Wah sounding shrill...

Tremonti

Tremonti

Fractal Fanatic
Running direct currently and crafting my patches accordingly. Everything cool but using wah on a clean amp. Sounds horrible on the bridge pickup(passive medium output). It's shrill but the middle position(Hum/Hum) sounds good. But why not the bridge? It's like if I used 4cm with this patch into a tube amp it would sound good in any position, but this is not sounding great. I can't post the patch as do not have easy way to do so at the moment and my gain structure is good with no "too hot" signal going on.

Any advice on wah with a clean amp with amp choice and wah placement and settings to make a smooth musical wah sound. Thanks!
 
Try running the wah in parallel. before the amp. Because there is no "mix" control in the wah block it is sometimes too "in your face" especially with a clean amp. I believe it was Scott Peterson that suggested this and it does help.
 
strat714 said:
Try running the wah in parallel. before the amp. Because there is no "mix" control in the wah block it is sometimes too "in your face" especially with a clean amp. I believe it was Scott Peterson that suggested this and it does help.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
Or try the Wah after the amp/cab. Turning up Emphasis and lowering the hi frequency can also help.
 
Last edited:
You can also adjust the range and the resonance of the wah. I've used that to tone it down a bit in the past.

My experience with real wah pedals is that they can tend to be a little bit like "an icepick in the forehead" on the bridge pickup, too. Having the extra controls in the Axe is an advantage you don't usually get.
 
Also, the tube amp and cab probably doesn't have the high end response of whatever you are "running direct" to.
 
StickMan said:
You can also adjust the range and the resonance of the wah. I've used that to tone it down a bit in the past.

My experience with real wah pedals is that they can tend to be a little bit like "an icepick in the forehead" on the bridge pickup, too. Having the extra controls in the Axe is an advantage you don't usually get.
Click to expand...
Tried that with no relief.
 
Where do you have it in your chain? If not first, try moving it to the first block in the chain.

Cranking the 'Fat' parameter and lowering the 'Frequency Max' parameter can help. A compressor after the Wah can also help.
 
stick a compressor after it. personally, i wouldn't use a wah into a clean amp with the bridge humbucker, but each to his own...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom