How do I make disco wah wah sounds on a guitar?

[Funky Dude]

Hi all. My youngest brother recently got an electric guitar and I'm wanting to have a crack at riffing some funky disco guitar wah wah sounds or scratching sounds. Examples:

Jumbo - Turn On To Love (The solo disco wah wah sound about 13 1/2 minutes into the song)

Crown Heights Affair - Foxy Lady (The funky scratching wah wah guitar sounds at the start of the song)

Biddu Orchestra - Summer Of '42 (Lots of disco guitar wah wah in this song)

Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft (The Bar-Kays trademark funky guitar wah wah sounds)

Bar-Kays - Son Of Shaft (Same as on "Theme From Shaft")

Van McCoy - Change With The Times (The guitar playing high in the song)

Hamilton Bohannon - The Stop & Go (The funky guitar scratching sounds and the really watery wah wah sounds)

Kool & Ther Gang - Jungle Boogie (The scratchy funky guitar sounds)

Sylvers - Don't Stop Get Off (The scratchy guitar sounds)

Joneses - Sugar Pie Guy (The funky watery disco wah wah sounds)

Miami - Party Freaks (The raw funky wah wah/scratchy guitar sounds especially at the beginning)

I've been trying to get these sounds even using the distortion stick but no luck. I was wondering if a special sort FX pedal or distortion amp is needed to create these sounds? And do the guitar strings need to be as tight as Warwick Capper shorts :lol: ? Hehehe forgive my Aussie humour , I mean do they have to be tight to the point of almost snapping?

Anyhow would love to be able to get some funky sounds out of that guitar as I can only get rocky sounds out of it which is perfect when I have a crack at Deep Purple and AC/DC tabs. Anyways if anyone could tell me what adjustments are needed to be made to the guitar and what FX pedals or distortion amps are needed I'd most appreciate it.

Cheers
Troy

[QUINNY]

First of all you need a Wah Wah peddle. Then, I'd imagine that you need a relatively clean guitar sound (almost classic Jazz sound). Finally, it's just a case of practice, practice, practice and a whole heap of musicianship.

[paul]

Hey Funky. Only thing I can add is check out Sly & The Family Stones use of the wah wah guitar in the song Family Affair. That should provide an excellent example to learn from.

[discofrank]

A VOX PEDAL (avoid Dunlops "cry baby") a single coil guitar (has better attack than the double coil, and attack is more important than tone range for this effect). You don't necessarily need to fret any particular chord, just strum the strings and silence them with your fretting fingers. A Semi clean, some gain in your sound is all you need. The hardest part is the pedal. An abrupt low to high and back to low movement of the pedal will steer you into "Love's theme" by Love Unlimited, a slower movement and you got "Love to Love you baby"..

The VOX WAH WAH Pedal, a MUST for any guitar player regardless of what you play.

[born2disco]

Yes, practice.... and the ability to strum, finger and foot pedal at the same time!

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by discofrank

A VOX PEDAL (avoid Dunlops "cry baby") a single coil guitar (has better attack than the double coil, and attack is more important than tone range for this effect). You don't necessarily need to fret any particular chord, just strum the strings and silence them with your fretting fingers. A Semi clean, some gain in your sound is all you need. The hardest part is the pedal. An abrupt low to high and back to low movement of the pedal will steer you into "Love's theme" by Love Unlimited, a slower movement and you got "Love to Love you baby"..

The VOX WAH WAH Pedal, a MUST for any guitar player regardless of what you play.

The only one I saw in the '60s & '70s was the Cry Baby peddle. Isn't that what Hendrix used? He didn't have any problems.

[Funky Dude]

Thanks guys for the info. Wah wah pedals are pretty expensive so I'll see if my brother can borrow his mate's pedal and will have a crack at that.

Cheers
Troy

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AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!! OI OI OI!!! :D :D :D

[Funky Dude]

Okay, been trying to look around for a Vox Wah Wah for a reasonable price but they are bloody expensive. Been looking on Aussie Ebay and there's no Vox pedals but there's a couple of pedals that seem closely related to the Vox, need some opinions on these two:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tem=7302151852

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tem=7300719309

Cheers
Troy

[discofrank]

Originally Posted by Funky Dude

Okay, been trying to look around for a Vox Wah Wah for a reasonable price but they are bloody expensive. Been looking on Aussie Ebay and there's no Vox pedals but there's a couple of pedals that seem closely related to the Vox, need some opinions on these two:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tem=7302151852

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tem=7300719309

Cheers
Troy

The reason I suggest the VOX (played by many great guitar players like Jimmy Page) is because they have the widest wah range and sensitivity i have seen. If I have to pick from the two, I would choose the hiwatt with the q control as the other alternative. Not a fan of the Crybaby (Jimmy Hendrix modified his) . Its all hype! Actually, I bought a "cry baby" copy pedal made by Guitar Research a couple years ago - and it sounds better than the cry baby.

[Funky Dude]

Thanks again for the advice guys. Still in the thinking process of getting a wah wah pedal for an afforable price. Currently laybuying a bass with amp for $400 from the local music store as I want to slap some funky tunes :D !

Back to the wah-wah pedals, need an opinion on this original 1970s fuzz wah wah pedal:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....305067210&rd=1

Would they do the funky shaft wah wah job like a VOX?

Cheapest option I'm going for at some stage is an Ashton wah wah for $99 (Ashton is an el-cheapo version of the leading brands), will get that after I pay off my bass. The bloke in the music store said it will pretty much do the same job as the more expensive wah wah pedals, hope he's fair dinkum about that!

Cheers
Troy

__________________________________________________ ___
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!! OI OI OI!!! :D :D :D