The SviSound Ge Auto Wah is an auto-wah pedal from SviSound, built around what Premier Guitar called "a true germanium wah filter that uses Soviet-era Russian transistors." An auto-wah is a cyclic filter that produces an automatic wah effect, sweeping the filter without a foot pedal, in the family of filter pedals and wah-wah pedals. Premier Guitar's reviewer heard "a touch sensitive, dynamic auto-wah that adds tons of texture without sounding heavy-handed."1
What it does
The pedal responds to picking dynamics: Premier Guitar described it as "exceptionally sensitive to picking dynamics," and noted it can do "door-slamming, on/off filtering" but is relatively subtle and rewards finesse. The reviewer also heard "a vowel-like softness that makes the filtering feel forgiving, and usable in many contexts."1
The depth knob "pinpoints the variable sweep of the wah effect," setting how far the filter travels.1
Pickup sensitivity
The pedal is highly sensitive to pickup type, which matters if you switch guitars1:
- The spiky output from the single-coils of a Fender Jaguar demanded careful tweaking of the sens control.1
- A Gibson Les Paul was easier to dial in for pickup sensitivity.1
Versions
The pedal is also available in a loop-jack variant with two extra jacks, which let you insert another effect, a fuzz for example, in the auto-wah's loop.1
The loop-jack version places a pedal such as a fuzz inside the auto-wah's filtering path, so the inserted effect is swept along with the filter.
Videos
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Questions
What is an auto-wah?
An auto-wah is a cyclic filter that produces a wah effect automatically, without a foot pedal. BOSS describes the effect as "a cyclic filter that produces an automatic wah effect." The filter sweeps on its own or in response to how hard you play, so the player does not rock a pedal to move the sweep.
Does the Ge Auto Wah work with all pickups?
Premier Guitar's reviewer found the pedal highly sensitive to pickup type. The spiky output of a Fender Jaguar's single-coils demanded careful tweaking of the sens control, while a Gibson Les Paul was easier to dial in. Players may need to adjust the sensitivity to suit each guitar.
Sources (1)
- SviSound Ge Auto Wah Review, Premier Guitar, 2015-09-29