In The Same Way As The Cowboys: The DOD FX-17 Wah/Volume

andvari7 · #1 07-02-2010, 08:27 PM

I've always been a two-wah man. From my early playing days, I had (usually) two wahs at my summon; I started on a Vox V847 and a CryBaby 105Q (with the pots on the side). Of late, I've been playing with only one wah (as I rid myself of all but the Fulltone in order to buy the Moog MF-102), and wanted to buy a second. Fulltone's excellent Clyde Deluxe is equipped with one of the best inductors in all of wah-dom, but I was curious as to exactly what an inductorless wah sounded like. Well, not really: all Morley wah pedals are inductorless, but they haven't built a good-sounding Morley since 1981. And, I was demoralized by the late-blooming Chicago Iron Parachute (I now want one). So, what else is readily available to find that fits my interest? How's that DOD FX-17 look? Big. That's how it looks. Big. So, I bought one for about $50 on eBay, and I've been playing it since.

THE CASE: The steel is thick. I cannot imagine myself breaking it, as nobody has for almost twenty years (I worked out that it was made in roughly 1991). As for the actual effect, it's very, very small. Think of the Chicago Iron Parachute, and set the photocopier to 45%.

OKAY, SO THE PEDAL IS TINY, BUT IS THE SWEEP? Oh, yes it is. Think of the Ibanez WH-10 wah. Only not made out of plastic.

THE SWITCH: It's heel-activated. It somehow makes sense, and I like it.

SO, WHAT ABOUT THE SOUND? It's truly a unique pedal. Possibly because the physical sweep is relatively short, DOD put a trimpot that adjusts the frequency sweep, and it adjusts with a small slotted screwdriver. It goes from freakishly bassy, to about 80% of the treble sweep of the standard CryBaby guitar wah. And by 'freakishly bassy,' I mean that it can get to points not found on any other wah I have ever tried.

WORTH IT? I have never found another pedal like it. I'm more excited about it than I am about my Fulltone Clyde Deluxe. That might be why I'm getting rid of the Fulltone. But, most importantly, during the course of my typing, I believe that DOD has proven my title wrong. This is a first for me. The Dallas Cowboys are 'America's Team,' as the DOD FX series of pedals, of which this is an example, are 'America's Pedals.' But, analyzing the impact of the Dallas Cowboys on American culture, and based on current ownership arrangements, I will say that the correct analogy would be "In The Same Was As The Packers: The DOD FX-17 Wah/Volume."

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VOLUME? It's a volume pedal, and not an especially brilliant one. Nice feature to have, though.

Taylor Livingston · #2 07-02-2010, 08:32 PM

Say what you will, but this man writes reviews like no other.

Keep up the good work, sir.

superbassman2000 · #3 07-02-2010, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andvari7

I will say that the correct analogy would be "In The Same Was As The Packers: The DOD FX-17 Wah/Volume."

I like this guy...

you should make a blog!

bongomania · #4 07-02-2010, 10:58 PM

Agreed, I'd read more of what you have to write.

iamdenialNJ · #5 07-02-2010, 11:12 PM

I've always wanted a dod- fx-17 on my board. A wah and volume pedal? Sign me up!

andvari7 · #6 07-06-2010, 06:56 PM

I won this auction two weeks ago, and got it last Wednesday. My previous conclusion, in my opinion, did not do this pedal quite the justice I thought it would. While it is not my favorite wah sound - I'm sort of favoring the Ibanez WH-10 right now - it is so different from anything I have ever tried before that I'm not so certain that comparing it with something like a Fulltone or a Teese will work.

For those of you who are feeling somewhat adventurous and are looking at buying one, I must give some tips:

A. It is SMALL. It is less than 6.5" long, less than 3.5" wide, and just under 3" tall at full height (heel back). If you have a large pedalboard, it might get lost.
B. The left trimpot adjusts the frequency sweep, and the right adjusts the effect output level. In my chain, I find that the trimpot is best (the slot is actually arrow-shaped) set at about 11:00 on bass, while fully dimed (although, the trimpot actually stops at about 4:00) on guitar. It still only covers the low-to-mids in the sweep. That's a good thing.
C. I still haven't figured out if I should run this with my 1-Spot. The jack is 1/8" in diameter, 10v, negative-ground, and just about everything else Bob Weil and R.G. Keen don't want you running in their power supply. While it does take a single 9v battery, which I am currently using to power this pedal (I stopped using batteries last winter, because I was too cheap to buy more), I'm not so certain I can just clip the 1-Spot battery clip on there without worrying about breaking my wondrous little box of the finest electrical product ever to come from Salt Lake City, Utah.

Yakob · #7 07-06-2010, 07:50 PM

DOD pedals are great, and the wah is really neat. I love the little trim pots they have in there. The whole pedal is a pretty unique package in the world of wah wahs. From the small size to the way it works (variable capacitance

?). The onespot should be fine...

steevdeadman · #8 07-06-2010, 08:21 PM

I have 2 fx17s! 1st I use as a volume @ the end of my chain, the second I use as a CV controler for my MF-101 LPF. They are easily the coolest & smallest Wah/Volumes around, built like TANKS!

ccpbass · #9 07-06-2010, 08:44 PM

Wait, are you saying it could also be used as an expression pedal?!

Yakob · #10 07-06-2010, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccpbass

Wait, are you saying it could also be used as an expression pedal?!

Provided the "expressing" it does is based on voltage, yeah. The FX-17 can act as a CV controller and sweep from 0 to 5 volts...

rottenramone · #11 07-06-2010, 09:12 PM

I was very impressed by this little pedal when i was searching for an expression pedal. There was a NOS in a guitar shop and was surprised by the sturdiness of the thing. It's small but heavy. The wah's not that fantastic imho, but its unusual. Haven't tried the CV.

I ended up modding a ernie ball vp jr instead...

ccpbass · #12 07-06-2010, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yakob

Provided the "expressing" it does is based on voltage, yeah. The FX-17 can act as a CV controller and sweep from 0 to 5 volts...

Very cool. I am always looking for Moog EP alternatives.

Its funny how DOD pedals in general have a stigma associated with them. I guess long exposure times in this forum have created pedal superiority complexes.

andvari7 · #13 07-08-2010, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccpbass

Very cool. I am always looking for Moog EP alternatives.

Its funny how DOD pedals in general have a stigma associated with them. I guess long exposure times in this forum have created pedal superiority complexes.

And what stigma would that be? As far as I am aware, the inside-of-an-avocado-green DOD FX-25 (v1, IIRC) is considered to be one of the standard-bearing envelope filters in the bass world, along with the Mu-Tron III, Q-Tron and the Lovetone Meatball. Sure, there are others, but I'm concentrating more on not screaming in agony due to injury than I am on my observations on effects to name them.

And, to top it off, I used to rock my brother's DOD FX-75B Stereo Flanger, which is my favorite flanger of all time.

groooooove · #14 07-09-2010, 12:49 AM

very strange that this pops up now

last night i saw garage a trois at the bowery ballroom in NYC, and was face-to-face with 3 differnt pedalboards i was very interested in- mike dillons, marco beneventos, and Skerik's..

the only single-unit pedal skerik had was this one- and i was very pleased with it.