Thanks to notable users ranging from Del Casher and Frank Zappa to Jimi Hendrix and Kirk Hammett, the “wah wah” is perhaps history’s most-recognized guitar effect.

Vox, which marketed the first modern wah, has two new re-creations of pedals released in 1967 – the Real McCoy Chrome Wah Limited Edition and V846 Vintage Wah.

The Real McCoy Wah is designed as a throwback to the earliest iteration of the wah sound, with a warmer vocal character. More-nasal in tone, it accentuates midrange for a more-musical flavor, accentuating articulate single-note definition. It’s the secret sauce for funk rhythm styles that require cleaner amp tones.

Running between a superstrat and a Marshall combo, it offered mellower, richer sounds. Switching between overdrive and fuzz, it was earthy and organic, trading oomph for sweetness and reflecting a more-accurate representation of the amp and pickups.
The V846 was Vox’s second wah, redesigned for rock guitarists of the late ’60s to deliver brighter, more-aggressive sounds that pushed the front end of an amp – perfect for cutting through a dense stage mix. It’s the sound most-associated with the psychedelic era and performs well with dirty amps, overdrive, and (especially) fuzz pedals.

The new V846 brought a ballsier sound that pushed, punched, and projected with rock-and-roll fire. Both pedals produce a wide range of tasty, notched sounds with wonderfully wide sweep, replicating the tonal ring, a la UFO-era Michael Schenker – or a lustrous rainbow of top-end treble frequencies.

The Real McCoy Chrome and V846 Vintage Wah are faithful re-creations, right down to enclosures that boast top-notch craftsmanship that feels rock-solid. Vox designed new inductors, transistors, potentiometers, resistors, and capacitors to match vintage specs, which is why both run on a 9-volt battery and have no input for AC power.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.