Hendrix and Fuzz

esashi · Status: Offline

Hendrix and Fuzz

captntasty · Status: Offline

What amplifier and guitar are you using? This can have a drastic effect on the overall sound.

-P

Fret Wire · Status: Offline

Yes, the problem you describe has been around forever with most all fuzz's and wah's. With a stock wah before a fuzz, neither pedal is going to sound right. The answer is to have an output buffer, and true bypass on your wah. It's described right on this site.

First, the wah needs to be true bypass. If not, even when the wah is off, the fuzz won't sound good. The fuzz ckt likes to see the signal from your guitar pickups directly. Not only will it sound better that way, it also allows the fuzz to clean up when you roll off the guitar volume. That is why in most cases, the fuzz is put first in the chain, or if not first, behind pedals that are true bypass. So with true bypass, the wah will no longer suck tone when off, and the fuzz will sound and work right by itself. At this point, both pedals will sound good by themselves, but not together.

Second, the wah needs an output buffer. Otherwise, the fuzz will load the wah when used together, and the wah still won't sweep right. You can check this by placing a Boss or Ibanez pedal that is off between your fuzz and wah. The input and output buffers on those pedals will allow the wah to work with the fuzz.

So, now that your wah is true bypass and output buffered, the following happens:

1. The wah sounds better by itself, and no tonesucking when it's off.

2. The fuzz sounds good by itself, and can clean up when the guitar volume is rolled down.

3. When used together, the fuzz will still sound good, and the wah will sweep right.

4. The only concession is that when they are both on, rolling off the guitar volume won't really clean up the fuzz that much.

For the Jimi sound fuzz wise, the Classic Fuzz covers his sound on the first album, the Axis Fuzz covers everything else. You should have kept both pedals. I have a early Classic, made when Roger was hand building them himself, and it sounds great when used with a wah that is modified like above. It's an easy build if you want to do your own. In fact, my Classic was used for the values on Phillip's Classic Fuzz schematic (marked early version). Now all you have to do is add an Octavia and Univibe and you're in total Jimi-land.

esashi · Status: Offline

re: captntasty

thanks. i know its not the amp and guitar cause it sounds fine when i put the vox wah with a pro co rat which is the distortion i use. wah sweeps fine and both the way and rat sound great. it's only with the roger mayer fuzz pedals nothing else.

but anyway for jimi type playing i use two fender stratocasters both US standards through a marshall jcm800 100watt stack.

however this problem still occurs if i use the vox wah and roger mayer fuzz together using any of the guitars i have which are, the two strats, a gibson sg classic special (the p90s one), a gibson les paul custom, a yamaha sg2000s and a yamaha sg1300ts. also did it with a gibson l6s deluxe which i dont have either. and also it still has thr problem going through any of the amps i have. these are the marshall jcm800 stack, a fender twin and a mesa boogie mark i.

esashi · Status: Offline

re: fret wire

thanks a lot thats great. i'm not technical you see in terms of electronics so i would have no idea about such things. i can play whatever needs playing and i know what gear sounds good but i have no idea about modding gear etc. so basically the true bypass requires modding the wah am i right? in terms of sticking a boss pedal in there thats no problem.

i noticed the issue jimi had too yeah but its not as bad as when i have it ha. probably he found ways to minimize it like you've been explaining. i have the roger mayer octavia and voodoo vibe these sound fine but the only thing is i can't control the intensity of the vibe using an expression pedal like the original univibe. in fact do you know if an expression pedal can be somehow used with the voodoo vibe by the way? thanks a lot for everything this means a lot to me!!!!

Fret Wire · Status: Offline

You're welcome. Yes, the wah would have to be modded for both the true bypass, and the output buffer. Both mods are necessary. When I was talking about Boss pedals, that was a test you could try to see how a buffer circuit between a fuzz and a wah can help the wah sweep work right. It's not meant to be a fix for your problem, however. Your fuzz would not work right by itself if a Boss or Ibanez pedal was before it. They are not true bypass, they are buffering, so to speak, full time. Remember that the basic fuzz type circuit needs to see the pickups directly to work it's best. Your Rat has a different type of circuit (buffered bypass) that can work after the wah.

Check the link below. Phillip discusses both mods to the wah on this page. Scroll down to where he talks about bypass and buffering. Aside from the other various tonal and voicing mods, the true bypass mod and output buffer mod are easy to do. Any competent pedal modder can do these two mods for you. http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/axiswah.html

I don't own a Voodoo Vibe, but I see it does have a jack for a volume pedal. http://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/voodoo_vibe.htm "Speed can also be controlled from an external volume pedal that is plugged into the two jack sockets on the back". A wah can be easily modded to use for this. A beat up, non working wah, that you can get cheap would be a good candidate for this.

Back then, guys like Mayer addressed many of these issues, we just didn't know it. Until this knowledge became public, many people scratched their heads trying to get the same sound with supposedly the same gear. Take Clapton's "beano" tone. It took years before it was widely known that he used a Rangemaster between his LP and amp. Now, we even know how to make one that sounds like the original.

These are good questions you ask, this thread should be moved to the effects section.

-- Edited by Fret Wire at 01:23, 2004-12-22

-- Edited by Fret Wire at 01:25, 2004-12-22

javacody · Status: Offline

esashi, I think the point you are missing is that Jimi didn't play stock effects. If you want Jimi's wah tone, you are either going to have to learn how to sling solder, or you are going to have to buy a boutique wah, or you are going to have to get someone to mod the wah for you.

fuzzcentral · Status: Offline

As the guys have pointed out, you'll definitely need to make the wah pedal true bypass and to add an output buffer to the circuit.

I've always been curious as to what mods were performed on Jimi's wah pedals. We all know the mods that his Fuzz Faces had (the "Roger Mayer" mods). He played several different types of wah pedals, including the Vox Clyde McCoy. Wonder what RM did to those wahs?

Phillip

esashi · Status: Offline

Re: Fretwire

I see thanks for all that. I have no idea how to mod the wah myself though do you know of any place it can be done? I just use a stock v847 vox wah.

In terms of the voodoo vibe does this mean that any volume pedal can be used effectively?

Thanks.

Re: Javacody

Yes I realize this. So I am trying to find out how to solve the issue although I know nothing about electronics and being a techie just playing.

Re: fuzzcentral

Yea thanks. Well i'd love to know what he did too. I mean all I really need is for the wah to work with the fuzz!!....

esashi · Status: Offline

Also I forgot to ask. What about the Roger Mayer Voodoo Axe? What's the story on that? Does it work any differently? And is it actually really a fuzz or a distortion?

esashi · Status: Offline

is this room closed?

Woody · Status: Offline

Go to www.wah-wah.co.uk/ I purchased a ready made "Output buffer board" from a very helpfull Stuart Casteldine who makes wah wah mods for sale, up to this point I had never done any home soldering or DIY fx, but he e-mailed me a simple instruction/picture diagram of where to solder each wire, or if you know some one who can, get them to do it for you. The mod itself only costs £15 and he ships them world wide I think. It's well worth it as now I can nail such a wicked Jimi impersonation, but you may have to alter the little variable resistor that has volume or level marked on it with a tiny flat head screw driver because if there is too much output it slightly overdrives even a clean signal going into your amp.

tpeck111 · Status: Offline

...

pete · Status: Offline

RE: Hendrix and Fuzz

esashi · Status: Offline

thanks guys, actually I got a custom made fuzz created for me, it's unique and it's resistors match up or something so basically it works perfectly with my vox v848 clyde mccoy wah and it sounds better than any fuzz i ever bought.

by the way i never bothered with the dunlop stuff cause the quality isn't there and the sound is way off.

what i've got now is perfect anyway so problem solved finally!!

thanks all.