Friedman no More tears Gold-72 wah
For vintage tone without the age-associated quirks
i t’s fair to say that the first generation of wah pedals to hit the market in the late 60s – the Vox Clyde McCoy, Vox V846 and the Cry Baby – got the operational methodology and the sound spot on. However, in their original forms they were lacking certain refinements that modern users might deem essential, prompting various manufacturers to introduce upgraded designs. The latest is US amp designer Dave Friedman, who has brought in a set of enhancements to create a wah pedal that’s perfectly suited for modern pedalboard operation while still retaining vintage sound. Intended to eliminate any players’ frustrations engendered by basic wah designs, Dave has named it the ‘No More Tears’ wah.
The first obvious drawback to an original wah pedal is knowing whether it is on or bypassed, but here there’s a nice bright blue LED just in front of the treadle. That treadle also gets adjustable stiffness via Allen key adjustment. Vintage wah pedals are notorious as tone suckers when bypassed, but there’s no such problem with the Gold-72. It has two bypass modes, true bypass and buffered bypass, meaning that it can be set to work optimally wherever you want it in your signal chain.
These are all good practical improvements, but the sonic operation has also had an upgrade. You get three different voicing options for the heel-to-toe sweep that the pedal covers, and a three-position mini-toggle switch tucked away under the treadle is easily set by a single finger, but it’s in a position where it won’t be disturbed once you’ve set it. The middle position offers a typical vintage wah sound, while the other two offer wider sweeps with the front position being of note for offering a gnarly top-end quack that works great with a dirty sound for aggressive expressiveness.
Overall, this is a classy wah with no dead spots on the treadle travel, offering a smooth but never bland tonal transition with all three sweep modes proving musically effective.
VERDICT
This is neither the first nor only enhanced version of a vintage wah, but it hits the spot with a practical balance of features at a very attractive price point. Pros Vintage sound; three sweep settings; adjustable treadle tension; bright status LED; two bypass options including quality buffering Cons Watch you don’t get grease from the gear cogs on your finger when poking under the treadle for the voicing switch!