Weeping Demon Wah

[photoweborama]

I tried one of these out today, and I really like the way you can fine tune it. and you can set it so your guitar does not sound like tone mush.

It the store, it seem to sound and work much better than my Crybaby.

Anyone have a comment on them?

[curtisstetka]

Hey Mark. I too tried one in the store and thought it was great. Got it home and that Music Store Magic seemed to wear right off. My stock Crybaby was much better to my ears. I could get a lot of different sounds out of the Weeping Demon but none that I liked as much as what my Crybaby could do.

I like the way you can set it to activate with the switch or upon rocking the pedal. That's a very cool feature. I also liked the offset switch that you can activate independantly of rocking the pedal although that made it take up more space on the pedalboard.

It's a decent pedal just not to my tastes.

[Jonnda]

I'm putting a short list together of effects i want in my arsenal... What wah pedal would you recommend for one who is just going into using effects. Vox V847? Cry Baby? Geoffrey Teese RMC Picture Wah?

Has anyone heard of the band funkadelic? The title track on the album "Maggot Brain" makes use of wah in a way i'd never heard before, and has inspired my want of a wah pedal. instead of quick movement of the pedal he slowly moves it to highlight certain rifs. look it up on itunes store and listen to the samples if you can.

[tenebrae]

I'm putting a short list together of effects i want in my arsenal... What wah pedal would you recommend for one who is just going into using effects. Vox V847? Cry Baby? Geoffrey Teese RMC Picture Wah?

Has anyone heard of the band funkadelic? The title track on the album "Maggot Brain" makes use of wah in a way i'd never heard before, and has inspired my want of a wah pedal. instead of quick movement of the pedal he slowly moves it to highlight certain rifs. look it up on itunes store and listen to the samples if you can.

For reasons I stated before, I would suggest the Picture Wah. Without hesitation.

If you like that sort of effect (slow sweep) listen to the pedal in action when it is kicked on and used statically (left in one position) as a tone-set. Zappa used this "technique" quite often and to truly great effect. Listen to some of his stuff from the 70s and you'll get the picture. The "slow sweep" effect you mention I got with bells on (:)) using an old 60s Vox/Jen wah that now is due for retirement. I'm getting the Picture Wah simply because it's the closest thing I can find that captures the Italian greatness of those old fasel inductor Jen pedals. The Picture Wah will get that "Maggot Brain" low end grind and dirt and steely cut on the highs that you want.

Eddie Hazel and one 10 minute take = classic! How did you come across Funkadelic?

Tenebrae

[Jonnda]

It was actually very random. You see i noticed how peculiar some fx pedal names are, and was looking up strange pedal names. Then I came to this site that looked promising but upon opening the suggested page, I found it wanst even close to what i wanted. While I was there I decided to take a peep around and came across this site:
http://www.drugmusic.com/
Now I don't condone the use of illegal drugs, nor do i use them. But the name had me curious to see why it was called "drug radio". I figured it would be an interesting listen and I was in the mood for something completely different.
It spanned the 60's 70's
There was some smooth psychedelic of various forms, interesting 10 minute instrumental jams, grateful dead soundalikes, some tracks I'm guessing could only sound good under the influence. However most of it was pretty good, or just plain weird.

And 20 minutes into it all, everything all stopped and I heard some gibberish about mother earth getting knocked up for the third time. Then came a chord progression like none other that captivated my music theory side followed by one of the most heartfelt solos i have ever heard.
I thought to my self: "dang, who died? How did get that unique sound? Wait, THAT'S A WAH!? Who is this guy?"

Then I sat in amazement for the next half hour replaying it, researching it and playing the chords till i had to go to class.

I wish the teese was cheaper. I will probably get one off ebay one day.

What is the difference in sound between RMC1 (way more affordable) and the Picture Wah? (that could cause pocketbook pain)

Edit to add: Can a weeping demon sound like "maggot brain"?

[photoweborama]

yes, the picture wah is a bit more than I can afford too, though I did not go through the psycodelic excursion you did!

[Mr Fuzzy]

The Weeping Demon is a pretty nice wah. Different than the Classic "Vox" wahs. But still very usable.

I picked one up for $69 bucks on sale. Pretty nice at that price.
I like it. Smooth round sound and very tweakable. Though not really "vintage"
The WD is for people who are not chasing the "vintage" VOX wah sound. And are looking to be a bit more unique. Though I can get some so called "Vintage" sounds out of it.

Boy, do I hate using the term Vintage to describe a sound. it has got to be the most useless sonic description that can mean many things to different people. But sure, lets use a age related term to describe sound even though I personally think it is a useless sonic description.

I actually like some of the tones I can get out of the WD better than my Teese wah. But my teese is a highly Tweakable RMC III which has a really nice depth and musicality to it. I can adjust the RMC to taste, but not on the fly like the Ibanez. Plus with the offset switch you can use it as a fixed filter, that can be turned on or off.
The WD is a big wah though, it is a hefty pedal.

The WD is a cool wah but I doubt it will go over well with the message board "cork sniffing" vintage sound chasers.

Just to give a bit of perspective I also own some other wahs.
I never expect one wah to do it all. Some sound better with different amp and guitar combinations.

Teese RMC III LE
Highly modified Dunlop Crybaby cgb-95
Vox V846 (vintage)
Vox King Wah (vintage)
Dearmond Weeper.
Dunlop Crybaby Jimi Hendrix "special"
Dunlop Crybaby cgb-95 (early 80's)

YMMV

[photoweborama]

I'm really not sure a "vintage" wah sound is what I'm looking for. I really want it to add color and emphasis when I play lead. I can do it with my Dunlop, but it's way to sensitive. I have to just barely move the pedal to get what I want, and most of the time I go way over or way under what I want to do.

I'm the kind of guy that gets a pedal or an amp, and I play with it to find what I like or don't like about it. If the likes out weigh the dislikes, then I keep it. But I never try to chase someone else's tone. Like if I buy this Weeping Demon, I'll never be saying "I just can't get Jimi's tone out of this thing". I'll just find what I like about it.

I have a really short memory, and I never really seem to remember anything about other people's solos. That's good because I don't become a tone snob, pointing out how others sound, and that's bad because I never remember the licks other people use so I can incorporate them into my bag of tricks.

[BradKM]

I'm really not sure a "vintage" wah sound is what I'm looking for. I really want it to add color and emphasis when I play lead. I can do it with my Dunlop, but it's way to sensitive. I have to just barely move the pedal to get what I want, and most of the time I go way over or way under what I want to do.

Morleys, which tend to get a bad rap because they don't sound "vintage", have a level knob that let's you limit the amount of tonal sweep across the range of the pedal's throw. I dunno how much the Ibanez pedals cost, but Morleys are pretty cheap, and really cheap if you buy used.

[photoweborama]

I was going to look into the Morleys also because they use an optical sensor instead of a pot. Nothing to wear out... The Weeping Demon runs $99.00 street price.

I just checked, the Morley's run from $59.00 up.. Now ok, Tell me about teh Morley's now...

[BradKM]

I bought my first Morley to use with a bass, years ago when I was primarily a bass player. It was before they offered very many bass wahs.

I liked it because it was very transparent...standard Crybabys and the like tend to really thin out a bass, but the Morley didn't. That transparency is one thing a lot of guys don't like...they want the wah to add more grit and color to their sound.

Although there's no pot to wear out, if you use it enough you can still wear down the rocker mechanism. Nothing you can't fix yourself with the tightening of or replacement of a few screws and washers. They make a couple of different models. With the standard rocker you can depress the pedal to a certain position and leave it set for the duration of the song to color your tone. Or you can by the spring loaded one that always returns to "bypass" once you take your foot off.

I like mine...but I rarely use any pedals anymore. I can't remember the last time I had it in my signal chain. It's one that I keep around though, because you never know when you'll need a wah.

[photoweborama]

Well strange... For guitar, the Morely's did not do very well on Harmony Central. Not that I take all that I read there as fact, but you can tell a bogus review and one where the guy knows his stuff.

The Weeping Demon did pretty well in the HC reviews. Again, you have to read between the lines....

[detuned]

I've had the Crybaby, vintage & otherwise, various Morleys, & the Vox reissue wah. Still have the Vox.

I've tried the others, but even though the Teese or the Fulltones might be better, the Vox offers the best bang/buck ratio. IMO,YMMV, etc.

Plus the chrome looks bitchin', & you get a cool wah bag to go with it.

Vox!

[curtisstetka]

I had a Bad Horsie wah for a while. It was a really good piece of gear and I wish I still had it. I like that it had a switchless operation and the opto sensor. Don't really remember why I parted with it. Stupid, I guess.

Actually, I still just dug my Crybaby more. I'm not trying to recreate some sort of sacred "vintage" sound - I just think the Crybaby sounds good. I'm still on a wah quest because I know I can do better but the Crybaby is sorta my benchmark and it's beaten the WD and the Bad Horsie.

I also briefly owned an RMC1 and while it was a fantastic piece of gear I couldn't tame it. The thing had such a ridiculous level boost.

[BradKM]

Well strange... For guitar, the Morely's did not do very well on Harmony Central. Not that I take all that I read there as fact, but you can tell a bogus review and one where the guy knows his stuff.

Yeah, they are an acquired taste, and not the most popular wah...but based on your description of what you're looking for I think it might really work for you.

[photoweborama]

Well, they are in a similar price range. Sounds like the Bad Horsie II might be better because there are more adjustments you can make to the sweep.

[photoweborama]

Well, I've decided to just modify my Dunlop Wah. There are a lot of easy cheap mods you can do. I found out if you change the cap, you can make it the same as a Jimi Hendrix Wah, and if you get a Dunlop Bass pedal, you just change the cap also to make it a guitar wah.

[tenebrae]

Phtot, If you can get hold of the November edition of Guitar & Bass , you'll find the beginning chapter of an ongoing series that is dedicated to repairing and modifying wahs. I've got this issue and will pick up the December edition next week most likely. Would you like me to try and get a copy of the article/s for you? The first installment is 3 pages...I could photograph it and send it via email if you wish.

Tenebrae

[Plugger]

Or, courtesy of the Kap'n:

Look here

and

look here

-Mark

[photoweborama]

Well, I did all the mods listed here: http://www.stinkfoot.se/andreas/diy/mods/dunlop.htm
Except the true bypass, and I think it's that new Jensen speaker. I sounds great, but not with a wah.

I hooked it into my J-Station and it sounds great. I have to weight whether I want to go back to the stock speaker.

[chuckocaster]

yo marko,

with the "adjustable" mod how did you hook in the pot? i'm guessing like a 50's paul (inout to middle, right grounded, left output, looking at the underside of the pot?)?

just wondering cause i'm refurbishing a crybaby for a friend and so far it sounds okay, put i pulled out the 535Q mod someone did cause it was just okay sounding, and now have a big hole in the side of the wah to fill. figured i might as well shove something useful in there other than a carriage bolt.

[photoweborama]

Since it was replacing a resistor, I only used two legs, the right one and the middle. I figured a resistor does not connect to ground and I'm just putting in a variable resistor. It's a little mini trim pot but to reach the circuit board, I had to put in some long jumpers to hook it up. No room to mount directly to the circuit board.

The trim pot circuit does not look really great, but it works the way it was supposed to. I would have liked to make it look cleaner.

I though about running to an external pot also, but Radio shack did not have a pot in the value I needed, so I put the mini pot in.

I'm not sure how the circuit would react if you attached the other leg to ground. I'd do it on an output, but this is in the middle of the board. I could be wrong, I don't know much about electronics.

Found out my stock speaker has the same problem as the Jensen, so it's the Wah that is doing something to make it freak out.

As Jim in Texas told me: "My Granny used to tell me 'Nothing good can come from a wah pedal'".

[photoweborama]

Well the Dunlop is GONE. Sold off of Craiglist in an hour...

[chuckocaster]

thanks mark. i take it you mean looking at the pot upside down?

[Plugger]

If you are using a trimpot to replace a fixed value resistor, you should use the middle tap and one of the outside ones, and leave the other outside one disconnected. Choosing one over the other will only change which direction you turn the pot to increase/decrease resistance. The value of resistance will be zero when the pot is turned fully to the side you chose to connect, and the full pot value (e.g. 100K Ohms) when turned fully the other direction. Between these two positions the resistance will vary between these two values, obviously.

-Mark

[photoweborama]

That makes sense. I did it right then.
I'm gong to concentrate on other pedals for now, like a compressor, a delay, and maybe a phaser.

[chuckocaster]

thanks plugger.

[photoweborama]

I went to GC today to by a DynaComp... THEY DON'T HAVE THEM...

[Gravity Jim]

I'm chiming in even though you've made other plans... the wah that fit my playing and my expectation the best was and is the Vox 847. It sounds great, just the right sweep, way less noisy than the visually identical Crybaby... real value for the money. For me, a wah just isn't important enough to pay more than 100 bucks for. I don't use it so much as a wah-wah as I do an interesting tone pot.

[chuckocaster]

i'm with ya jim, i really like mine.

mark, GC doesn't carry a lot of stuff. i'd buy from somewhere else.

[photoweborama]

I'll look into it later. I'm kind of Wahed out right now...
Dynacomp, and a delay of some kind next...

[Jonnda]

This may be a stupid question:

Is there a cheap version of the picture wah, by this i mean has some big corporation managed to make a similar (but not as good) wah?

[photoweborama]

I don't know, but I'm sure Behringer will have one soon. :hee

[Kap'n]

I don't know, but I'm sure Behringer will have one soon. :hee

Yep. It's supposed to be called the Pick Cherwa.

[photoweborama]

Yep. It's supposed to be called the Pick Cherwa.

I thought this was an Indian name...then I finally got it!:hee

[Jonnda]

They actually have a decent one (but what do i know) in the xv amp. i'll post a sound clip so you can judge. the control pedal it's self is cheep feeling, and needs to be able to move more physically (I can tell it has more range but is possibly limited by a rubber stop).

[Plugger]

I thought the Boss v-wah pw-10 pedal was potentially quite usable; none of the other digital wah effects I tried cut it, IMHO (including the wah effects on the Boss multifx boards.... strange.)

I ended up with a Vox 847. One trick pony by comparison, but does its trick well.

-Mark

[Jonnda]

This is a link to where my Behringer wah was used.

http://www.thefenderforum.com/forum/...195#post304195

I wish it had more growl in that one spot. Could a cry baby or vox give me that?