playing with a wah pedal.

[TOXIC SHOCK TROOPER]

What up dudes. So dude, I've been playing a while now, and I've experimented around a bit with the wah pedal to sound "decent" I guess. But do you know what Im saying when I say its boring? Its boring in the sense that it almost sounds like an "auto wah" sometimes. up down up down... no real dynamics to it much of the time.

I'm all about the "there are no rules" philosophy, but are there any more "general" rules of thumb when playing with a wah pedal and how can you go about making it sound more interesting? I watch my old hero, Kirk Hammett, and for the most part, he just pushes the pedal, toe down and shreds away. Thats cool and all, but Im looking for somthing a bit more dynamic, like more bluesy like SRV or Gary Hoye. Maybe its just more of a rhythm thing, or maybe I need to hit the ganja more often.
So if advice exists, besides listening to the guys I want to sound like, do tell please! Thank you!

[Spynal]

rhythm is a good thing when it comes to wah .......... also ... whenever it's closed, you don't have to open it all the way, it's the dynamics of the wah itself :) ..... just mess with it, experimentation is what made me a friend of the wah ........ mess with the rhythm, being a drummer as well i did the following:

sixteenth note alt pick runs while wahing in quarter note triplets, ... itwas insane!!!!!!!!!!

stuff like that makes it more fun in the end

[Lordathestrings]

Catch some old Johnny Winter stuff. The man was a briiliant example of the Texas blues style. You can definitely see where SRV was coming from.

[Polera]

Actually since were on the topic, what do the signs mean of wah, the plus sign and cirlce sign? As in voodoo chile.

[HDJ]

+ means toe down on wah
o means toe up on wah

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

Try using your wah pedal more like a 'filter' than a full on 'back and forth' effect all the time.

One idea is to play any ascending/descending run while 'following' the motion with the wah('toe up' at the start of a scale and gradually sweep forward to 'toe down' as the scale goes up for example.)

it will become less of a strong 'wah-wah' sound and a more phase like 'whhooooaaaaeeee' sound.Just try it!

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

And for the love of God DON'T LOOK TO KIRK HAMMET AS INSPIRATION FOR WAH TECHNIQUE!!!That is what he is bashed on the most for as a lead guitarist!(well,that and his 'pentabox' style...)

you may or may not...just a word of advice.

[TOXIC SHOCK TROOPER]

Thanks guys, some great tips here which I will try. I'll check out some old Johnny Winter also, thanks man.

Oh, and I did say my "old hero" before I brought up Kirk Hammett. Not saying he sucks, but I dont like his approach to his wah playing. Its very unclear (the notes are) and for instance, that little solo he does every time after For Whom the Bell Tolls... let me just say... Turn the damn wah off man!

And Im not a LOAD - RELOAD fan, but I love the wah work on Outlaw Torn, sweet music to my ears!

Later!

[shrubs217]

If you want to hear some cool things you can do with a wah pedal, check out some joe satriani.

[indieman]

ive just got a morley clw(classic wah) and its great for those old wah sounds that u can here in artists music like jimi hendrix. wah wah pedals r probs the best type of pedal to have as u can get loads of great sounds frm it and u dont have to get a expensive 1 either myn only cost £60 :) check out voodoo child that has awsome wah in keep on rockin

[Akira]

Check out the George Dennis Wah Wah (the orange one). I'm in love with it. :cool:

[silentmusic]

yep joe satraini is awsome also john petrucci ( my favorite guitarist)he uses a bit of the old wah and it deff works well over legato runs or triplets but just go with the flow the more u use it the more it will become second nature to u...

[studioguy123]

hey man,
coming from a more jazz background, i use the way as more of a tone shaper for solos. A good way to get really expressive and "vocal" qualities from your wah pedal (95Q Crybaby Preferrably) is to use your mouth. This may sound weird, but it really, really helped me when i had no clue what i was doing. I am a huge SRV fan myself and voodoo chile is my favorite song. So instead of just sweeping the frequencies to the extremes, try to use your mouth to "talk" or "sing" the vowels or syllables that you want to hear your guitar produce and adjust the pedal accordingly. Hope this helps. Don't worry what you may look like, it'll sound so full of soul.

[crazyguy]

I am obliged to bring up Steve Vai at this point. "Bad Horsie", "Taras Bulba", "Little Aligator" are just what comes to my mind instantly, but most of his songs have great wah work. Satriani is also a great example,though a bit less organic to my ears, but what matters the most is : No K.H.

[Akira]

I think both Steve Vai and Joe Satriani use the wah pedal in an impressive manner.