Jimi Hendrix wah tone

How did Jimi get such a great wah tone? There is no way his wah was an off the shelf unit. I remember about 35 years ago someone told me that the potentiometer inside the wah was turned to accentuate the highs. Anyway, I can't seem to find anything on the web about this so I was wondering if anybody here can help me out. I am playing in a theater play and the producer wants us to "rock hard Hendrix style!" I've got a box of wahs, even an early 70's Vox, so I can experiment cheaply, I'm just looking for some advice.

I have several books at home (@ work at the moment) on this subject. I'll look it up when I get home (pretty sure it was a Vox). Anyway Dunlop does make the JH-1 Jimi Hendrix Signature which is SUPPOSED to have the original 1960s design to sound like Hendrix. Its circuitry is nearly identical to the GCB-95

I think its priced around $140.

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/jh1d-jimi-hendrix-signature-wah

Also one more thing.....if using a OD pedal, make sure you place the Wah before the OD, that's what he did as well.

http://www.crybabydoc.com/index.html

41 minutes I believe

The traditional "fix" is to fiddle with the gears that connect the treadle to the potentiometer in order to back off some of the spiky highs you normally get when the treadle is toe-down.
Both the 535Q and the switchless 95Q can be adjusted to get the throatier sound of the Jimi model.

MrMarkIII said:

The traditional "fix" is to fiddle with the gears that connect the treadle to the potentiometer in order to back off some of the spiky highs you normally get when the treadle is toe-down.
Both the 535Q and the switchless 95Q can be adjusted to get the throatier sound of the Jimi model.

Click to expand...

+1

A cheaper alternative is the Cry Baby Classic with the Fasel inductor. That will give you that throathy sound plus a bit more gain.

The traditional "fix" is to fiddle with the gears that connect the treadle to the potentiometer in order to back off some of the spiky highs you normally get when the treadle is toe-down.
Both the 535Q and the switchless 95Q can be adjusted to get the throatier sound of the Jimi model.

Click to expand...

Back off the highs? When Jimi steps on the wah there is an abundance of spiky highs. His overall tone has an abundance of treble and tube saturation. I'm going to mess with a crybaby, but make it so there is more highs.

Markedman said:

The traditional "fix" is to fiddle with the gears that connect the treadle to the potentiometer in order to back off some of the spiky highs you normally get when the treadle is toe-down.
Both the 535Q and the switchless 95Q can be adjusted to get the throatier sound of the Jimi model.

Click to expand...

Back off the highs? When Jimi steps on the wah there is an abundance of spiky highs. His overall tone has an abundance of treble and tube saturation. I'm going to mess with a crybaby, but make it so there is more highs.

Click to expand...

It's a free country.
But your Strat is going to squeal like a pig every time you stomp it off and on.

I couldn't find the box of wah wah pedals, (my 12 year old, "box of wahs?") My Morley bad horsey is doing the trick with my strat and Mark lll with the lead drive at 4. Good Hendrix tone although I'm thinking about using a boost, first in line before the wah to give the wah even more range. A great guitar playing friend complimented me on the Mark/strat tone and great wah tone at an open mic on Thursday.

Markedman said:

I couldn't find the box of wah wah pedals, (my 12 year old, "box of wahs?") My Morley bad horsey is doing the trick with my strat and Mark lll with the lead drive at 4. Good Hendrix tone although I'm thinking about using a boost, first in line before the wah to give the wah even more range. A great guitar playing friend complimented me on the Mark/strat tone and great wah tone at an open mic on Thursday.

Click to expand...

If you can get your hands on a Bad Horsie 2, it has built in boost and contour controls that are foot switchable. Great pedal, and love the optical activation.

Great advice, the Bad Horsey 2 worked great! Really has good throw. The band did 4 shows this weekend and I got a lot a complements such as, "You did Jimi proud" and the like. I had a Bad Horsey but the Bad Horsey 2 with the boost and contour knobs is much better for Hendrix wah. I couldn't try every wah on the market, so the advice was timely, thanks a million, well, we got a few gigs out of it anyway.

just like hendrix used, you gotta have a long curly guitar cord that rolls those highs off....