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Post new topic Robert Randolph autowah? and other wah stuff....
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Author Topic:  Robert Randolph autowah? and other wah stuff....
Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 10:46 am    
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Anybody know which brand of autowah he uses? It sounds very wah-like, unlike most of them....(of course a lot of that is in his fingers, but have to start somewhere...)

For a regular Wah Wah under my steel, I use a Chi Wah Wah, scroll down for a mini-review, it is pretty great....


Last edited by Steve Lipsey on 2 Oct 2011 10:30 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Chris Johnson


From:
USA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 4:39 pm    
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The boss auto-wah. That's what was stated in the gear page of his web site.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Boss-AW-3-Dynamic-Wah-Guitar-Effects-Pedal-101134609-i1124487.gc?esid=boss+wah
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 8:54 pm    
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Hmmm.....I checked http://www.robertrandolph.net/ and couldn't find the equipment page people keep referring to....if someone could show me a link, I'd love to look at everything there...

that Boss AW-3 is pretty inexpensive, $120....he does have an expression pedal next to his volume pedal in the videos of him....maybe he actually controls it, not just let it do its thing....the demos of it seem to do a great job on funk, but a bit too quacky for a good wah effect....but I haven't tried one yet.

The web demos of the various autowahs seem to show that the Mad Professor Snow White (proguitarshop.com) has a lot more control and ability to sound more real...but that one is $350...

Right now I'm wedging a pedal board under the steel (Rains SD-10), with a keeley comp, Crowther Hotcake OD, tuner, and Chi Wah Wah (a stompbox sized wah)...works well, but I really need another foot...and it doesn't fit under my portable steel, A/B/C pedals too far right...(Carpsteel)...
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 8:55 pm    
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If you look at his setup on Premierguitar.com, he has a real wah wah pedal next to his volume pedal. I suspect that is what you are hearing. I have yet to hear an Autowah with that much control. You can see the pedal in his videos also.

EDIT: Of course if the Autowah had an expression pedal hooked to it, it would explain the quality of the wah. But I think it is a real Cry Baby type of wah pedal. I used to use a Cry Baby and set it next to my volume pedal just like the picture.

Just ran across this link in another post (Eleven Rack). You can see the extra pedal next to his volume pedal and can see him shift to the pedal right before the wah part of his solo.

CLICK HERE
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting.
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 9:29 pm    
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Richard-
Thanks for the links....you are, of course, absolutely right. Crybaby it is. I guess I'll keep the Chi Wah Wah on the board...at least it is a lot smaller footprint than the Crybaby (I've got one of those too....)
But I think I'll head over to proguitarshop and try a Mad Professor Snow White autowah....the demos are very intriguing....
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Chris Johnson


From:
USA
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 9:54 pm    
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@Steve,

His old website had the gear page. For basic wah functions and most likely the wah you hear, he uses the cry baby. The autowah is used in specific songs for the pick-a-wah sound. You know he's using the autowah when each note wahs as he is blazing through his riffs.
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2011 9:55 pm    
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Here's a clip where he talks about his equipment and refers to a Hendrix wah pedal

CLICK HERE

And another showing him actually using the wah pedal.

CLICK HERE TOO

Having a blast looking up RR videos. Love his stuff.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting.
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Bo Borland


From:
South Jersey -
Post  Posted 30 Sep 2011 7:24 pm    
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This photo is a couple years old, the Carter is not around any more.. but if you look you can see a Cry Baby on the right of some strange volume pedal.
The Mesa amps are gone too.. last time I saw Rob he was using a Twin into a Bassman into some cabs..

I would ask John Rickard..forum guy , steel player and Rob's tech about his most current gear.

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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 1 Oct 2011 1:52 am    
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Great pic, but that's a Fessenden. I think it's plain that Robert is using a wah wah pedal (and very well I might add).
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting.


Last edited by Richard Sinkler on 1 Oct 2011 11:22 am; edited 1 time in total
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Chris Johnson


From:
USA
Post  Posted 1 Oct 2011 4:39 am    
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@ Bo Borland. The volume pedal in this pic is an Ernie Ball.

@ Richard. It's actually a Carter with some Fessenden dress up. You can tell it's a Carter by the instrument's construction. Look at the changer, cabinet dimensions and knee levers for the giveaways.
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Len Amaral

 

From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
Post  Posted 1 Oct 2011 6:47 am    
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in one of the clips Randolf was using a Keyed Sierra, I have seen him use a Jackson and a Fessenden. I think he is a gear head and enjoys changing instruments.
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Bo Borland


From:
South Jersey -
Post  Posted 1 Oct 2011 8:10 am    
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@Richard.. I saw the Fessy logo and looked underneath, it is the yellow Carter that was on the Carter website.. the tech told me a story as to why they disguised it.. not worth repeating..

John R posted a pic last week showing RR buying an old ShoBud at Gruhns'

I am not disputing his use of an auto wah.. there is probably one in that batch of boxes on the floor.. he uses and tries everything.
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 1 Oct 2011 11:21 am    
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Ah yes, now I remember the Carter on the website. My bad. Actually, the story might be interesting to some of us.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting.
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David Mason


From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2011 5:27 am    
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In a brief aside, before you get tempted I must say the Boss auto-wahs are noisy, really beyond what I would consider usable. It has to go before certain pedal - either right out of the instrument or right after the volume pedal - so the hum gets amplified over and over. It's one pedal you don't see too many guitarists use, and I don't think anybody is modifying it.
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2011 8:44 am    
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Yeah, typical of Boss stuff, same for compressor, etc. - decent "starter" pedals, but you quickly move beyond....IMHO, they are part of the reason the boutique folks exist, they get you into the effect, then you want it to be better..

That is why I'm going to check out the Bad Professor Snow White - seems like it sounds way more wah-like in the demo, and I expect that the noise level is better, too.
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Olli Haavisto


From:
Jarvenpaa,Finland
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2011 9:44 am    
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Steve, could you give a quick review of the Chi Wah Wah ? Compared to the Cry Baby ?
It looks very interesting...
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Olli Haavisto
Finland
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 2 Oct 2011 10:03 pm    
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Sure....and check out the demos, there are a few:
e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sizeP6i2dY0&feature=player_embedded#!
and more at:
http://www.prymaxevintage.com/plutoneium-chi-wah-wah/
and the printed reviews on their website:
http://plutoneium.wordpress.com/

I've had mine apart and it is built like a tank - really tough - and using big-company processes...some fancy work inside there. Optical control, no pots or strings to break, should work forever. Nicely buffered, all analog signal path.

Fairly tunable - level control, sweep range, and boost, which affects the frequency range center also. Current model has a vox wah-like tone, somewhat higher frequency center than a crybaby. They are coming out (as we speak) with a new model that has a wider range and pushes down into crybaby territory. I should have one soon and will report back on it - I think it will be the best wah anywhere, they really have figured out how to make it do everything (I was an early user and got in touch with them, and they have kept me informed of what they are doing).

The unique feature, of course, is that it is a half size pedal, same size as a stomp box, and you play it with your toe, with your heel on the floor, as if you were tuning on a pedal. The "instant on" feature is nice - play it and it goes on, stop and it goes off. No wondering if it is on or off, or turing it off in the middle of a solo by accident. Only loss is is that you can't set it to a tone and leave it there, as some like to do for an effect. I don't miss that, I love the instant-on.

Mounted on a Pedaltrain nano, with a compressor, tuner and overdrive, it all fits under my steel between the A/B/C pedals and the volume pedal...

Overall, a bit more pricey compared to a Crybaby, but in the long run it is small dollars difference, it does a lot more, and no need ever to buy replacement pots & strings...I'm really happy with it. Was only interested in an autowah to be able to use it without needing a foot (I put it next to the volume pedal, so it isn't really a big deal to use it), but I know that the Chi Wah Wah lets me actually be expressive, not just wah wah wah wah....so I'm keeping the Chi Wah Wah.

If you have any other questions, let me know!

NOTE- in the picture, you can see I have removed their really spiffy metal knobs, so that I don't hit them by accident and change a setting....

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