Crybaby

Hello, I just got a Crybaby Wah Pedal for christmas. I don't play much lead guitar, i usually play rythm. How can i use the pedal to its fullest while playing rythm?

Turn it off ! :p

Normally I would say something nasty, however I would rather keep the thread open and would like any suggestions. Or if you happen to play lead, maybe switch to rythm and see how it works for you.

Dial in some ultra cheezy, clean, thin, chorussy tone, and start strumming left-hand muted chordy stuff.(while going ape**** on your wah-pedal of course)

This is what experts call "the 70's porno sound".

Hey, I didn't mean to be rude... I turn the wah off when I play rhythm (specialy when the dist is on) , most of the people I know do so.

Wah-rhythm was used a lot in disco and funk in the 70's and 80's. The theme from "Shaft" comes to mind.

You can also try slowly rocking the pedal to change the tone as you go through the chord progression. Jimi Hendrix did this a lot. I think people tend to overlook what a great rhythm player he was.

This isn't playing advice, but if it's anything like the original Mister Cry Baby, remember to unplug the guitar cords when you're not using it or it runs the battery down. A major pain in the butt when it happens 5 days in a row and you have to keep removing four screws to get at it.
& keep it clean unless you wanna replace the potentiometer every coupla years.

Thankyou all very much, I tried using it with chorus, and I got some really nice sounds out of it. Sorry Sly, I didn't mean anything by it either.

Tele master: i had a crybaby for christmas aswell, awesome things, i never play with out it barely now, would definately buy another if mine ver went wrong,

everybody: do they ever wear out? i have heard they do eventually, i always use mine so what are the chance it will wear out quickly?

this is a great forum!

They don't wear from usage... but you may need to clean the potentiometer when the sound get scrachy as you move the pedal.

Where is the potentiometer?

Sorry, how do you clean it?

Like I said, this is based on experience using one of the original Mr. Crybaby's. The new ones may have better components and and a better sealed casing.
Inside the wah, there's a slider thing attached to an electronic thing called a potentiometer. Basically an electronic 'volume' control that lets you adjust the 'wah' sound up & down. Try not to leave the wah out in the open all the time & if you travel with it, stick it inside something to keep the dust off or eventually, like old stereo systems, you'll get a scratchy sound every time you use it. You might not notice it live, but when you go into the studio it'll stand out like a sore thumb.
As far as cleaning it, experience has taught me that it's usually a temporary solution at best and not to let the problem escalate to begin with.
If you're really stuck with noise & no way to fix it, you can quickly turn the control up and down and the friction will heat up the inside of the thing and kinda 'oil' it up so that it'll work temporarily. (This works with old scratchy stereo volume controls too.... it takes 5 - 10 minutes and you have to quickly turn it up and down about 300 times before it starts working...which is really tough with a wah unless you take it apart)
There's also stuff you can get from Radio Shack, but again, it's just temporary and usually ends up making it worse.

I read that Tools guitarist Adam Jones uses the wah to get certain tones while he plays. He doesnt like to play solos and I still like the way he plays. maybe you should listen to him play and listen for it or just mess around with it. Also try listening to porn music there is always a wah used on it just like the shaft theme but its a lot funnier to listen to.

HAHA, I will thanks.