Vox V847-C

The Vox V847-C is a wah pedal from Vox, developed in collaboration with Japanese guitarist Char¹²³. It is built in Japan, and its front and bottom plates feature illustrations of traditional Japanese artwork³. Vox no longer makes it: the product is listed as no longer in production³.

What sets it apart from the standard V847 is the voicing. Vox set the wah's frequency range lower, boosted the gain and adjusted the Q-value, aiming for what the maker calls a powerful sound with a low center of gravity³. Guitar.com described the result as a warmer and more powerful tone than the regular V847, due to an adjustment of the wah's input impedance¹.

A V847 wah with a lower, more powerful voicing

The V847-C is based on the specs of the original Vox wah from the 1960s, the same lineage the standard V847 carries³. Where the regular model keeps the classic sweep, the V847-C moves it down. Vox's own description of the changes:

Press coverage at the announcement agreed on the character of the change. gearnews reported that the frequency range had been set lower than that of a standard model, and that by changing the output impedance the pedal should deliver a more powerful sound with a nice warm tone⁴. Guitar World called it a modern reimagining of the classic wah, with a lower frequency sweep and higher gain⁵.

For context on what a lower sweep means in this circuit: GuitarPCB's technical analysis of the V847 explains that the C2 capacitor primarily determines the center frequency of the wah sweep, and that bigger values move it down toward bass while smaller values move it up⁶. The same analysis notes that the V847's stock 68K input impedance is low and that the guitar signal might suffer tone sucking, a loss of high frequencies⁶. The V847-C's stated 210 kOhm input impedance³ is the adjustment Guitar.com credited for the warmer, more powerful tone compared with the regular model¹.

How the V847 family sounds against its main rival: MusicRadar's buying guide found the Vox V847 has bite with the toe down but is less nasal than the Dunlop voicing when compared side by side⁷, and GuitarPCB's circuit comparison found the low frequency harmonics are more present in the Vox than in the Dunlop⁸.

Power and connections

The pedal runs on a single 9V DC battery, or on an AC adapter that is optional and sold separately³. There is a dedicated AC power supply jack, so the pedal can sit on a powered board without a battery inside.

The true bypass design means the signal does not pass through the circuit when the unit is switched off³. gearnews noted at the announcement that this should let it play nicely on modern pedalboards, which old '60s wah do not⁴.

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