There are plenty of options in the world of wah, and they run the gamut of function, construction, voicing, and price. Take a look at the 10 we’ve rounded up—all ready to bring the chaka chaka to your game.
V847-A
A redesigned inductor brings this wah’s sound even closer to the ’60s original, while an added input buffer prevents impedance loading of your signal when in bypass mode.
Gary Clark Jr. Cry Baby
The voice of this brushed-copper-finished Cry Baby is tuned to a lower frequency for added warmth and smoothness, and a tighter sweep adds the percussive element GCJ is known for.
XW-1
A 2-band EQ and adjustable Q and bias controls optimize this wah’s voicing for different styles and gear, and internal DIP switches permit resonance and frequency range adjustments.
Cock Fight Plus
This rack-and-pinion wah features both a traditional wah-pedal filter and a format filter for vowel sounds, as well as a fuzz circuit that can be added before or after the filter section.
20/20 Bad Horsie
Pedalboard-sized and loaded with a built-in buffer, this wah features optical circuitry, switchless activation, glow-in-the-dark details, and two wah modes.
Bel Air Wah
Switch- and potentiometer-free, this dual-mode wah and volume/expression pedal features a low, ergonomic profile and silky smooth operation.
PW-3
This wah offers up a space-saving design, low-noise operation, and adjustable tension, as well as two wah flavors: “vintage,” for classic-wah sound, and “rich,” for more low-end fullness.
Wah
Vocal- and vintage-flavored, these handmade wahs are available with a variety of custom options, are built one at a time with high-end components, and voiced individually.
Rewah Pro
Thanks to a longer sweep and large inductor coil, this wah reports having extended range, impressive bass response, and little saturation, making it ideal for contemporary styles.
Hellbabe HB01
No mechanical pots or switches and total optical control means wear-and-tear-free operation, and the Q control offers precise filter shaping for vocal-esque effects—all at a guilt-free price.
One of the reasons classic Queens of the Stone Age tracks leap from radio speakers like striking vipers is because Josh Homme is a true recording artist—an individual that chases and realizes the sounds in his mind by any means necessary. When you play the 10-watt, solid-state Peavey Decade Too with Homme and QOTSA in mind you understand why the original Peavey Decade became integral to that process. It’s feral, present, nasty, bursting with punky attitude, and when tracked and mixed with a booming bass, sounds positively menacing. But it’s also a lovely clean jangle machine that will lend energy to paisley psych pop or punch to a Bakersfield Telecaster solo.
Objectively speaking, if you’ve played an ’80s Peavey practice amp before, you will know many of these sounds well. (Many of my own early amplified experiences came courtesy of a borrowed Backstage 30, so they are etched deep in my marrow and consciousness.) Like any small amp with a little speaker and cabinet, it’s marked by an inherent, pronounced midrange honk—no doubt, an ingredient that Homme found appealing in his original Decade. The saturation is thick and surprisingly dimensional. But it’s the 3-band EQ, with added bass and top-end boost buttons, that really extends the versatility of the Decade Too. In many contexts, it made a cherished vintage Fender Champ sound like a one-trick pony. The Decade Too may not excel at cooking-tubes-style distortion, but in terms of punch, clarity, and versatility in the studio environment, it delivers the goods.
Peavey Josh Homme Decade Too 10-watt 1 x 8-inch Combo Amplifier
The day before they played the coveted Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville, the Washington, D.C.-based garage-punk duo Teen Mortgage released their debut record, Devil Ultrasonic Dream. Not a bad couple of days for a young band.
PG’s Chris Kies caught up with guitarist and vocalist James Guile at the Blue Room to find out how he builds the band’s bombastic guitar attack.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Devilish Dunable
Guile has been known to use Telecasters and Gretsches in the past, but this time out he’s sticking with this Dunable Cyclops DE, courtesy of Gwarsenio Hall—aka Jordan Olds of metal-themed comedy talk show Two Minutes to Late Night. Guile digs the Dunable’s lightness on his shoulders, and its balance of high and low frequencies.
Storm Warning
What does Guile like about this Squier Cyclone? Simple: its color. This one is also nice and easy on the back, and Guile picked it up from Atomic Music in Beltsville, Maryland.
Crushing It
Guile also scooped this Music Man 410-HD from Atomic, which he got just for this tour for a pretty sweet deal. It runs alongside an Orange Crush Bass 100 to rumble out the low end.
James Guile’s Pedalboard
The Electro-Harmonix Micro POG and Hiwatt Filter Fuzz MkII run to the Orange, while everything else—a DigiTech Whammy, Pro Co Lil’ RAT, and Death by Audio Echo Dream 2—runs to the Music Man. A TC Helicon Mic Mechanic is on board for vocal assistance, and a TC Electronic PolyTune 3, Morley ABY, and Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 3 Plus keep the ship afloat.
