Wah Pedals

Wah pedals, or ‘wah-wah’ pedals as they are sometimes called, are probably the most recognisable guitar effect of them all. Everyone knows either the theme tune to ‘Shaft’, Jimi Hendrix’s immortal wah intro to ‘Voodoo Child' (Slight Return) or Kirk Hammett’s lead playing on ‘Enter Sandman’. These are all sounds produced through judicious use of a wah pedal.

A wah pedal is essentially an over-pronounced EQ effect built into a treadle-style pedal that lets your foot take continuous control over the sweep of frequencies. With your toe down, the pedal gives a snarly trebly tone; with your heel down, you get a somewhat muffled, bassy sound. Moving your foot back and forth in increments gives you that distinct vocal-like sound that characterizes the wah effect.

As you may expect, lots of manufacturers offer their take (or takes!) on the wah. Perhaps the biggest and best loved is Dunlop, who make the famous Crybaby and innumerable variations thereof, including lots of artist signature models.

At guitarguitar, we keep a massive selection of wahs in each of our UK stores, including lots of Dunlop models alongside plenty of others including Morley, Fulltone, and Electro-Harmonix. Every wah has its own sound and personality so it pays to do some research or to come to our stores and try a few for yourself!