After almost half a century, Electro-Harmonix re-designs the Crying Tone Wah Pedal, now with zero moving parts.
The claim of having absolutely no moving parts is intriguing to say the least, made possible by the pedal’s unconventional shape and design.
Electro-Harmonix applied a surprisingly simple solution to the old problem of moving wah parts – give the wah pedal a contoured bottom plate so it can rock back and forth on the floor with your foot.
The pedal works by sensing the angle that it is in, relative to a calibrated rest position. It can then apply the appropriate frequencies to your signal based on the angle, behaving just like a traditional wah. Its innovative design lets you have a working and expressive Wah that is virtually maintenance free.
Mike Matthews, Electro-Harmonix founder and president, was quoted saying: “The wah wah pedal has been around since the 1960s and guitarists love them. But they also complain to me that the moving parts wear out, break and need to be replaced. Now, almost half a century later, technology has advanced to where we’re able to create a wah wah with absolutely no moving parts. The pedal sounds incredible, is more responsive and has no moving parts to break.”
Instead of describing its tone, you can see and hear it for yourself:
The Crying Tone Wah is part of a new series of pedals called “The Next Step” which will include an Expression Pedal, a Pan Pedal, a Talking Pedal (vocal effect wah with fuzz) and a Volume Pedal.
Unfortunately, there are some obvious drawbacks to its modern design – and the most obvious of which is that you can’t permanently attach the Crying Tone Wah pedal to your pedalboard. The obvious workaround is to carry the pedal separately which could be annoying for some. Another limitation to its shape is that you will have to maintain long awkward postures to utilize “fixed” wah sounds. To resolve this, you can utilize fixed wah pedals like the Tea Philter.
As usual, the pedal is powered by a 9V battery or an optional power supply. It is expected to have a list price of $116.
For more information about this unique wah pedal, you can visit Electro-Harmonix.
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