AX8 making cocked wah sound on all presets

Shane R

New Member
hi guys, I have had my AX8 from new for just under a year but have barely used it due to work commitments.
However, I was playing with it yesterday on preset 1 ( the Fender black face I think) when the sound changed suddenly from a lush reverbs clean to a kind of cocked wah sound.
I tried another 5 presets and the same thing happened.
Swapped out guitars and leads, turned it on and off but no improvement.
Any ideas.
Kind regards
Shane
 
Hi thanks for reply. I have never experienced this before and have not put any wah in preset.
Just noticed that after I switch it on and play for about 1 minute, there is a sudden increase in brightness in the display and the tone changes to “cocked wah” and the same happens on all presets.
 
You mentioned using a factory preset. Many of those have a Wah block included, whether you've assigned it to be controlled or not.

I'm not an AX-8 guy (I have Axe Fx II & III) but I've been active on the forums for 5+ years.

I'm pretty sure this is a common problem with the AX-8 sensing a change on one of pedal ports and activating the auto engage of the Wah.

Since you mentioned the display got brighter, maybe a power fluctuation?

Anyway, I'm sure someone will chime in on the solution... I think there is a "global" one.

If not, remove the Wah from the preset or disable auto engage.
 
First make a preset with only an amp and a cab. See if the problem persists. If it does, then it may be a hardware fault.
 
Hi thanks for all suggestions. Had a good play today and thought the situation had been resolved ( removed a wah block). Played for an hour no problem then suddenly the cocked wah returned. I will investigate power supplies next and consider if I need to send it for repair. Real shame as I have less than 10 hours of use.
 
Real shame as I have less than 10 hours of use.

With only 10 hours of use, cockpit error is very much more likely than hardware error.

Have you read the manual?

Have you built a preset from scratch to see if this problem exists there?

Do you have an expression pedal connected, and if so, have you disconnected all expression pedals to see if the problem still exists?
 
Hi thanks for all suggestions. Had a good play today and thought the situation had been resolved ( removed a wah block). Played for an hour no problem then suddenly the cocked wah returned. I will investigate power supplies next and consider if I need to send it for repair. Real shame as I have less than 10 hours of use.

Once again - make a new preset with only an amp and a cab and try that. Does that solve the problem?
Your "return of the cocked wah" sound might just be another preset with a wah or the same preset that was not saved, etc. The only way to know right now is a new preset with amp and cab only and test that extensively.
 
It now seems like a power problem. I had been using the AX8 upstairs in my loft where the cabling may not be so great. I am thinking that a “surge” somehow triggered the wah effect.
I have removed the wah completely from the first 5 presets and also made a simple amp/ no fx preset and so far the problem has not returned.
I hope to get some more time to check it out for about 2 hours straight.
Thanks again
 
I highly doubt this is related to power. My guess is that it could be either expression pedal calibration, bad expression pedal TRS cable, or simply, and I do not mean this in a disparaging way, user error.
 
upstairs in my loft where the cabling may not be so great

If this is true, stop fooling around with guitar and call your electrician before the house burns down.

I have removed the wah completely from the first 5 presets and also made a simple amp/ no fx preset and so far the problem has not returned.

This is more likely the "fix". You still haven't told us if you have an expression pedal connected.
 
I understand what you are saying but I have no expression pedal attached and have not touched any parameters since delivery. I have not had time since purchase to do anything but play straight presets for an hour here and there.
Cocked wah seemed to be engaging randomly.?
 
I was also considering this. From what I have read, I can just reset the parameters without having to reload the stock models.
 
This happened to me as well but it was due to a switch on the bottom of my Moog EP3 expression pedal. It needed to be set to standard. Soooo-if you have one of them, maybe check that.
 
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