The Mad Professor Snow White Bass Auto Wah (SWAW) is an auto-wah pedal: instead of rocking a treadle like a conventional wah pedal, it sweeps a filter automatically in response to your playing. Premier Guitar describes it as "made specifically for those who don't care to be tied to a wah pedal"1.
What it does
An auto-wah listens to the strength of your attack and opens and closes a resonant filter around it, so a harder pick stroke pushes the sweep further than a soft one. The Snow White gives you four controls to shape that response1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sensitivity | Sets how strongly your attack triggers the filter sweep |
| Bias | Sets where the filter sits in its range |
| Resonance | Sets how pronounced the filter's peak is |
| Decay | Sets how long the effect holds after each note |
The pedal also has a red LED bypass light so you can see its status on a dark stage1.
In Premier Guitar's review, the reviewer found it "sounded fantastic with any guitar I threw at it," and said that on recordings they were "hard pressed to tell the difference from a wah pedal"1. That is the practical case for an auto-wah: the wah character without your foot in the loop, leaving it free for volume or other work.
Mad Professor also makes bass-focused pedals such as the Blueberry Bass Overdrive and the Tiny Orange Phaser, alongside this filter for bass pedals boards.
Videos
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EytschPi42
AmpSGT
Questions
What does the Snow White Bass Auto Wah do?
It is an auto-wah, an envelope filter that sweeps a wah-style filter automatically in response to how hard you pick, rather than being controlled by a treadle. Mad Professor positions it for players who want wah sounds without being tied to a wah pedal.
What controls does the Snow White Bass Auto Wah have?
It has four controls: Sensitivity, Bias, Resonance and Decay. These set how strongly your attack triggers the filter, where the sweep sits, how pronounced the peak is, and how long the effect holds. It also has a red LED bypass light.
Sources (1)
- Stomping Grounds: 25 Pedals Reviewed, Premier Guitar, 2009-10-21
