Subtle wah sounds - without the wah !

Jaden · #1 03-16-2006, 07:59 AM

I know this is probably common knowledge amongst most of you but:

Vai gets a lot of subtle wah sounds in his playing when he is clearly not operating a wah pedal at the time.
I have tried to simulate this by leaving my crybaby switched on and in one position but its not the same.
so, how is this done?

jaken777 · #2 03-16-2006, 08:23 AM

Get a boss Dynamic Filter effect pedal or a Auto Wah or a multi effects pedal board with Auto Wah in it, you can get that sound out of a effects pedal by stuffing around with the control settings, the closest one to Vai's sound that I found is a Boss Dynamic Filter to get that subtle Wah effect & it is very flexible in sound & tone, there hard to find but well worth it if you want that sound to be spot on.

Cheers-Jake

Jaden · #3 03-16-2006, 09:17 AM

your not joking... I cant find one anywhere....
thanks for the tip mate.

Chud · #4 03-16-2006, 12:16 PM

I was wondering this aswell actually. For example, on G3 with Yngvie, when Vai is doing the 3 neck solo piece he has lots of subtle wah sounds but i can't see him using a wah pedal.

Must be a patch on Gforce i'm guessing? That or he's got Thomas backstage rocking back and forth

(that's a joke

)

The Extremist · #5 03-16-2006, 12:41 PM

doesn't an "envelope filter" create subtle wah type sounds?

Jaden · #6 03-16-2006, 03:08 PM

I dont know mate, I thought that it was probably one of the settings on the TC electronics gear that Vai uses, that would also explain the "generated" noise that he gets when for example he leaves all the strings open.
I was kind of looking for a "for the love of god" (ish) sound, but without spending £3000+
hope springs eternal

Jaden · #7 03-16-2006, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Extremist

doesn't an "envelope filter" create subtle wah type sounds?

Dont know mate, does anyone use an envelope filter for this ?
Im really happy with my old crybaby, might have it modded to true bypass etc, but as for the wah sounds, theyre great !
just cant replicate that frequency/pick strike produced auto-wah.

rgr · #8 03-16-2006, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatisshredding

I was kind of looking for a "for the love of god" (ish) sound

Pretty sure FTLOG is a real wah, a Crybaby to be specific.

For wah sounds without the wah, I think the Boss Auto Wah AW-2 or Dynamic Wah AW-3 is the ticket.

http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=18

Vai is probably using a setting in his TC rack unit, but it accomplishes the same thing.

Jaden · #9 03-16-2006, 04:25 PM

Hi, rgr...
I tried the boss auto wah years ago and hated it... is the dynamic wah really that different ?
I remember from the auto wah that the frequency response was too much, I couldnt really dial in a frequncy band that the auto wah circuitry would respond to..
has this changed in the dynamic wah setup ?

rgr · #10 03-16-2006, 05:35 PM

Sorry, can't answer you, I haven't tried either I use a Killer Wail wah pedal. That's just the only thing I could think of that would give you wah sounds without a wah. If you want really specific sounds it may mean getting into programming some sounds on a rack unit. Vai is a tinkerer and I'm sure he's put in some serious time setting up his rack sounds.

Gex · #11 03-16-2006, 06:30 PM

I think those sounds are made by the sustainer in Flo and the 3 Necked Jem.

You can get a "wah"-y tone out of hitting the whammy bar on notes.

Shredcows · #12 03-16-2006, 08:47 PM

My take on this.... no pedals used at all.

We all know Dimarizo has a very vocal kind of midrange to them? Evolution pups have some mids... plus I read that (correct me if I am wrong) the Legacy is a mid rangey amp. Vai's tone does not sound scooped to me at all. So with some good vocal like midrange, you can pretty much get a wah-ish kind of tone.

A good example would be Paul Gilbert back in Mr Big, when he was using Tonezones. The Live in San Fransico album. He had a lot of "wah" going on.

jaken777 · #13 03-16-2006, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatisshredding

Hi, rgr...
I tried the boss auto wah years ago and hated it... is the dynamic wah really that different ?
I remember from the auto wah that the frequency response was too much, I couldnt really dial in a frequncy band that the auto wah circuitry would respond to..
has this changed in the dynamic wah setup ?

Trust me on this the Boss Dynamic Filter is the one you guys need unlike the auto wah it is very easy to dial in that frequncy Vai sound soft wah, Rolland have it in that old GP8 rack mount effects processor, Prince still uses the Rolland GP16 for the same thing - (who wants the head ake of stuffing around with a rack & the problems that go with it!) -but it all boils down to the Dynamic Filter as a soft wah & works best for that Vai sound you guys want so bad & if you can find it as a Boss Dynamic filter pedal don't ever sell it because there so hard to find! its so flexible to use & it dose sound 99.9% like that Vai soft wah sound, I would never sell that boss pedal because its the best for doing Vai songs, there mite be other pedals around but this one works best for me & many people in Australia have asked me how i get so close to Vai's sound, now you guys know its simple as a boss Dynamic Filter.

Cheer-Jake.

rgr · #14 03-16-2006, 10:44 PM

FTLOG was recorded before the Evo and the Sustainer.

$0.02, back to the original topic.

wallie! · #15 03-17-2006, 01:06 AM

I have a JS100, and when I got my new JSX head I got subtle wah sounds, almost vocal, I had to use vibrato to get it (with my left hand)

The more I used the amp the less it occured, unless i really cranked the gain

If I ever retube my JSX ill let you know and ill record something