The Fender Treadlite Wah is a treadle-style wah pedal built on what the announcing press called "an original-Fender analogue circuit design"1. It was unveiled at NAMM 2020 alongside a companion Treadlite Volume/Expression pedal, with a list price of USD 99.99 each1. For a player, it is a conventional wah in operation: rock the treadle to sweep the filter, with a few extras aimed at fitting it into a modern pedalboard.
What it does
The Treadlite Wah sweeps a filter across your guitar's signal in the usual wah fashion, but it adds two controls over how that sweep behaves. There is an adjustable three-way frequency selector, so you can dial in your wah sweep to taste, choosing the range of frequencies the treadle covers1. There is also a switchable external buffer, which can matter on a larger board where long cable runs or many pedals can dull the high end1.
A red status LED sits under the treadle to indicate when the pedal is active, so you can see at a glance whether the wah is engaged1.
Design and appearance
Both Treadlite pedals take a deliberately retro look. The press coverage described them as something out of the '70s in appearance, with a 'wood' effect finish and a traditional foot treadle1. If you are comparing it with other treadle pedals, the Wah-Wah Pedals page covers the type as a whole, and the related Fender Tread-Light Wah page covers the sibling release from the same announcement.
Sources (1)
- NAMM 2020: Fender Treadlite Wah and Volume/Expression pedals, gearnews.com, 2020-01-18
