Anyone into fixed wah's?

[frigid midget]

I'm sure there's got to be others, but I'm looking at the MXR Q Zone. The non-douchy looking Kerry King version that is, the discontinued one, without the moronic gaudy tough guy graphics.

I don't get along with regular wah pedals. My music doesn't need it, and I don't have the chops to make a riff worthy of hendrix-esque wah action. Plus, it takes up more board space than I'm willing to sacrifise for something I'll rarely use.

It seems like the Q-Zone might be cool to now and than make a riff stand out, or to use as a faux booster in solos, or whatever else you'd call my silly ass licks. It's more like tool imo, like a compressor or an eq, so I'm still on the fence about blowing precious fuzz pedlol money on one.

Can't find any quality demos online, nothing that's not recorded with a lousy laptop/camera mic. I guess it's a pretty straight forward concept though, if it's just a fixed wah type thing, I think I have a good idea what to expect.

Anyone here put one of these to good use? The one I've got my eye on costs more than what I'll be able to get for it if I flip it, so I'm not yet sure if I wanna go for it. A small wah like the AMT Japanese Girl would cost even more though...:s

So what say you?

- Quit yer wining, just mail the seller with a low-ball bid!
- STFU, don't waist yer time on a subtle bullshit effects! Spend the money on beer or another fuzz pedlol instead!

[bigchiefbc]

The only fixed wah I've ever owned was a BYOC 440 clone that had a fixed/envelope switch. I really liked it because the 440 is a really mid-heavy, vowel-y sort of wah. But now I just use my Wilson Freaker, and leave it half-cocked for that sort of sound. I like using a real wah because it's easier to adjust the frequency while I'm playing to find the sweet spot.

[Fuzz_Pi]

Check out this guy:

http://www.prymaxevintage.com/basic-aud ... e-wrinkle/

[Chankgeez]

Yeah, I've got a Peak Freq. It's great. I love it.

Another option is a parametric EQ or a pedal with a built-in parametric/semi-parametric EQ. I've got a Stone Deaf PDF-1 which I usually use at the end of my signal chain, but would probably work for what you want. Fairfield Circuitry Four Eyes is a fabulous fuzz with a built in crossover. Really nice for tone shaping before another fuzz. The Moog MF Drive is a versatile filter-based drive pedal. Good for goosing. Has expression control too (as does the Four Eyes). I'm sure there's plenty more that'd work for you as well.

[Holy Schnikes]

Listen to any album Josh Homme plays on to hear a Q-Zone at it's best.

[Harry_Manback]

I've had a Q-zone on my board for years (fueled by my QOTSA obsession). It's great for leads or trashy fuzz tones. Pretty sure Christian uses a boutique variation in Whores.

[retinal orbita]

I like the idea of it a lot. Never tested one out, I love a wah sound but I don't use the space and I dunno, I had the click to engage, click to turn off. It seems like a terribly outdated idea. I also can never hear the subtle-ness of a wah when I'm playing in a band.

[The_Active_Conundrum]

buy a useed FM-4. then you can have 4 fixed wahs at different frequencies in one box. Then if you want to branch out into other filtering junk, you also already would have tools to start experimenting. I know it isn't "small" but think of the spae youll save once you turn into a filter junky

[fever606]

http://www.wilsoneffects.com/ParkedWah.html

Wilson Effects Parked Wah. Even has an expression pedal jack so you can use it like a regular wah if you want.

Or just do what I did... pull the guts out of a Crybaby and stuff them into a Hammond box.

[Uncle Grandfather]

check out the Maestro mpf-1 pedal (think josh homme)
and the systech od pedal (think frank zappa)
neither are wah's but nail those cocked wah tones

[Achtane]

You can also do it for cheaps with the Ibanez PM7's fixed sweep.

[ryan summit]

the ibanez weeping demon has a latch
can be spring loaded/motion activated
or switches to free floating w/footswitch
(for that cocked wah shniz)
also has a guitar/bass freq. switch
you can really figure out what you want with it
can be had for fairly cheap ($29-70 used)

[goroth]

You can also do it for cheaps with the Ibanez PM7's fixed sweep.

You can? Awesome!
Damn, the PM7 is one of the most versatile pedals ever. So good.

I've got a fixed wah coming in from turnipfarm fx. Going to be an old Vox wah. Should be awesome.

[HorseyBoy]

Listen to chank: Stone Deaf PDF-1 is great.
But I'd also throw in a vote for the Isotope Fixed Wah from Magnetic Effects (guitarist from the Datsuns, does really cool stuff). He also does a fuzz and fixed wah in one called the Double Feature. Well worth checking out.
And I also really like fixed phase sounds. The Compact Faye Sing B does awesome fixed phase tones, which sound kind of like a weird fixed wah.

[Pepe]

The most versatile wah I have is the KORG KDW-301 "Dist Wah" for the PME-40X system:



As you can see it offers four modes: lowpass, bandpass, highpass and "BP+" which is bandpass plus your original signal. A very cool effect with lots of fun sounds inside.
Apart from this unit I also like the BOSS FT-2 for fixed wah sounds.