Real Wah in front of my FM3 ...... am I hearing things or am I delusional (?)

[BenIfin]

Hey all !

Well ... as Gene Simons once supposedly said ... life is too short to not be a bit delusional ... but I digress.

I've never really been super happy with any in-the-box Wah's in any modeler I've ever owned ... so I pulled out my old original Morley Maverick Wah ..... plugging my passive guitar with a very low output HB [6.5k] into it and then into the FM3. I always loved how this pedal sounded and its "travel" ... plus it is spring loaded so the heel returns fully up and auto-turns off the wah when its back in the heel fully up position.

I do know ... from emailing Morley last year that It is not a True ByPass pedal - Bill [ I think was his name ] emailed me back and went to great detail explaining how it was designed specifically not to be a true-by-pass pedal .....

Well ...... f.f.s ....my tone f%cking sounds audibly different ... in a good way .... nicer and sweeter <= yep I know ... totally meaningless words !

Went back and forth a lot and each time I preferred the tone with the guitar into the real-Wah-into-the-FM3-input.

The loader/closer I got to gig level volume .... the "more better" the difference was.

=> am I delusional ? am I making sh%t up in my own ears ? am I confirmation biasing this to myself ?

=> is there something / anything / any reason for this ?

I'd be really interested to hear what others who know a sh$t-ton more than me about this stuff if there is actually anything real going on here ?

Ben

 

[laxu]

Try plugging in direct and just turning down your guitar tone knob. It could be just additional cable capacitance.

But a lot of pedals might have a buffer or some other circuit that you find pleasing. Echoplex preamp, Dynacomp etc...all known for doing something neat to the sound.

 

[Foxmeister]

Aren't many/most wah pedals quite low impedance?

The FM3 has a fixed impedance so that could account for the differences.

 

[the-trooper]

am I hearing things or am I delusional (?)

Yes.

Ben

Trooper

 

[JiveTurkey]

Real wah>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>modeler wah. You're not delusional. Despite what the pedal hater above me says

 

[metropolis_4]

If it’s not true bypass then it has some sort of buffer, that buffer is likely doing something to the signal that you’re liking.

I don’t think it’s your imagination, that makes perfect sense to me!


And agree with above me real wah is about 1,000x better than any modeled wah

 

[the-trooper]

Real wah>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>modeler wah. You're not delusional. Despite what the pedal hater above me says

Wahs are exempt from hate and contempt.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Wahs are exempt from hate and contempt.

It's always a good time to rhyme!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Also; the Maverick wah is KILLER \m/

 

[AFKAEjay]

If indeed there’s is a difference…questions is…
- can you get equal results for example by putting an eq block first in chain to mimic whatever the wah is doing…or tinkle with impedance.

 

[0XI0]

is there something / anything / any reason for this ?

yes, the wah interacts physically with the pickups through the pedal travel, something something phaser inductance, FAS modeled the sound in the wahs but you can't model the physical interaction of variable impedance/inductance whatever. the pickup into the pedal is electromagnet into a potentiometer, the pickup gets physical pixie back pressure from the pedal that u can't model

 

[jay mitchell]

yes, the wah interacts physically with the pickups through the pedal travel, something something phaser inductance, FAS modeled the sound in the wahs but you can't model the physical interaction of variable impedance/inductance whatever. the pickup into the pedal is electromagnet into a potentiometer, the pickup gets physical pixie back pressure from the pedal that u can't model

This right here is why I get all my technical information from online forums.

 

[0XI0]

the pickups resonance changes thru the wah sweep. or something

 

[AutomationBias]

the pickups resonance changes thru the wah sweep. or something

It's the midichlorians

 

[AutomationBias]

Real wah>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>modeler wah. You're not delusional. Despite what the pedal hater above me says

I can't think of any modeled analog effect that I like as much or better than the pedal equivalent. Modeled effects are so much more convenient, though. I can throw all kinds of "maybe I'll use this someday" weird stuff on a preset that I'd never carry around on a pedalboard.

 

[0XI0]

It's the midichlorians

the pedal is a real load, when load changes, resonant peak of pickup changes

 

[DrewJD82]

While I’ve had no problem making my own Petrucci and Cantrell wahs in Fractal land, this thread made me check Reverb to see if there were any cheap Petrucci wahs available. There was!

 

[BenIfin]

While I’ve had no problem making my own Petrucci and Cantrell wahs in Fractal land, this thread made me check Reverb to see if there were any cheap Petrucci wahs available. There was!

View attachment 23649

*If* someone is in the market for a great pedal-board friendly wah pedal .... this is my exact pedal => here <= ..... US $72.50 + free shipping.

- small footprint
- great pedal travel
- optical sensors
- spring-loaded pedal to auto-return to full heel down
- Wah effect auto-turns off when the pedal auto-returns to full heel down
- this one in the ad is missing one rubber foot

I'm not in the $US but assuming this is in full working order it strikes me as a total steal for all these features and Morley quality for only $72.50 shipped.

F.w.i.w ... down here in Oz I paid just under AUS $220 used when I got mine ... that's around US$135 ... and it was a freakin' *bargain* down here when I got it :)

Just sayin'

Ben

 

[DrewJD82]

*If* someone is in the market for a great pedal-board friendly wah pedal .... this is my exact pedal => here <= ..... US $72.50 + free shipping.

- small footprint
- great pedal travel
- optical sensors
- spring-loaded pedal to auto-return to full heel down
- Wah effect auto-turns off when the pedal auto-returns to full heel down
- this one in the ad is missing one rubber foot

I'm not in the $US but assuming this is in full working order it strikes me as a total steal for all these features and Morley quality for only $72.50 shipped.

F.w.i.w ... down here in Oz I paid just under AUS $220 used when I got mine ... that's around US$135 ... and it was a freakin' *bargain* down here when I got it :)

Just sayin'

Ben

That's cool. I wanted a Petrucci wah, though. That's why I bought it.

 

[GTR37]

I am sure you guys have seen the sweetwater wah chart
But it’s a great resource for trying to create certain wahs in modellers as it gives all the
Sweep values for the diffferent models

Dunlop Wah Comparison Chart | Sweetwater

So many Dunlop Wah pedals! Learn what makes each one unique at Sweetwater.

www.sweetwater.com