As we continue our series of top guitar pedals, we move onto a most unique pedal type by featuring the top wah-wah pedals. Most top wah-wah pedals stick out from pedalboards because of their foot pedal, and are easily identifiable. Also, for such a unique type of sound, the wah-wah pedal still appears on most pedalboards across many genres, as it applies to those many genres. Funk. Rock. Psychedelic. It applies to all.
The Wah-wah effect is a modulation effect. Most top wah-wah pedals are equipped with a foot pedal that gradually changes the tone of the signal, though “auto-wah” features can bring forth this effect without the sweeping pedal.
Top Wah-Wah Pedals
Choosing the top wah-wah pedals can be a hard task, mostly because their is one clear king of them all, with very little consensus for what occupies second rank. To choose, as always, we used the appearance of each pedal on the pedalboards of today’s top guitarists as vote for one of the top wah-wah pedals.
Top Wah-Wah Pedals – The Runner Up List
Before we crown the king of the top wah-wah pedals, let’s have a look at what other pedals are seen on our favorite guitarists pedalboards:
Top Wah-Wah Pedals: Real McCoy Custom RMC-1 Wah
used by: John Mayer
Musician’s Friend
Amazon
Guitar Center
American Musical Supply
Top Wah-Wah Pedals: Vox 847 Wah
used by: Noel Gallagher
Musician’s Friend
Amazon
Guitar Center
American Musical Supply
Ibanez Classic Wah
used by: John Frusciante
Musician’s Friend
Amazon
Guitar Center
American Musical Supply
The Unmistakable King of the Top Wah-Wah Pedals
Without a doubt, the most popular wah-wah pedal is the Dunlop Original Crybaby Wah-Wah pedal. Even without counting the many variations of this pedal, such as the Buddy Guy wah, or the 535Q version, it is still the most popular, though grouping those in just adds to its dominance. It really is the only wah pedal you’ll need.
Top Wah-Wah Pedals: Dunlop Original Crybaby Wah-Wah
used by: John Mayer, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine
Amazon
Guitar Center
American Musical Supply