Wah Vocal Qualities

[N Orlo]

Hey,
I recently built the Mod-Wah for GGG. It's good for now(at least until I get a new inductor). But one thing I've noticed is that the wah looses its vocal qualities on the lower strings, noticeably on the A and low E. Everything is stock the schematic, the sweep cap is .022uf. I am still using the stock inductor(Vox 847) and stock pot(Vox 847). I have tried adjusting the pot, switching caps, physically rocking the wah differently(if that makes sense) and haven't found anything that works for me. As this is the only wah I own I can't test it against any other wah to see if its just my pedal or all wahs that do that., I don't really have anything "good" to test it against. So:

Is this particular loss of a "vocal" quality normal w/ a wah?
Is there anything else I can do?
Does the Inductor/Pot have any effect on this?

Thanks,
Nick

[jonathan perez]

the wah is a tricky thing for people...most new people to wahs dont "get it" at first. which is ok.

quite simply, if you want extreme vocal quality to it, run it after a distortion. if youre stacking distortions, run it after your overdrive but before your distortion.

no need for a new pot/anything else. that is of course unless youve got extreme mids and and bass going on...

[N Orlo]

Hmm... lol. I can't believe I didnt think of that. I'm so used to the wah>OD>amp chain that it didn't even cross my mind

[anti-idiot]

the wah is a tricky thing for people...most new people to wahs dont "get it" at first. which is ok.

quite simply, if you want extreme vocal quality to it, run it after a distortion. if youre stacking distortions, run it after your overdrive but before your distortion.

no need for a new pot/anything else. that is of course unless youve got extreme mids and and bass going on...

sorry for my ignorance, but, what's the big difference btween after or before the distortion/overdrive ?

[R.G.]

"Vocal" is what happens in the human mind based on what it hears of a few (1, 2, 3) moving resonances in the 100Hz-3kHz range of frequencies.

There are only a few possibilities.

Losing the vocal quality on the lower strings may be either a loss of resonance (Q is too low) at lower freqencies, or simply that the lower notes don't have significant harmonics in the "vocal" range to sound vocal-y or that your wah resonance is getting too low to make it sound vocal.

[Paul Marossy]

Losing the vocal quality on the lower strings may be either a loss of resonance (Q is too low) at lower freqencies, or simply that the lower notes don't have significant harmonics in the "vocal" range to sound vocal-y or that your wah resonance is getting too low to make it sound vocal.

Does that mean that removing the "Q resistor" might help to make it sound more vocal? That's assuming there is one, of course...

[N Orlo]

Losing the vocal quality on the lower strings may be either a loss of resonance (Q is too low) at lower frequencies, or simply that the lower notes don't have significant harmonics in the "vocal" range to sound vocal-y or that your wah resonance is getting too low to make it sound vocal.

well, i have a trimpot for the Q and I've been messing with it so much it makes my head spin . But I guess what i am really asking is "is this normal?"

BTW, tried the wah after the distortion, and i did not like it. I probably tried it before and got the same results, which is why I didn't do it again.
I have a clip at: http://www.myspace.com/nickorlowski39sgrooveproject, this is basically what it sounds like right now. Not terrible, but not great either, I'll dig up some other clips for comparison later, but now i need some sleep. also i feel i should mention that i am playing through a little class A tube amp, would the different harmonic content (even-order?) affect the fact that the "lower stings may not have enough harmonic content" logic? Just throwing it out there...

Thanks for the replies,
Nick

PS

sorry for my ignorance, but, what's the big difference between after or before the distortion/overdrive ?

The wah sounds and acts a little different.

[jonathan perez]

i know the problem. your sweep cap sounds as if it is too low...try .015, and let us know if you get closer to home...and dont use wima caps.

[anti-idiot]

sorry for my ignorance, but, what's the big difference between after or before the distortion/overdrive ?

The wah sounds and acts a little different.

how different, i know it sounds different, but how