Real McCoy Custom

The name reaches back to the wah's origins: the original VOX wah, released in 1967, carried an image of trumpeter Clyde McCoy on the bottom of the pedal². Real McCoy Custom builds wahs in that Clyde McCoy tradition, and its most famous single product is the Joe Walsh Signature Wah, its first signature pedal, presented on December 14, 2007³.

Geoffrey Teese, designer

Every RMC wah is developed and built by Geoffrey Teese, a point the company repeats on each product page: the RMC1 is "developed and built by me, Geoffrey Teese"⁷, and the same wording appears for the RMC4 Picture Wah, RMC5 Wizard Wah, RMC2FL, RMC6 Wheels of Fire, RMC8, RMC10 and RMC11⁷. All intellectual property rights are the sole property of Geoffrey R. Teese unless otherwise noted or licensed, and buying an RMC product does not transfer any of those rights⁸.

Other builders speak well of the work. Caroline Guitar Company's wah adjustment guide refers to Teese as "maker of some of the finest wah pedals (in our humble estimation) ever"⁴.

The model line

RMC's lineup has shifted over the years. A June 2015 announcement listed the current production models as the RMC3FL, RMC4, RMC5, RMC8 and RMC10⁹. The wider line, past and present, includes:

The RMC3 stands out in the line. Teese's own description:

The manual says it was created to let guitarists tailor the wah effect to their own preferences, and notes that many players prefer its tactile response to the stock mass-produced wahs they have used¹⁷. Each model except the Walsh Wah has at least 2 different voices⁹.

The Clyde McCoy lineage and the Joe Walsh Signature Wah

The wah pedal itself began as the VOX Wah Wah, released in 1967 with Clyde McCoy's picture on the bottom². The original Clyde McCoy pedals, made by the Thomas Organ Company and Jen Electronica, used a Halo inductor for its smooth vocal quality¹⁸. That lineage is why the McCoy name carries weight in the wah world, and several other builders work the same ground, among them Wilson Effects with its Clyde Signature Wah and R2R Electric with its Vintage Wah, a reproduction of the late-1960s Clyde McCoy pedals.

RMC's Joe Walsh Signature Wah, announced December 14, 2007, was the company's first signature pedal, the production version of a prototype that had been on Walsh's pedalboard since early summer 2007 and was designed to meet his specifications³. In 2015 Teese noted Walsh still had his original 2007 prototype, a wah with board-mounted jacks⁹.

Supply changes and builds

RMC's history is marked by supply problems and adaptations, documented in Teese's own news posts and history page¹¹⁹:

• In late 2006 the entire line had to be revamped to meet new European laws, leaving thousands of components and over 100 boards unusable for UK and EU pedals⁹.
• A case supply deal with Dunlop Manufacturing fell apart after 5 years in 2006, after which the company became fully independent with its own supplier¹¹.
• Custom colors became unavailable in 2011 when the local powder coat shop closed suddenly⁹; by 2023 flake color cases were offered for all models in purple, gold, red, blue, green and orange⁹.
• A 2019 supply crisis, with pots lost in shipping and inductors and long-box cases out of production, led to a Go Fund Me push that let Teese buy over-the-counter wah shells and re-boot the company¹¹.
• After the inductor supplier of 10+ years closed in 2019, builds use a variety of inductors, including the red Fasel inductor⁹.
• As of October 2024, carbon composition resistors in VINTAGE builds are being replaced with carbon film as vintage stock runs out⁹.

The FK-1 was made in the USA for RMC by Dunlop Manufacturing²¹, and RMC wah shells are custom made of ROHS-compliant zinc/aluminum alloys⁹. Components are globally sourced, from the US, England, Italy, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Japan and China⁹. The office and shop buys 100% renewable power from Pacific Power under its Blue Sky program⁹.

Support and repairs

RMC designs for repairability. Molex-styled connectors allow most repairs outside the US to be done without on-site soldering and without shipping a five-pound wah pedal back to the shop⁹. Teese also calibrates each wah pot by ear, a practice resumed at the start of 2011 after a period of toe-down maximum-treble calibration in 2003 and 2004⁹. For wah adjustment generally, Caroline Guitar Company maintains a guide to calibrating a wah pedal, citing Teese's pedals as a reference point⁴.

The range (11)

Questions