electro-Harmonix Wailer Wah

Electro-Harmonix reinvents the wheel by rehousing its Crying Tone wah circuit in a traditional rack and pinion-style pedal

Some things they just got right in the beginning. Over the years, countless effects pedals have been refined and redefined, reviewed and re-engineered, reinterpreted and reissued only to find that we have returned to, more or less, the original design. Such is the case with this new Electro-Harmonix Wailer Wah.

In truth, there isn’t much new about this pedal: the previous incarnation of the circuit came in the guise of the Electro-Harmonix Crying Tone in an attempt to solve the occasional problem of moving parts wearing out, while the rack and pinion assembly here harks back to Vox’s original wah wah construction. Granted, it’s a construction that may appear plain vanilla in terms of design, but there’s a reason vanilla is still the most popular ice cream flavour! Given its return to form, Electro-Harmonix president, Mike Matthews’, goal was to “build a wah pedal that sounds great, deliver it at an astounding low price and make it provide good weight savings”, and in terms of cost (£64) and weight (around 730g of rugged polymer), the Wailer Wah is perfectly on point.

SOUNDS

Wah-wahs are a pretty basic essential in the effects pedal world. And that extends to the Wailer Wah’s sound: yes, it’s essential, but it’s also pretty basic and without too much in the way of character, it may safely be described as, well, safe!

Electro-Harmonix is virtually heroic in terms of taking risks on new and interesting sounds, but the Wailer Wah is a safe bet all round. In operation, it delivers a clear, expressive and tastefully defined effect across clean, overdriven and heavily distorted tones. It’s action is solid and intuitive, with the vowel sat fairly low on the sweep. The top end of the sweep gives sufficient percussive upper midrange without being too hissy or clangy, and the mid-cocked sounds are just enough to cut through without a grimace of pain or pleasure.

Verdict

The Wailer Wah is a ‘one size fits all’ kind of wah pedal, and while some players will be looking for something more from their wah-wah, it sounds great and at £64 offers some very serious competition to other choices out there.

Pros Inexpensive; light weight; stable and solid feel (despite plastic construction); quiet; smooth and tactile sweep cons Plastic construction may put some people off; fairly orthodox in terms of sound