The Daredevil Pedals Atomic Cock is a small pedal that puts a cocked wah voice in a box: a filter that approximates a cocked wah pedal, the sound of a wah left parked in one position, without any rocker pedal to rock. Premier Guitar's reviewer called it "a very cool 'variable-fixed wah in a box'" and credited it to Johnny Wator of Daredevil Pedals1. It sits on the board as a set-and-forget filter, with a heel/toe knob to place the voice, a blend knob to mix it against your clean tone, and a gain control that works as a boost.
A variable-fixed wah in a box
A cocked wah is the sound a wah pedal makes when its rocker is left near the toe position: a nasal, filtered voice that sits well for riffs and solos. The Atomic Cock produces that sound from a plain box, so it can live on a pedalboard permanently rather than underfoot. Premier Guitar's reviewer described it as "capable of some very overlooked and heavy-duty tones"1.
The pedal comes in a kelly green enclosure, which the reviewer called "arresting, even on a crowded pedalboard." Inside, the wiring was "careful, professional, and very tidy," with the circuit board affixed to the flat backsides of the potentiometer enclosures with soft foam double-sided tape1.
The controls: heel/toe, blend and gain
The Atomic Cock has three controls, all set by knob rather than by rocking a pedal1.
| Control | Position | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Heel/toe | Main knob, foot-adjustable | Replaces the rocker pedal of a normal wah. Heel gives the snorkliest, most bassy, fattest tones; turning clockwise makes the tone more trebly and pinched, with ghost harmonics and a phaser/flanger style modulation illusion1 |
| Blend | Middle, smaller knob | Reshapes the tone and the pedal's reactivity to playing. At its extremes it can dial out the wah voice entirely or eliminate the clean signal completely1 |
| Gain (boost) | Upper left corner | Easily nudged with the toe to add or reduce the boosted signal1 |
The heel/toe knob is the heart of the pedal. Because it is a knob, you set the filter's pitch with your foot rather than sweeping it, which is the trade the pedal makes for its small footprint. Premier Guitar's reviewer was blunt about the trade: "This is one case where the Atomic Cock's lack of a rocker pedal will be a hindrance to some"1.
The blend knob is the one the reviewer found hardest to work on the fly, noting it "isn't quite as easy to adjust" as the others. Set in the middle, though, it produced what the reviewer called "a beautiful balance of unfiltered and aggressively filtered tones that create a fat, singing, and snotty sound brimming with muscle and attitude," while retaining pick dynamics1.
The boost
The gain control doubles as a boost, and the reviewer found it hard to pin down in conventional terms. Rather than sounding purely like a clean boost, an overdrive or a treble boost, it "exhibits characteristics of all three," with a little fuzzy grit, but nothing with so much color or rich overdrive as to take over. The reviewer found it substantial enough to get a solo way over the top1.
How it sounds next to a vintage Vox wah
Premier Guitar's reviewer placed the Atomic Cock's basic voice close to a classic wah circuit: "The basic voice is not unlike a vintage Italian Vox wah with a little less vocal richness and slightly more piercing character"1. In other words, the filter family is recognizable to anyone who has played an old Vox-style wah, but the character leans a touch sharper and less vocal.
The reviewer's summary verdict listed the pedal's strengths as "Surprisingly versatile cocked-wah tones. Blend knob. Effective boost control."1
The Atomic Cock and the Atomic Cock Wah
Daredevil also made a related pedal, the Atomic Cock Wah, which Delicious Audio covered in 2018. It is a different arrangement of the same idea2:
| Atomic Cock | Atomic Cock Wah | |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | Fixed filter approximating a cocked wah3 | Smooth sweeping wah with a single knob to set the pitch2 |
| Blending | Blend knob mixes filtered and clean tones1 | Blend control adjusts how much wah signal goes to the output2 |
| Boost | Gain control on the upper left corner1 | A boost section added to give more gain and power as needed2 |
| Price | $130 street (2021)1 | $179 (2018)2 |
The Atomic Cock Wah is a separate pedal from the Atomic Cock, with a sweeping wah voice and its own blend control. Delicious Audio's coverage of it dates from March 20182.
Daredevil's filter-and-wah line also includes the Atomic Cock Wah, priced at $179, which the maker describes as "a smooth sweeping wah with a single knob to set your pitch"4.
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Questions
Does the Daredevil Atomic Cock have a rocker pedal?
No. The rocker pedal you would normally find on a wah is replaced by a heel/toe knob, which is adjusted with the foot. Premier Guitar's reviewer noted that the lack of a rocker pedal will be a hindrance to some players, since you cannot sweep the filter while playing the way you would with a conventional wah pedal.
Who designed the Daredevil Pedals Atomic Cock?
The Atomic Cock was created by Johnny Wator of Daredevil Pedals. Premier Guitar's 2021 review describes it as a variable-fixed wah in a box that Wator created, and Wator later collaborated with Dunlop on the Cry Baby Daredevil fuzz wah.
What does the blend knob do on the Atomic Cock?
The blend knob sits in the middle of the pedal and reshapes the tone and the pedal's reactivity to your playing. At its extremes you can dial out the wah voice entirely or eliminate the clean signal completely. Premier Guitar found the middle position gave a fat, singing, snotty sound that retained pick dynamics.
How does the Atomic Cock sound compared with a vintage Vox wah?
Premier Guitar's reviewer described the basic voice as not unlike a vintage Italian Vox wah, with a little less vocal richness and a slightly more piercing character. With the blend control in the middle, the reviewer heard a fat, singing and snotty sound brimming with muscle and attitude that kept pick dynamics.
What is the difference between the Atomic Cock and the Atomic Cock Wah?
The Atomic Cock is a fixed filter that approximates a cocked wah, with no sweeping rocker pedal. The Atomic Cock Wah adds a smooth sweeping wah with a single knob to set the pitch, balanced against the fixed voice with a blend control, plus a boost section. It carried a $179 price when Delicious Audio covered it in 2018, against the Atomic Cock's $130 street price.
Sources (4)
- Daredevil Pedals Atomic Cock Review, Premier Guitar, 2013-10-26
- Daredevil Pedals, Delicious Audio, 2018-03-03
- Daredevil Red Light District Review, Premier Guitar, 2017-02-09
- The Cry Baby Daredevil Fuzz Wah is here, guitar.com
