A Slight Return
January 5, 2017 4:15 PM   Subscribe

"Everyone thought I was just a crazy kid,” Casher said. "I mean, here I was with a 60-piece orchestra playing wah-wah guitar. All the first-call players like Bob Bain and Tommy Tedesco were saying, ‘What is this kid doing playing first chair?’ Well, it was because I had the wah."
50 Years Ago, the Wah-Wah Pedal Was Born in a Hollywood Hills Garage (previously)
posted by mannequito (12 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
Kudos on that title. Probably the first thing I learned with my new Crybaby (a million years ago).
posted by humboldt32 at 4:37 PM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was in junior high school band in the early 70's and the band director found out I played the guitar. He wanted to form a "contemporary" music program and gave me the sheet music for Shaft which had the notation "wah peddle here" at the beginning. I didn't have any idea what it meant because I only played acoustic.
posted by jabo at 4:38 PM on January 5, 2017 [6 favorites]


More recently, it helped shape the sound of such rock bands as Metallica (Cliff Burton used it on his bass)
Most rock guitarists would chuckle at this mischaracterization. Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett is the posterboy wah over-user.
posted by rlk at 4:45 PM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


Most rock guitarists would chuckle at this mischaracterization.

Morley Releases Cliff Burton Tribute Power Fuzz Wah Pedal — Video
posted by thelonius at 5:05 PM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


(personally I kind of dislike the wah-wah, with a couple of exceptions)
posted by thelonius at 5:06 PM on January 5, 2017


Electric Prunes - Vox Wah Wah Commercial

[a thing of beauty]
posted by jonmc at 5:34 PM on January 5, 2017 [9 favorites]


As a country player I've never had much use for a wah-wah pedal. It's mostly shown up in country as a novelty for its quasi-vocal quality. The best example is a brilliant and hilarious yet under-rated Bobby Braddock song that was a #3 hit for George Jones in 1976: "Her Name Is."

Also it's not used on a guitar here but on an electric Clavinet.
posted by spitbull at 6:06 PM on January 5, 2017


spitbull, for a fun blues deployment ...check this out...
posted by jonmc at 6:15 PM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]


Using a wah pedal on an electric clavinet was pioneered by Garth Hudson, the mad scientist–like keyboardist from The Band, in the break after the chorus of Up on Cripple Creek, though a few years later Stevie Wonder gave the definitive performance of the technique.
posted by Jon_Evil at 6:45 PM on January 5, 2017 [3 favorites]


It's interesting that Del Casher played with The Three Suns; Al Nevins was also into in those fancy Les Paul-style technical tricks.
posted by ovvl at 6:52 PM on January 5, 2017


I love my crybaby!

Mixmaster Mike hooks his turntable up to a wah wah.

Van Halen's epic patent illustration. I love that someone at the patent office who's been looking at redesigns of toothbrushes or whatever then gets VH's bonkers idea on his desk.
posted by adept256 at 1:45 AM on January 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah by the time the country guys applied it, the wah-talking clavinet was almost a stereotype.
posted by spitbull at 4:16 AM on January 6, 2017


« Older Still, the K-On movie was robbed   |   Children Against Wizards Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments