Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Bass Wah Questions
- Thread starter GreggBummer
- Start date
- Sep 26, 2005
- 1,955
- 641
- Disclosures
- endorsing artist: Dean guitars, Marshall , Rotosound strings
I found the Dunlop used at the shop for $75. I picked it up. I am very happy with it.... It is a bit dinged up, but it comes with a one year warranty.
I had my amp cranked up before the family came home... it was great!
Sounds good with just a touch of compression.
I had my amp cranked up before the family came home... it was great!
Sounds good with just a touch of compression.
I'm looking at getting a wah too soon - was looking at these two + the EBS Wah One.
Anyone have experience of the EBS? It any good? I love every EBS pedal I've tried (I need to get a few more for my board)...
Anyone have experience of the EBS? It any good? I love every EBS pedal I've tried (I need to get a few more for my board)...
I've got the Dunlop and I must say I'm very happy with it, however, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to make it sound good both with fuzz AND in clean without having to tweak the volume or Q control? I notice Timmy C has 2 wah's to overcome this problem!
I ended up getting the Dunlop. I really like it... but it does take some getting used it. I am still trying to dial in a tone with it. Fun pedal though.
I wondered why Timmy C used two Wahs... I thought he stood on both of them at the same time.
I wondered why Timmy C used two Wahs... I thought he stood on both of them at the same time.
I have a 70's Morley Power Wah that I've had for a long time - never tried it with my bass though! It just never occurred to me! 
You know, if you want a real nice wah for not a lot of cash, go with the Ibanez Weeping Demon. Only $100 and this thing really digs in with a rich wah and its controlabilty is AWESOME! I know the Weeping Demon isn't one you mentioned, but you should give it a look. I haven't read one bad review about it yet.
I did a fairly comprehensive review of 9 wahs some time ago. My opinion has not changed, and I gig out with it alot - the Wilson Effects wah is head and shoulders above the other wahs mentioned here. I still have not tried a deluxe clyde or the the EQII, but with the Wilson, I see no need too.
I can attest the EBS Wah is one of the better wah pedals out there. I have one for sale in the Accessories section but only because I have no use for it in the blues band and need cash for a relic bass purchase on the horizon. If I needed a Wah I would buy anothet EBS WahOne pedal hands down.
I completely agree with this review of the Morely Dual Bass Wah. Very good, always musical. I use it all the time and it couldn't play nicer with other effects. Haven't played the Dunlop, but I am extremely satisfied with the Morely. I wouldn't sweat it. From what the rest of the thread has said, either way you're good.
knock some dust off this old thread by adding in my two cents. I had a Snarling Dogs Bootzilla for awhile.
What I liked about it:
1. Selectable filters Low, Band, Hi-Pass.
2. Adjustable output volume.
3. Smooth treadle motion. I liked the large foot-print and range of sweep. It uses robust rack-n-pinion plastic gears covered in lubricating grease. Collects dust though and may need to be periodically cleaned and re-greased.
4. Large sweep range. Does the extremes very well. On low-pass mode it becomes a woofer blower. On hi-pass mode it easily does squelches/quacks.
5. Looks freakin' cool. Sparkly stars on a hot purple background. Glows in the dark. Has two evil glowing dog eyes. Very eye catching.
6. True-bypass, no noise or signal degradation, unlike other wahs in the ~$100 range.
What I disliked about it:
1. Very heavy. This single pedal was heavier than my small pedalboard. Made it a pain in the ass to bring back and forth to rehearsals. The treadle is so heavy it wont stay in position. So it can not be used to set a stationary filter voice.
2. I really disliked the fuzz/distortion. Seemed like a gimmicky add-on. Could perhaps lower the cost of this wah by removing the two extra pots and two switchs for the fuzz channel, and make the pedal footprint that much narrower. Making the fuzz even less usable was the difficult to step on activation switch.
3. Worst design feature ever: activating the wah required pushing the treadle all the way forward. This means the wah starts at the top of the sweep.So it takes two foot movements before you can do up sweeps, one push all the way forward to turn it on, then a second motion to roll the treadle back to heel position. This takes precious time making it difficult to work into a performace. Worst of all, to get an extreme funky squelch requires pushing the treadle all the way forward, which means you will accidentally turn off the wah
. Very frustrating, it's the main reason I traded it away.
4. My guitar player (who uses a lot of wah) commented that the sweep sounded like brushing teeth. Personally I liked the wah sweep, but after he pointed this sound out it bothered me. The sweep sounds wishy-washy. This isn't really a problem when doing smaller sweeps, but became very apparent and distastful when doing full sweeps.
What I liked about it:
1. Selectable filters Low, Band, Hi-Pass.
2. Adjustable output volume.
3. Smooth treadle motion. I liked the large foot-print and range of sweep. It uses robust rack-n-pinion plastic gears covered in lubricating grease. Collects dust though and may need to be periodically cleaned and re-greased.
4. Large sweep range. Does the extremes very well. On low-pass mode it becomes a woofer blower. On hi-pass mode it easily does squelches/quacks.
5. Looks freakin' cool. Sparkly stars on a hot purple background. Glows in the dark. Has two evil glowing dog eyes. Very eye catching.
6. True-bypass, no noise or signal degradation, unlike other wahs in the ~$100 range.
What I disliked about it:
1. Very heavy. This single pedal was heavier than my small pedalboard. Made it a pain in the ass to bring back and forth to rehearsals. The treadle is so heavy it wont stay in position. So it can not be used to set a stationary filter voice.
2. I really disliked the fuzz/distortion. Seemed like a gimmicky add-on. Could perhaps lower the cost of this wah by removing the two extra pots and two switchs for the fuzz channel, and make the pedal footprint that much narrower. Making the fuzz even less usable was the difficult to step on activation switch.
3. Worst design feature ever: activating the wah required pushing the treadle all the way forward. This means the wah starts at the top of the sweep.So it takes two foot movements before you can do up sweeps, one push all the way forward to turn it on, then a second motion to roll the treadle back to heel position. This takes precious time making it difficult to work into a performace. Worst of all, to get an extreme funky squelch requires pushing the treadle all the way forward, which means you will accidentally turn off the wah
. Very frustrating, it's the main reason I traded it away.4. My guitar player (who uses a lot of wah) commented that the sweep sounded like brushing teeth. Personally I liked the wah sweep, but after he pointed this sound out it bothered me. The sweep sounds wishy-washy. This isn't really a problem when doing smaller sweeps, but became very apparent and distastful when doing full sweeps.
I've owned a couple of wahs. From bass wahs dunlop 105, snarling dogs bass wah (now discontinued) and the EBS wah one. I also had a morley wah that wasn't especially developed for bass.
The ebs one was probably my least favourite. It's a good pedal, well built and all, but simply not dramatic enough. For me, wah has to be over the top, booty juice oozing madness. Controlled and musical? No thanks.
The morley guitar wah worked suprisingly good for bass and was dramatic enough, but somehow I got more of a rock vibe from the tone. Worked great with some fuzzes and everything but I couldn't get past it sounding rock.
The dunlop one I liked very much. It's an allrounder. I don't think it had the best tone and nothing about really floored me, but it didn't annoy me or leave me wanting for more either. The bypass wasn't that great, but it may have changed since, this was something like 8 or so years ago. Unfortunately, mine broke after just a month or two and since I bought it from NYC, it wasn't really worth the hassle..
Then my personal favourite tone wise, the original snarling dogs (brawl buster/ ball buster bass wah.. it was called something like that IIRC.) It's wet and juicy, tweakable enough and definately funky. I hear a lot of talk about the built quality, but mine has taken six years of use without any problems. It's also big and heavy and the power switch is indeed in the wrong place. But for me, the tone makes up for that. Now I just need to remember who I borrowed it to...
Oh yeah, I also have the behringer wah pedal. Bought it because local store was blowing them out for 10 euros and it said "works with bass too" on the box. It doesn't. Neither does it work with a guitar. I'll sell it to the one bogarting my snarling dogs wah when I find him for 50 bucks as "best wah everrrr.."
The ebs one was probably my least favourite. It's a good pedal, well built and all, but simply not dramatic enough. For me, wah has to be over the top, booty juice oozing madness. Controlled and musical? No thanks.
The morley guitar wah worked suprisingly good for bass and was dramatic enough, but somehow I got more of a rock vibe from the tone. Worked great with some fuzzes and everything but I couldn't get past it sounding rock.
The dunlop one I liked very much. It's an allrounder. I don't think it had the best tone and nothing about really floored me, but it didn't annoy me or leave me wanting for more either. The bypass wasn't that great, but it may have changed since, this was something like 8 or so years ago. Unfortunately, mine broke after just a month or two and since I bought it from NYC, it wasn't really worth the hassle..
Then my personal favourite tone wise, the original snarling dogs (brawl buster/ ball buster bass wah.. it was called something like that IIRC.) It's wet and juicy, tweakable enough and definately funky. I hear a lot of talk about the built quality, but mine has taken six years of use without any problems. It's also big and heavy and the power switch is indeed in the wrong place. But for me, the tone makes up for that. Now I just need to remember who I borrowed it to...
Oh yeah, I also have the behringer wah pedal. Bought it because local store was blowing them out for 10 euros and it said "works with bass too" on the box. It doesn't. Neither does it work with a guitar. I'll sell it to the one bogarting my snarling dogs wah when I find him for 50 bucks as "best wah everrrr.."
Personally, I use the Dunlop GCB-100 BASS CRYBABY. It's exactly the same as the normal Crybabies, the black housing, and the click button. I way prefer it to the 105 version, which is pressure activated. I feel you don't get the full range on that, since in the full up position it's off. I don't use it on much, but it' has a very good freq sweep when my P's tone knob is cranked up. It also works really well with the Fuzz Face I use. That combo doesn't keep a lot of low end, but it works great for 60s fuzz guitar freakouts, and the feedback is great and controllable.
