How good of quality are Axe-FX III's wah pedals compared to real wahs?

T

tveiro

Member
I've never used a real wah pedal before, so I wanted to know how the wah blocks in Axe-FX III compare to the real wah in terms of sound quality.
 
I use the color tone model and really like it compared to the real wah's I have owned (crybaby, bad horsie). I've never owned the real equivilent of color tone but the tweakability of Axfx wah's imo far outweighs any small tonal diffs there might be. One key factor wrt wah is the physical expression pedal used - get a good one to maximize the feel of Axfx wah - same as in real wah pedals: the physical feel of
it plays a big part imo.
 
I definitely love the Axe fx 3 wah sounds, very nice and tweakable :) I have owned Dunlop Cry Baby, Vox V847, Vox Clyde McCoy, Geoffrey Teese RMC3, Teese RMC10, old Colorsound, Roger Mayer Vision wah, Fulltone Clyde Deluxe, built many tweakable DIY wahs... probably other ones too which I can't even remember anymore 😅
 
another thing...
I've gotten rid of the electronics inside a Dunlop crybaby and converted it to use for the axe fx iii

now it definitely feels like a real wah but with the benefits of digital customization

so now I can't "complain" it doesn't feel like the real thing, mechanic, range and feel wise of a real wah!

if you're handy with soldering here's how!

https://ds.engineering/blogcontent/...de-1-build-an-indestructible-expression-pedal
 
For me, the Axe-Fx is much better than any analog wah. I was never happy with the range controls on adjustable wahs. Now, with the Axe-Fx, now only can I address this per-song, but I also have proper control over resonance and more.
 
ApocalypticKatana said:
another thing...
I've gotten rid of the electronics inside a Dunlop crybaby and converted it to use for the axe fx iii

now it definitely feels like a real wah but with the benefits of digital customization

so now I can't "complain" it doesn't feel like the real thing, mechanic, range and feel wise of a real wah!

if you're handy with soldering here's how!

https://ds.engineering/blogcontent/...de-1-build-an-indestructible-expression-pedal
Click to expand...

You could also just buy a Mission expression pedal…
 
tveiro said:
I've never used a real wah pedal before, so I wanted to know how the wah blocks in Axe-FX III compare to the real wah in terms of sound quality.
Click to expand...
Over the years I've had original classic wahs I bought in the 70s, in addition to several others. The originals would get scratchy, and suck all the tone out of the guitar even when they were switched out of the circuit. Others were… eh, to the point I pretty much quit using them on my boards. Fractal's models are better as far as I'm concerned because they don't suck the tone out, they are easily configured and adjusted to our liking, and, the ability to have them auto-engage is very nice.

Plus, with a single pedal controller it can double up as a wah, a volume control, or control parameters in one or multiple blocks at once, so you're not wasting space.
 
Frodebro said:
You could also just buy a Mission expression pedal…
Click to expand...
I didn't because I hadn't used the analog crybaby since converting to the axe fx

also I'm not spending 150$ on an expression pedal :tearsofjoy:


when I can just gut the crybaby (used in ebay for even cheaper) and buy the linear 10k pot (15$) and put it together which is essentially the same as the mission engineering pedal just without the branding costs

sure you need the skills and time and tools (few mins and you're done)
 
I use different wahs in one preset with only one expression pedal. How great is that! I only miss the strange Fuzz I had in my Ibanez wah from the left.
 
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I use dunlop adjustable wah and i am curious sometimes with the wah of the unit, cause I never tried it. But when I see the price of a mission pedal, it stop me. And it won’t work when I play with my amp so hm.
 
I have been looking at getting the EV-1. How do Wahs, etc. work as far as the pedal is concerned? Do you have to switch to a scene with the Wah active or can you set it to be activate/deactivate only when you move it from heel or toe down position?
 
GuitarGuy316 said:
I have been looking at getting the EV-1. How do Wahs, etc. work as far as the pedal is concerned? Do you have to switch to a scene with the Wah active or can you set it to be activate/deactivate only when you move it from heel or toe down position?
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Both of those options are available. You can also assign an FC switch to engage the wah.
 
Best wah I’ve ever used. I converted an old scratchy Dunlop Crybaby to a spring return auto engaged wah that can do pretty much anything as far as wahs go.
 
TubeStack said:
I love my Dunlop EVH wah. I set my FM9 Crybaby to match the EVH (using Sweetwater's chart) and now I like the FM9 wah even more than the EVH. Fractal wahs are insanely good.
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Dunlop also has the specs of all their sig wahs on their site, I have both the Petrucci and Cantrell wahs saved as blocks. Think I got that from one of Leon’s videos.
 
GuitarGuy316 said:
I have been looking at getting the EV-1. How do Wahs, etc. work as far as the pedal is concerned? Do you have to switch to a scene with the Wah active or can you set it to be activate/deactivate only when you move it from heel or toe down position?
Click to expand...

Like said above, you can do it both ways. I’m using a spring-loaded Mission Engineering pedal strictly for wah stuff because I’m a wah junky and am too used to the Dunlop-style casing. I strongly prefer using the auto-engage, I just take my foot off it and it shuts off. I have a non-spring loaded version for my III’s pedalboard and am going to replace it at some point with another spring-loaded one, the feel of the spring loaded ones is much more satisfying to me, having it push back against my foot a bit.
 
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