[LAU] Wah update

Ken Restivo ken at restivo.org
Sun Jul 19 23:10:47 EDT 2009


Just a quick update on the wah research.

A friend owns a Dunlop "Jimi Hendrix Wah", which says it is the "Original Thomas Design", by which I assume they mean to claim it's the same design as the Thomas Organ Wah, formerly Vox.

This website's describes the frequency response as a lowpass with a resonant peak:
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm

So here is what JAPA says it does (and I believe JAPA more than some random website):

When fully closed, it's a bandpass, with a VERY high Q!
http://restivo.org/misc/lowend-jimi.png

But, wait, when I open it up, suddenly it becomes more like a highpass, but with a lot of resonance:
http://restivo.org/misc/midrange-jimi.png

When it's fully opened, it's definitely a highpass, but with a helluva peak:
http://restivo.org/misc/high-jimi.png

So, not only is the opposite of what that article says, but it's also kind of non-linear. I'll poke around the various LADSPA plugins and see if I can find something nearly like this.

Another guitar-player friend has a different wah (IIRC, either a "Cry Baby", or a Morley), and I'll see if I can run his through this and see what it comes up looking like.

-ken



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