Wah confusion

Steoob · 09-01-2005 4:49pm #1

howyez, so i want some wah for my bass, but im really confused, i heard that normal guitar wah can be used on bass, and cliff burton used it so there should be no problem, right?... but last week i tried my friends cry baby 535q and it didn't work, we tried everything, then i tried my other friends "musicstore.de" brand pedal and i got exactly the same story... y doesn't it work? it should shouldn't it???

thanks

John · 09-01-2005 5:10pm

What do you mean it didn't work? Did it work and not sound good or just no sound at all? I've used a Dunlop crybaby on my bass no bother. You can get a bass wah from Dunlop, it's designed for the bass's frequency range but it's quite expensive.

It wasn't me! · 09-01-2005 5:11pm

A gutar wah is designed to carry much higher frequencies than a bass puts out. It'll suck all the low end out of your tone. As far as I know Dunlop make a Crybaby for bass.

Steoob · 09-01-2005 5:17pm

well when i had it in off i "wahhed".. nothing obviosly, and when i had it on i "wahhed" and there was still no change, well i know that theres a bass wah but it costs like 170 quid at least, scrw that like, do you know y it didn't work?

John · 09-01-2005 5:31pm

Are you sure it was on? It should have had an effect, may not sound perfect but it should work. Did you try it with another instrument? It sounds like you either didn't turn it on (I always find Crybabies a bit sticky when trying to turn on) or else there's a problem with the pedal.

It wasn't me! · 09-01-2005 5:32pm

Can't think. Sorry.

Steoob · 09-01-2005 5:40pm

well our guitarist plugged it in to his guitar and started playing away with , there was actually one setting on the Q knob of the 535q where you could hear the SLIGHTEST wah in the background, and i dont think its a problem with the frequency coz i played an atrificial harmonic as high as i could get it it and was as higha s like 12 on the first string of a guitar so... i dunno

D!ve^Bomb! · 09-01-2005 6:23pm

just buy a wah pedal ya cheap bastard!:D it's not as if you can share your guitarist's one when on stage!

Steoob · 09-01-2005 6:36pm

well yea i wanna buy a cheap guitar one, thats the problem, lol

D!ve^Bomb! · 09-01-2005 7:20pm

one word for ya... eBay..

or as the Doc would say... chrisguitars

Steoob · 09-01-2005 7:27pm

meh, id much prefer to buy a cheap musicstore.de one and use that

John · 09-01-2005 7:48pm

steoob wrote:

well our guitarist plugged it in to his guitar and started playing away with , there was actually one setting on the Q knob of the 535q where you could hear the SLIGHTEST wah in the background, and i dont think its a problem with the frequency coz i played an atrificial harmonic as high as i could get it it and was as higha s like 12 on the first string of a guitar so... i dunno

Sounds strange, the wah effect should very obvious, even though it's designed for higher frequencies it will still wah a bass note, it's only an octave below. If you want a cheap wah try before you buy. Find one that you want online and try it in one of the guitar shops in town. I can't see why it is only working with your guitarist's guitar and not your bass.

Steoob · 09-01-2005 9:02pm

i'll just have to keep tryin til i get it workin with my friends, thatnks fur das hilfe, meh im not german

HusseinSarhan · 09-01-2005 9:38pm

I've got a Crybaby Bass wah for sale. I'm selling off loads of bass stuff at the moment so this is going too I'm afraid.

It is this model:

It's in excellent condition and sounds great. Cost me a good deal of money in town if I remember correctly. P.M. me or post on here for a price on it. I'll have to dig up the reciept to know what I'm charging for sure. Shouldn't be much though.

P.S. Sorry about posting stuff up for sale here by the way... just seemed like it was relevant to the topic!

Steoob · 09-01-2005 11:21pm

yea im interested, what else are you selling coz im dyin to get new stuff lo, i dunno what tho

eoin5 · 10-01-2005 8:39am

the way cliff burton used it was with some maxed out Big Muff and a rickenbacker 4001 which has a very bright tone, if you use it like that then youll definatly hear it.

Doctor J · 10-01-2005 9:56am

In my experience, your average guitar wah will suck the low end out of a bass tone, making it unpleasant for all (and I have a Ric, it's exactly the same). There are wahs designed specifically for bass which is what you should really look for.

eoin5 · 10-01-2005 10:33am

This is true but I guess its what cliff liked. anesthesia was a harsh growly sound without any boomy low end, ideal for fingernail scraping it seems

.
I reckon his amp settings were important too.

Fusion251 · 10-01-2005 10:48am

My VOX wah sounds great when I plug the bass into it, but I have a crappy Centuary wah that makes it it sound terrable, so I guess it's just to do with the quality of the pedal.

:cool:

Steoob · 10-01-2005 4:51pm

a friend of mine told me today that maybe its coz i have passive pickups? do the ricks have active pups?

Doctor J · 10-01-2005 5:00pm

No, the Ric 4001 and 4003s certainly do not have active pickups and even if they did it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference. The problem you are having is that a wah is designed for guitar and it's sweep is in frequencies not really relevant in a bass. The answer to your problem is a wah designed for bass, one whose sweep is around frequencies where it will perform the desired wah effect on a bass.

As far as I remeber, Cliff Burton used a Morley wah, so perhaps you should have a look at models such as this

http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--MLYPBA2

Also, Cliff used an Aria Pro II for most of his time with Metallica (Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets), don't get hung up on the Ric thing.

Steoob · 10-01-2005 5:03pm

argh i really want to buy a cheap guitar wah for 33 euro, lol is there no way whatsoever?? lol

Doctor J · 10-01-2005 5:03pm

Then be prepared to live with a very sucky wah. you get what you pay for.

Steoob · 10-01-2005 5:06pm

ok, o well, thanks anyways

Wah confusion

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