Vox wah

The Vox wah is the foot-controlled filter pedal that gave the wah-wah effect its name and its sound. Rocking the treadle sweeps a bandpass filter up and down the guitar's frequencies, producing the vocal "wah" that players from the 1960s onward have used for rhythm parts, solos and everything in between. Vox's own product pages describe the modern V846 Vintage Wah as "the definitive rendition of the widely recognized wah-wah effect"¹.

Where the Vox wah came from

The wah began as a Vox project in the mid-1960s, and its early history is a story of accidents. According to JHS Pedals' history of the wah, Vox executives initially did not know what they had on their hands: "They think it's a product for trumpet players, which is a horrible idea"⁴. The first Vox Wah pedals were named after trumpet player Clyde McCoy, whose muted-trumpet sound the effect was meant to imitate².

By 1968 the market had split along geographic lines. Guitar World's Chris Gill describes the arrangement: "with the Vox wah appearing in the U.K. and the newly renamed 'Cry Baby' wah sold in the U.S."⁵. The same basic circuit ended up under both names, which is why the Vox and Cry Baby wahs are so often discussed together.

The pedal's place in rock history was sealed in the late 1960s. Roger Mayer, who worked on Jimi Hendrix's gear, described in a MusicRadar interview how he tuned Hendrix's Vox wahs⁶:

The Vox wah family

Vox has returned to the wah repeatedly, and the current and recent lineup covers a wide range of prices and approaches:

The family takes its name from trumpet player Clyde McCoy, after whom the first Vox Wah pedals were named². In stock form, the Vox wah has been described as having the worst bypass issue of any pedal on the market, with a high amount of high-end loss³. Roger Mayer, who worked on Hendrix's Vox wahs, said: "I'd modify them occasionally by changing the sweep capacitor [value], or I'd insert a buffer to enhance the harmonics co"⁶.

The Vox wah appeared in the U.K., while the newly renamed "Cry Baby" wah was sold in the U.S.⁴, a split that shaped which version players encountered on each side of the Atlantic.

What a player should know

The bypass issue. The stock Vox wah has a known weakness. JHS Pedals, which offers a modification service for the pedal, states plainly: "The Vox wah in stock form has the worst bypass issue of any pedal on the market with a high amount of high-end loss"³.

Vintage examples. The V846 has a long production history. TONEHOME, an independent Vox reference site, lists an Italian-made V846 Wah Wah built in 1972⁷. British-built examples from the JMI era are collectible enough that builders make replicas of them: the Castledine Gray Wah is described as "a replica of the Vox wahs made in England by Jennings Musical Industries (JMI) during 1967-68"⁸.

Alternatives. The Vox circuit is one approach among many. Z.Vex's Vexter Wah Probe, reviewed by MusicRadar, takes a different route: "the Wah Probe is a foot-adjustable wah" with a different control scheme⁹. Players comparing options can browse the full range of wah-wah pedals on the site.