6. What do you need to look out for?

Before you go out and buy a wah pedal, you should think about the pedal size. The Cry Baby at a length of about 25cm and featuring a see-saw about 22cm long is regarded as standard. Morley pedals feature a slightly larger contact area for the foot. If space is an issue on your pedal board, you may want to look into mini pedals, which can come in at about half the size of a standard pedal. While you can have a normal playing feeling with them, there are differences, so you should try out both kinds before you decide.

The second criterion is pedal travel, i.e. the difference between heel and toe position. On a Cry Baby, this is relatively short, which many players prefer, as they don't have to tilt their foot upwards as much. This construction feature on the see-saw is especially convenient in rapid and continuous movements. If you are interested in delicate control of the mid frequencies to achieve a so-called "fixed wah sound", you'll be better served with a pedal featuring longer pedal travel.

The pedal board's angle should also be considered. If your pedal board is angled, you'll definitely feel the consequences of longer pedal travel in a long jam session with permanent "chaka - chaka" wah grooves in your calf the next day!

But in the final analysis, it's the sound that matters most. And this depends on various technical criteria, too: does the pedal scratch or emit other background noise? Some background noise is absolutely normal, but it should not rise to the level of interference. Does the sound change smoothly when you activate the see-saw, or are there jumps? While the technical characteristics of a wah pedal can be measured objectively, how you feel about the sound is down to your personal preference. For funky sounds, the pedal is allowed to croak a fair bit, but if the distortion increases it may be too much. The only solution is to try the pedal out.

With auto wah or touch wah, the aspect of sound is vital in so far as the effect must be suitable for the respective instrument (guitar or bass). To improve suitabiliity, some pedals feature separate audio inputs, allowing for better adaptation to the frequency range.