What makes that wah-wah sound??

Jonathan Colby · Post by **Jonathan Colby** » 2 Sep 2011 5:26 am

I was wondering what makes the swelling wah-wah sound on some the old swing/country tunes. You heard it from Speedy West all the time.

And recently I saw Hank Williams III in concert and his steeler's guitar could do it too. He had a stand-up console type non-pedal Fender guitar I believe. Don't know the model. Would love to know how I could get my hands on something like that.

That sound would really fit the kind of swing honky-tonk stuff I'm playing lately.

Jonathan Colby · Post by **Jonathan Colby** » 2 Sep 2011 5:27 am

oops. well I'm sure someone in the "pedal" section could answer my question too.

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 2 Sep 2011 6:14 am

It's a tone control. The value of the pot can determine how quickly the 'wah' happens. Most modern pedal steels don't come with a tone control, but a control can be added if desired. The older console guitars often had tone controls and the players would soup them up to get the sound they wanted.

Similar to the way some guitarists hook their finger around the volume knob on a Tele and use it like a volume pedal.

Archie Nicol · Post by **Archie Nicol** » 2 Sep 2011 6:24 am

Check You-Tube for Alvino Rey.
e.g.

click here

Arch.

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 2 Sep 2011 6:54 am

Most pedal steels don't have a tone control like you'd find on most non-pedal steels. Fender sells a volume and tone pedal that can be used to control the tone. You push the pedal up and down to control the volume and move it from side to side to control the tone.

The Fender steel guitar you saw is almost certainly a Stringmaster double neck eight string guitar. All you need to get one is a lot of money (or a lot of luck).
http://www.gbase.com/gear/find?gs=y&key ... ringmaster

Charles Curtis · Post by **Charles Curtis** » 2 Sep 2011 7:24 am

I have an old Fender volume pedal with the "twisting top" that controls the tone. I can get that sound using this pedal, although it's never been my thing.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 2 Sep 2011 8:05 am

I remember hearing that Speedy had replaced the tone pot on his gtr with a doorbell switch, so he could trigger the effect really fast.
Anyone else ever heard that?

Brett Lanier · Post by **Brett Lanier** » 2 Sep 2011 9:02 am

Skip Edwards wrote:I remember hearing that Speedy had replaced the tone pot on his gtr with a doorbell switch, so he could trigger the effect really fast.
Anyone else ever heard that?

That's interesting... I've often thought of adding a tone control to the C6 neck via a small spring loaded lever that would be next to the pickup switch. You could pull it to the left with your pinky finger, which would dull the tone. Let it go and the tone pot would be wide open.

Peter den Hartogh · Post by **Peter den Hartogh** » 2 Sep 2011 10:14 am

Buddy Merill using his tone control.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF05gVe47S4

Elton Smith · Post by **Elton Smith** » 2 Sep 2011 11:32 am

Thats how we did it before pedals came around.Wahwah is just using the tone pot ,ie treble cut and rolling it on and off.The pedals use a higher value pot to enhance the sound.For Tremlo roll the volume knob on and off.The old 3 way strats,we found out you could get the outta phase strat quack by taking a guitar pick and wedging it between the contact in the switch.Fender got wind of it and walha , the 5 way switch.All these sounds were invented by musicans.

Jonathan Colby · Post by **Jonathan Colby** » 2 Sep 2011 10:26 pm

Thanks guys. Mystery solved! Great videos. Those guys have such great technique and intonation -- and they always make it look so easy. I'm gonna see if I can check out that tone pedal at the music store.

Archie Nicol · Post by **Archie Nicol** » 3 Sep 2011 2:10 am

I just use a wah-wah pedal.

Arch.

Billy Tonnesen · Post by **Billy Tonnesen** » 3 Sep 2011 12:59 pm

As I remember the old effect used by Speedy, Alvino, and others was called the Doo-Wah effect by manually turning the Tone Control on the Guitar very fast from Bass to Treble.

The Wah-Wah effects was usually accomplished by a foot Pedal designed for this purpose with speed variations that could be pre-set.

Jonathan Colby · Post by **Jonathan Colby** » 5 Sep 2011 7:12 am

I'm not sure that a traditional guitar wah-wah pedal would produce the same sound as a tone-changer. Besides those pedals are pretty noisy when running clean through. I guess I'll have to learn more about electronics and rig me up something.

Yeah I see some guys doing the finger trick to vary the tone. On my Emmons Legrande II that's nearly impossible.

Peter den Hartogh · Post by **Peter den Hartogh** » 5 Sep 2011 10:12 am

A wah pedal is basically a sweep filter, like a parametric equalizer. (See Google). Suffice it to say that it will not sound the same as a manually turned tone control.

If you can find a pot that sweeps over 70 degrees (and not the standard 270 degrees) you can build the tone control in a little box and clamp it to one of the guitar legs. The 70 degrees gives a faster effect with less effort.

Jonathan Colby · Post by **Jonathan Colby** » 6 Sep 2011 3:01 am

Thanks for the tip Peter! Building something sounds like a fun project. I'll let you know how that works out.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 7 Sep 2011 10:14 am

Danny Gatton did it by replacing the 250 K pot in his Tele, with a 1 MEG pot. I have one set up like that. Goes from full bass to full treble in a quarter turn. My old Gibson Grande Console has a lever installed in a slot, that hooks up to a 1 Meg pot. Works great, but will disappear when, if ever, I restore that guitar.

The Steel Guitar Forum

What makes that wah-wah sound??

What makes that wah-wah sound??

should have posted in non-pedal