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"Anybody can play. The note is only 20%. The attitude of the motherf*cker who plays it is 80%" - Miles Davis
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You can get mini wah pedals now if you don't want a full sized one. This one even has Jimi's name on it
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Comments/views seemingly few and far between on this subject!
Mostly it's used (wrongly, really) to mean an envelope filter - ie something where the wah effect tracks the signal strength. These are the most common.
A true auto-wah is like a phaser or a tremolo but where the cyclic sweep is wah not phase or volume. These are less common.
There are a very few pedals that do both - the Boss AW-2 or AW-3 are two. (The AW-2 allows you to use both at the same time as well.)
But the problem is that Jimi didn't use his wah like either of these... he used it independently of the rhythm and picking as an expressive tool on its own - so as english_bob said, you won't get that from and auto-wah of either type.
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The TWA Wah Rocker is an update on the Guyatone auto wah (which is now ‘collectible’ and associated with people like Guthrie Govan).
The cheap micro ones from Mooer,etc, seem largely based on the Boss so you probably won’t like them.
Mine ( currently gathering dust) is a clone of a DOD 440 although the DOD itself has been reissued and is a slightly different, maybe slightly softer, voice.
I’d also look at the CKK Q Cat which is less expensive than some of the big names ( the £200 Mad Professor Snow White usually comes up as the gold plated standard here) and looks interesting. CKK making good value pedals that aren’t straight clones.
If you want really tiny then Hotone do one and it includes a fake wah mode, as I understand it, which does a continuous sweep ( bit like having a mate working a wah pedal for you).
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Maybe I should clarify - what I meant by some 'Jimi-ness' was just some generic, not over the top, wah sound to add to a driven lead tone. I would rather avoid getting a full-on wah pedal and would much prefer what @EricTheWeary said i.e. having a mate working a wah pedal for me. Sounds lazy I know but it's more that I'd rather not be concentrating on my feet....
48 seconds in on this video is about what I'm looking for -
TBH though although I'm not a massive wah user and could live without one I've found that there really is no substitute for an actual wah wah. Filters and auto-wahs can sort of get you there if you squint a bit but they're sadly never going to be the same.
The Meatball is the best sounding one without question but huge. The Wahoo is so crazy versatile but bigger than a regular wah. The Wonderlove is probably the one I'll end up keeping, it sounds great and is a reasonable size.
I had a DiscumBOBulator ii and should never have sold it...
But, as a bit of a fan of envelope filters I agree - its not going to get you into Jimi's world of Wah. The closest to that it can do is Prince - his purpleness used the Boss Autowah on his board for years, but often not in front of distortion... AFTER it. This gave some of his hystrionic solos that trademark scream.
A good envelope filter will do the dreadful Boom Chooka a Wahwah funk nastiness, but also can give very unusual soft attack to notes and otherworldly, slightly synth-like sounds. Some of the Jerry Garcia stuff has this effect, and if used right it can sound magnificent.
TBH, though, I'd suggest investing in a proper wah if you want to sound like Jimi - and then invest MANY hours practicing to avoid sounding like a dodgy cliche or a bad 1970s porn film (unless that is what makes you happy, if so... enjoy those growlers, my friend).
Morley also does mini wah pedals. http://www.morleypedals.com/tag/mini-pedals/ For my tastes, control over the notch frequency centre means that the Mini Bad Horsie 2 would be my choice.
I've played some very small stages where my regular wah won't fit.
The thing about the cyclic sweep is that you can get a really good impression of Kirk Hammett flapping his foot about, completely out of time, and wahing away merrily. Sounds shit but the Funky Monkey makes it sound authentic.
Or rather, it's just not how I use wah. I like the ol' Schenker thing of getting a tone and sitting on it. I tend to flap a bit more than Schenker but that's just lack of coordination.