WAH placement

[Submarine]

Looking at Danny's pedalboard in the other post (btw nice job), I am wondering what the consensus is around here on wah placement: before or after dirt pedals?  I think I'm preferring after dirt but I know some folks prefer it before.  What say you?

[mortlock]

i always thought the rule of thumb was distort the wah, dont wah the distortion.

[RAGER]

I've always wah'd first.

[Danny G]

Thank you!

I'm left footed on wah so ergonomically I'd like it on the left side of the board.

But it's first in my chain after the tuner so had to get creative with the wiring.

In the past I'd have it after dirt and wondered why it sounded weird/didn't sound good. Modded the hell out of it to no avail.

Then duh, one day I put it *before* dirt and suddenly it sounded exactly the way I'd been trying to make it sound by modding it. *facepalm*

So yeah. Wah before dirt. But experiment with after as it has its own weird thing


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[mortlock]

Curious question. I have a morley cliff burton sig power fuzz/wah. Is the distortion before or after the wah when combined in the same pedal?

[Muffin Man]

I looked a minute at talkbass, there's a thread. Only thing got was PFW. I guess in that order? /nohelp

the Foxrox retrofit buffer I think was one of the first solutions for wah>fuzz.

[James1214]

Wah first in line always.

words

[Pissy]

I play a wah with bass and put it after the big muff.  It's not used often, but that is the way I did it.  Used as a freakout crescendo type thing. 

[Pissy]

I should add it's a bass wah, so it's not the switch kind.  Spring loaded turns on when you go in, then returns and off with foot removed.

[Danny G]

Related side note: Delay placement

Where do y'all like yours?

I've been keeping my memory toy end of chain, mainly for ergonomics. I'm not turning it on and off in the same song usually, either always on or always off.

But this puts it after tremolo and phaser, which I've read that some people don't like.

So the other day swapped tremolo and delay with trem at the end.

I didn't like it. The trem was a little *too crisp* if that makes sense.

So swapped it back as I like the more ripply/fractal quality of delay at the end.


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[Lumpy]

Things can get fun with a delay first in your chain (or almost first, if you need to have your fuzz first... fuzz face or whatever). Then a second delay last (or almost last). Set them to different lengths.

[RAGER]

I usually run 2 delays.  One right after overdrive just medium time 2 repeats or so and just mixed in for a little breadth and then one near the end or right after set to a different time space continuum.  Reverbs and stuff like that at the very end.

[Danny G]

Running two amps and a loop station for Ocean of Stars, I finally added a second delay to the auxiliary board (ABY, loop station to second amp) on a long rate with the blend skewed towards the delay, going only to the second amp.

HOLY DAVID GILMOUR, BATMAN!


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[Submarine]

My delay is at the end but I'm sticking my phaser after one dirt pedal but before the second one.  The phasing can be more pronounced or more subtle depending on which pedal is engaged.

[James1214]

I run my analog delay last, after my looper, I pretty much just use it to smooth out loop transitions and as a way to make noise/keep the aural assault going while tuning between songs. I feel it allows me to mute amd turn off everything else, but still replicate the sounds I want it to without further coloring them.

words

[Danny G]

My Phase 90 has a similar reaction to being before or after dirt.

For slow swish the in-your-face of after dirt sounds good.

But for a faster Univibe sound the bit-more-transparency of before dirt sounds better.

Fortunately for the Phase 90 you can put a certain resistor on a toggle switch and still get the transparent sound when placed after dirt \m/,


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[Submarine]

Fortunately for the Phase 90 you can put a certain resistor on a toggle switch and still get the transparent sound when placed after dirt \m/,

I think I need you to start modding my gear.  =)

[Danny G]

It's the "R28 mod" and easily found online \m/,


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[Danny G]

I've tried to build phase 90 clones, even with a kit, and *none* of them have sounded quite as good as store-bought Phase 90

Hahaha shit.


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[Dylan Thomas]

Fuzz/dirt before wah was once called "raping" the wah, though I doubt that terminology has aged very well.

It's gonna give you that more exaggerated, first Stooges album wah sound, which is righteous if that's what you're doing for.  You're going to lose some clarity for the sake of a more extreme effect, basically.

Wah before dirt gives you a more traditional wah sound with more definition and more subtlety to the sweep.

I read a book once upon a time about "highly successful" people, and that when they were put in position to choose between two options that both have their appeals and advantages, they find a way to do both.

I took this to heart.  I put a nice fuzz before my wah, and a solid bedrock distortion pedal afterwards.

Here's some samples:

Check the second guitar solo on this track, that's a Catalinbread Katzenkonig going into a Crybaby 535Q - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQjKFBVTQjA

This song has much, much more subtle wah usage for color in the solo.  Crybaby 535Q into a MXR Distortion+ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhkPRz_F8vo

So for me, it's really about what I'm going for, the emotional content and atmosphere that I'm trying to express.  The first song, it's that acid punk, over the top, frantic energy, looking to bring the listener right to the edge.  The second song, it's about a more melancholy melody, and making sure that the notes are articulated, yet have a slight darkness and weep to them.

[Danny G]

Awesome to give yourself the before and after option.

For years my wah after dirt sounded weird and wheezy but still kinda cool I guess.

But putting it before gave me the wah sound I was actually going for 


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[neighbor664]

It would be awesome to have both options built into one unit.

I have had songs using the after the dirt as a sweeping effect.