Dunlop Crybaby) has a switch under the toe end, so if you push down on the toe end, the effect turns on or off. When turned on, you can leave those wahs in any position that you want for an interesting filter effect at that point in the sweep, or move them back and forth to produce the classic wah effect.

A switchless wah, however, is spring-loaded. It stays toe-up and turned off until you push down on the pedal - then it triggers on. If you step off the pedal, the spring returns it to the toe-up position and the pedal turns off. It's convenient, but if you want to keep it at one position of the sweep, you have to hold it down in that spot and keep your foot steady, or the spring will push it back to the "off" position.

Technically speaking, a switchless wah is not actually switchless - it just simply means that if you want the pedal to turn off, get off the pedal.

almix12 · #12 10-21-2008, 07:44 PM

morley's generally arn't the greatest from my experience but "when" to use it and "how much to push it" is all feel. Nobody wrote a book about it. The instructions probably don't cover it. Do what sounds the best!

JanusZarate · #13 10-21-2008, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by almix12

morley's generally arn't the greatest from my experience...

I disagree.

But they definitely don't sound like Dunlop. Or Ibanez. Or Vox. Or Tycobrahe. Or... well, you get the idea. Different wah sounds, and to each their own.

+1 on the rest, though - there are no hard and fast rules to using a wah pedal.

Moledaddy · #14 10-22-2008, 06:45 AM

OK. I played it last night. It's pretty neat. I think I will like it more as I lean how to use it. 1 thing I found that I don't really like, (MysticBoo mentioned this too)is that when you want to keep the same level of effect for more than a few seconds or however long you want to, you have to hold it in the same place.

I found a great level of effect for the chorus in one of our (my bands)songs. I found it rather challenging for me to hold it in the same place for more than a couple of seconds while I was playing a very involed line throughout the chorus. Oh well. Practice never makes perfect, only better than before.

casio · #15 10-22-2008, 07:31 AM

my advice is throw it in the garbage.
otherwise, you'll start to like it.
and then turn into one of us!

atheos · #16 10-22-2008, 07:38 AM

You shouldn't need to hold it; if it's not broken or just loose the pedal should stay in any position you put it - just take your foot off when you need to hold the effect stable. If the pedal doesn't stay in middle position there's something loose.

RCCollins · #17 10-22-2008, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atheos

You shouldn't need to hold it; if it's not broken or just loose the pedal should stay in any position you put it - just take your foot off when you need to hold the effect stable. If the pedal doesn't stay in middle position there's something loose.

No, we've been through this - it's a swtichless wah, you can't leave it in one positionwithout holding it there.

atheos · #18 10-22-2008, 08:07 AM

Oh sorry, never noticed that... Well, that means I have to join the bashing team then

RCCollins · #19 10-22-2008, 08:28 AM

no worries, I made the same mistake

I find it perplexing that both the current dunlop bass wah and the morley dual bass wah are both switchless... they are the two easiest bass wahs to find, an they both share what I consider a fatal flaw.

Glad I found a WahOne for a decent price. THERE'S a bass wah!

gm jack · #20 10-22-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCCollins

no worries, I made the same mistake

I find it perplexing that both the current dunlop bass wah and the morley dual bass wah are both switchless... they are the two easiest bass wahs to find, an they both share what I consider a fatal flaw.

Glad I found a WahOne for a decent price. THERE'S a bass wah!

What did you think of the Wahone?

I've been looking around for a really versatile wah (screaming high, throaty wahs low down etc) and from what I have seen, it seems to fit the bill.