23 replies to this topic

[ScrotieMcboogerballs]

I was reading some stuff on David Gilmour's Cry Baby wah pedal and that it was reversed for the song Echoes, I am curious as to how you reverse a wah pedal? I am thinking of getting a Cry Baby this summer as I like having an individual wah pedal instead of the one on my POD XT Live.

[billy16]

A reverse wah? Maybe the sweep is reversed.

[Cuphands]

Maybe the article meant the wah line was reversed, as in played backwards ?

Or should it be reversed as in, lower frequencies get emphasised when the pedal is pushed down, and the high frequencies when it's coming back up instead of the other way around ? I don't know why you'd change the circuit around for that...

[kurtlives]

^^^ I think your right.

How can you reverse a wah. Do you have a source for your info AS?

[guru of rock n roll]

Maybe the article meant the wah line was reversed, as in played backwards ?

Or should it be reversed as in, lower frequencies get emphasised when the pedal is pushed down, and the high frequencies when it's coming back up instead of the other way around ? I don't know why you'd change the circuit around for that...

I agree. But get the orginal one AS. I had one and it is way cool. It sounds so much better than the multi-effects ones .

[ScrotieMcboogerballs]

Link

Scroll down to near the bottom and its there. Here is the passage:

A deeper look into…

Pete Cornish pedal board 1976-77
The board had two inputs for guitars (input is selected with an on/off selector pedal). The signal is then split, - into a strobo tuner (David used Conn Strobo tuners) and a master bypass. The signal travels through the effects (as lined up in chain above) and then to three outputs for amps, either in solo or combined.
- The PC Custom Fuzz is an early version of the current P-2 (also listed as P-1, PC Big Muff and PC Fuzz).
- The Cry Baby wah wah had a custom made reverse switch to reverse the input/output connection for “seagull/Echoes” effects. - see Meddle for more
- The PC Custom Tone pedal was a modified Cry Baby chassis with a Fender Telecaster tone circuit.

I am curious as to what it means to reverse switch the input/output connection, because it seems that wouldnt doing that shut off the pedal?

[billy16]

Well, by switching those around, the wah would be working with the frequencies backwards since the input and output is switched, resulting in a different sound. There's definately some electronic explaination because the flow has been changed and could be coming in at the pot and the inductor from a different side, causing the reverse effect. But that's just my guess on that.

[Dennoire]

Yeh the switch means the input is now the output and vice versa. Pluging in the wah back to front can make for some cool sounds. Im guessing the switch is there so he doesnt have to unplug it and swap em around.

[billy16]

I've never thought about doing that, but now I've got to try. You could probably do that sort of thing with a lot of other effects too.

[the cash]

I did by accident once... I thought my pedal was broken

Really cool sound though!

[kurtlives]

I must try this.

[ScrotieMcboogerballs]

Well I would like to know how its done, I might get a second hand Vox or Dunlop and try it out.

[kurtlives]

Well I turned on my wah and got no sound.

[ScrotieMcboogerballs]

Yea, because its not a matter of switching jacks, its a matter of switching the signal path inside the pedals case which does it.

[Dennoire]

What wah pedal do you have kurt? I get sounds when my wylde wah pedal is inbetween heal down and about half way. Sounds wierd.

[kurtlives]

What wah pedal do you have kurt? I get sounds when my wylde wah pedal is inbetween heal down and about half way. Sounds wierd.

No what I did was put the input cable in the output and vise versa. I have got an early 2000s Crybaby Original, with a few mods.

[Dennoire]

What wah pedal do you have kurt? I get sounds when my wylde wah pedal is inbetween heal down and about half way. Sounds wierd.

No what I did was put the input cable in the output and vise versa. I have got an early 2000s Crybaby Original, with a few mods.

I have the same pedal basically. Mines just the zakk wylde signature. On further inspection I dont need to sound any notes to make noise, it just does it automatically( though playing a note/chord changes the sound). Its rather strange. Reguardless, that is the effect that Gilmours custom pedal was made to create. Some pedals will do it better than others of course, but thats what his reverse wah pedal does. Ill try to find a link to where I read that from.

[kurtlives]

Ya if I just move my wah I can hear some wahish sound I dont need to play anything.

[Dennoire]

Another similarly unconventional usage of the pedal is heard on the Pink Floyd track "Echoes", specifically the gull-like sounds, which were created after an accident when David Gilmour connected his pedal back-to-front, creating distinctive feedback sounds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wah_pedal

[the cash]

Yea, because its not a matter of switching jacks, its a matter of switching the signal path inside the pedals case which does it.

No, it's definitely just a matter of switching jacks. It does not work on some pedals though. I remember trying it on a Morley wah and getting absolutely no sound out of it.