hey,
any of you use a clyde? i generally like mine, but there's this particular spot in the sweep that's boosted so much it distorts my amps- have any of you experienced this, or what? i "re-tuned" the pedal, but turned it back to the stock setting to make sure that i wasn't imagining this. i guess i'll just play with the pot 'till something clicks. thanks!

quote:

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Originally posted by justin:
hey,
any of you use a clyde? i generally like mine, but there's this particular spot in the sweep that's boosted so much it distorts my amps- have any of you experienced this, or what? i "re-tuned" the pedal, but turned it back to the stock setting to make sure that i wasn't imagining this. i guess i'll just play with the pot 'till something clicks. thanks!

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Take a look at your amp. I had that problem once. Changed a preamp tube and it was gone. Sometimes speakers don't like certain frequencies. They may be wearing. I have the Clyde too and the stock setting is pretty mellow gain-wise, so you should be able to make that sound work for you.

thanks, paul,
it seems to do it with both my fender vibrolux reverb and two-tone amps. so i'm less inclined to think it's the amps, but maybe i'm just imagining more than really's there. i really appreciate your input- hopefully i'll figure something out...

If you are getting the same problem with both of your amps, it probably has to do with your amp, guitar, and pedal settings combined, and not a tube problem. Try not using as much of a particular setting on your amp. Use a more generalized kind of setting to even out the basic tone before using your wah in one spot on the wah pot. You are getting a very hard spiked frequency due to the combining of all factors in your dial setup. By using a more "neutral setting" on your amp, you will be able to a more radical setting on certain effects you desire to use.

If you are getting the same problem with both of your amps, it probably has to do with your amp, guitar, and pedal settings combined, and not a tube problem. Try not using as much of a particular setting on your amp. Use a more generalized kind of setting to even out the basic tone before using your wah in one spot on the wah pot. You are getting a very hard spiked frequency due to the combining of all factors in your dial setup. By using a more "neutral setting" on your amp, you will be able to use a more radical setting on certain effects you desire to use.

I have no idea how experienced you are with wahs, so I hope I'm not saying something you're already well aware of. All wahs boost a frequency range that changes as you move the rocker. When playing near the top of your amps headroom, this will cause the amp to distort when the notes you are playing coincide with the frequencies the wah is boosting. This means all wahs suck for playing purely clean (unless you have a whole bunch of headroom to spare).

The opposite extreme is that when playing with very heavy distortion, moving the wah back and forth will have little if any effect on your sound (besides helping induce feedback). Wahs work best with a light distortion (tubescreamer strength overdrive). Among other things, the tubescreamer adds compression.

If you want to play your wah completely clean, try using it in conjunction with a compressor. Compressor after wah will tame the volume changes the most, but, depending on your wah's inherent noisy-ness, the increase in hiss and pot movement noises may be unacceptable. A compressor before your wah will also help, though not quite as dramatically. My (Vox) wah's a little noisy, so I use compressor then wah for playing clean, with good results.

Hope this was helpful,

David

I have an early Clyde wah for sale #451 7/98. It is in great shape and I have the original box and papers $200 shipped.



[This message has been edited by Troy T. Blues (edited 04-11-2002).]