Revisiting the very first wah circuit with delicious vintage-flavored results.
Delicious, present voice. Satisfying, expressive range and filter curve. Well-made. Very little noise.
Toppy tones could be too hot for some players.
$279 street
Vox Real McCoy VRM-1 Wah voxamps.com
Some pedals are more fun than others. And on the fun spectrum, a new Vox wah is like getting a bike for Christmas. There’s gleaming chrome. It comes in a cool vinyl pouch that’s hipper than a stocking. Put the pedal on the floor and you feel the freedom of a marauding BMX delinquent off the leash, or a funk dandy cool-stepping through the hot New York City summertime. It’s musical motion. It’s one of the most stylish effects ever built. A good one will be among the coolest-sounding, too.
Vox Real McCoy - MAIN by premierguitar
Needless to say, there are not a lot of original Vox Clyde McCoys on the gigging circuit. They’re collector-spendy and a rarity, even in nice studios. And as anyone who has ever owned a wah knows, the combination of vigorous stomping and relative fragility in electro-mechanical terms means many wahs live short lives. A late-’60s Clyde McCoy can indeed sound special, though: top end that’s substantial, sweet and searing, and vowel-y contours in the filter sweeps that lend a haunting humanity to the voice. The new Vox Real McCoy VRM-1 is exhilarating in many of the same ways vintage specimens can be.
Of Halos, Pots, Treadles, and Trips
The Real McCoy mixes old and newer components and circuit construction techniques. The machine-populated board is clean, neat, and dotted with time-tested, familiar parts, like BC-109 transistors, and a contemporary halo inductor design. The latter component, like any inductor, shifts the resonant peak and shapes a wah’s voice. The one used here is less noisy than those on early Clyde McCoys, but clearly shares many very similar tone attributes.
Something in the Wahter
When I play a wah, I love using long, slow filter sweeps—like, “Maggot Brain”-at-half-speed slow. The McCoy’s nuanced taper means lots of copious tone colors to paint with if you take that approach. If you’re accustomed to the narrower vocal range of inexpensive wahs, the Real McCoy can inspire a relaxed approach to the effect—the kind that compels a player to lean on a single note and enables sweet, vocal-style support in more tender, soulful musical settings. As much pleasure as there is in these lazy-footed adaptations of the effect, the McCoy’s range and treadle action also makes it a standout for Wah Wah Watson and Skip Pitts “wocka-wocka” rhythm jabs. The Real McCoy is quiet, too, adding little hiss or noise to your signal.
At extremes of the potentiometer’s travel, the McCoy shines. The toppiest of the top end is blue-flame hot—a killer place to punctuate a solo or linger for a whole one, for that matter. The bassier reaches of the sweep are throaty, thick and powerful rather than muffled. I love the sounds the Real McCoy makes here, particularly with a nasty fuzz on the receiving end, which can sound really snarly and focused rather than grating.
The Verdict
The Real McCoy sounds, in most respects, very vintage in its tone profile. There’s lots of range, sharp trebly peaks, and fat, bassy resonance. It feels great underfoot, too. It’s responsive—facilitating fast, fluttering “Dazed and Confused” filter sweeps and long, slow throws of the treadle. About the price: $279 is on the high end for new wah wah. That’s only 20 bucks less than Vox’s V846-HW handwired wah and anywhere from 100 to 180 bucks more than wahs at the affordable end of the price spectrum, where the occasional wah-ist tends to look. If lyrical, super-present wah textures are a cornerstone of your sound, the Real McCoy merits a listen to see if the differences here justify the cost. Even wah newbies, however, may well find the Real McCoy’s characterful voice infectious and irresistible.
Introducing the ENGL Steve Morse Signature 20, a compact and versatile all-tube head with two channels, power soak options, built-in noise gate, delay, reverb, and more. Made in Germany, this amp delivers Steve Morse's precision and clarity in a powerful package.
Steve Morse, the legendary guitarist known for his work with bands like Deep Purple and the Dixie Dregs, has recently announced a new collaboration with ENGL Amps.
The result of this partnership is a small signature head that promises to deliver the perfect tone for any guitarist looking to achieve the same level of precision and clarity that Morse is known for. The new ENGL head, aptly named the Steve Morse Signature 20, is a compact and versatile amplifier that packs a punch in terms of both features and sound. With two channels, guitarists will have the ability to dial in a wide range of tones to suit their playing style.
What makes this signature head stand out is its unique preamp and power amp design. The clean channel offers a warm and articulate sound, while the lead channel delivers a classic rock tone with just the right amount of grit. With its powerful and responsive gain stage, this head produces a rich and dynamic sound that can go from smooth and creamy to aggressive and punchy with just the twist of a knob.
But that's not all the E658 also features a built-in noise gate, making it perfect for high-gain playing without any unwanted noise. And for those who want even more tonal options, the head also has a built-in delay and reverb as well some handy features like an IR loader, midi, headphone out. Whether you're a fan of Steve Morse's playing or just looking for a versatile and powerful amp, the ENGL Steve Morse Signature 20 is definitely worth checking out. With its compact size and impressive features, this head is sure to become a go-to for guitarists of all styles and genres.
- Two Channels: Clean, Lead
- All Tube Head
- Power Soak (Full Power / 20 Watts, 5 Watts, 1 Watt, Speaker Off)
- Preamp tubes: 4 x ECC83 (12AX7)
- Poweramp tubes: 2 x EL84
- Tube buffered FX Loop
- Noise Gate Master Volume Boost (M.V.B.)
- Reverb
- Delay
- Midi: MIDI In (with ENGL Phantom power switch)
- Impulse Response Loader
- USB: for IR loading
- Headphone Output with Level control
- XLR Ground Lift Switch
- Store (for MIDI programming)
- Controls: Gain (separately for each channel), Bass, Middle, Treble, Lead Volume, Clean Presence, Master
- Controls (Rear): Powersoak, Noise Gate threshold level, Delay, Reverb
- Outputs: 1 x 8-16 ohms or 2 x 16 ohms
- Made in Germany
The Steve Morse Signature 20 is available now from authorized Engl Amplifiers dealers worldwide.
For more information, visit engl-amps.com.
Giveaway season is ramping up with our first Pedalmania giveaway of 2024! Enter below for your chance to WIN pedals from Chase Bliss, LR Baggs, Keeley Electronics, Karma Guitar Amplifiers, Wampler, or Solo Dallas! Ends September 16, 2024.
Chase Bliss Onward
Onward is a sampler controlled by your playing. It moves when you do, capturing the sounds you make to create rich musical landscapes.
You will find responsive accompaniment, synthetic reimaginings, and a whole heap of glitching dreamscapes.
It has two sides – one freeze for soft, smooth sounds, and one glitch for angular, repeating sounds. Combine them into one moving mega-effect, or split them apart for waves of depth and dimension.
LR Baggs Venue DI Acoustic Guitar Preamp / DI / EQ / Tuner Pedal
We created the Venue DI so you can travel light, set up fast, and sound incredible anywhere you plug in. The Venue DI gives you complete control by combining a full-isolation DI output, 5-band EQ with adjustable low & hi-mid bands, variable clean boost, and chromatic tuner all in one acoustic pedal. With its all-discrete signal path, hi-graded semiconductors, and exclusive use of audiophile grade film capacitors, the Venue DI is on par with the world’s elite preamps and provides a studio quality sound for the stage.
Keeley Mk3 Driver Andy Timmons Full Range Overdrive Pedal - Black
The Mk3 Driver – Andy Timmons Full Range Overdrive is an overdrive workstation that allows you to orchestrate everything from a clean boost to a treble supercharger, a chimey tube-amp overdrive to a square-wave, germanium fuzz generator and more. This pedal combines a three-control blues driver circuit with two switches for the voicing Drive and Tone characteristics. Robert and Andy developed these switches to give players a broad range of drive tones. The Drive toggle engages two germanium diodes for a smoother, slightly compressed drive. Switch to Andy’s clipping style for a brighter and more articulate attack. Every part of the circuit has been optimized for tone and the demanding needs of a recording and touring artist such as Andy Timmons. Simply adding the Mk3 Driver to your pedalboard will likely make your rig sound better. This pro sounding overdrive can be switched between true-bypass and buffered bypass at any time.
Karma Guitar Amplifiers Machine Shop
Everyone loves our MTN-10 and ODR-10 pedals – the most authentic and accurate clones of the Ibanez MT-10 and Nobels ODR-1 out there.
Many have discovered the magic in stacking them. Machine Shop goes beyond that.
After a year of development we are proud to present the Karma Machine Shop!
ODR & MTN circuits – Stacked (series) or Blended (parallel)
STACK mode – choose the order of the circuits
BLEND mode – circuits are mixed together for ultimate flexibility
Dry signal – mix in part of your clean sound (BLEND mode with either side bypassed)
HOLD FOR BOOST function with variable gain control
Pure analog audio signal path and true bypass
Programmable power-up
Wampler Ego 76 Compressor Pedal
The EGO 76 is Brian Wampler’s tribute to the iconic studio compressor
that has shaped the fabric of music for decades – the legendary 1176
Peak Limiter. This compressor pedal takes you on a journey into the soul
of timeless studio sounds. The EGO 76 transcends the conventional role
of a pedal compressor, moving beyond merely squishing your signal to
significantly enriching your tone.
Fueled by FET-based (field-effect transistor) technology, Wampler gave the
EGO 76 studio-like Attack and Release controls, a Parallel Clean Blend knob,
and a meticulously tuned Tone knob. Each carefully designed element
encapsulates the spirit of the iconic 1176 and brings a touch of that magic
to your pedalboard.
SoloDallas The Schaffer Replica: Storm
The Schaffer Replica Storm is an all-analog combination of Optical Limiter+Harmonic Clipping Circuit+EQ Expansion+Boost+Line Buffer derived from a 70s wireless unit AC/DC and others used as an effect. Over 50 pros use this unique device to achieve percussive attack, copious harmonics and singing sustain.