Vox V848 Clyde McCoy Reissue

No user adjustable features.

GUITARS
Ibanez 570 with stock V7,S1,V8 pickups
Thinline Telecaster(semi-hollow body) with stock tele pickups

EFFECTS/AMP
Vox V848 > Fulltone Fulldrive 2 > Fulltone Distortion Pro > Boss EQ20(with 9 presets) > Rocktron Hush > Boss CE5 Chorus > Boss DD3 Digital Delay > 2 Marshall AVT20's

I use the amp distortion and boost it with the Fulldrive 2. I changed the tubes in the amps to Groovetubes which made a ridiculous difference. I run the "clean" signal from the mono out of the chorus to one amp and the "dirty" siganl from the delay to the other amp.

I play, or try to play alot of styles (mostly metal - Zakk Wylde, Ramstien, Static-X, Saliva type stuff ) but also some punk/pop, like All American Rejects(local Oklahoma band - check them out - they have been compared to big names in some of their reviews.

I have only been playing for about 1 1/2 years and I play every night, but I play in the bedroom while watching TV and talking to my wife, so I am not a serious player.

I have tried several wahs, but I have owned a Dunlop Jimmy Hendrix wah, a Dunlop Qsomething wah(the switchless one) and a Boss modeling wah. All Dunlops seem to be different from each other and are very inconsistant in quality and sound. As a reviewer already noted, most pros use the original Dublop Crybaby. I can't help but think that they have their wahs moded by someone??? I have an instructional tape of Zakk Wylde, who uses the Jimmy Hendrix wah and he has no noise in his system and but has 2 100 watt heads and uses all Boss effects with no true bypass??? The Boss wah is an excellent wah and very versatile and clean, but I get the feeling that it is a little "sterile" and not as authentic as the real thing.

The V848 is the best sounding of the wahs that I mentioned above, but I think it is not as good as the Fulltone Cylde Deluxe, or even the standard Clyde.

The Clyde, to me has more range and is adjustable. Even the standard model has internal trim pots for bass/treble and one for gain.

The V848 is very quiet when you are using it and it has a true bypas, but at the fully up position, it has a very loud hum, that the Cylde does not have. I can't believe that it was released with that hum!!! It is the only negative aspect that I found and I like it better than any Dunlop. Unlike a previous reviewer, I have not had any volume loss when it is on.

I just bought it, and I don't play live so I don't think I could break any effect.

Does anyone give good customer support??? I have emailed EMG, Fulltone and some others, asking whether I should buy this model or that model, and they never respond. It is not like I was asking for assistance, I was begging them to take my money!!!

I give it a 9 because of the hum. I love the tone and I guess if I wasn't playing at such low volumes, then I probably wouldn't notice the hum. I imagine that high volumes drowned out the hum. Also, I bought it to go with my second system that I keep in a spare bedroom and I traded another wah and a tuner in on it and only ended up paying $75 for it.

I would recommend the Fulltone Cylde Deluxe for serious players, but it costs $300.

Like most wahs, pretty easy to use. Lack of an "On" -LED (such as the Snarling Dog pedals have) is a disadvantage as the On/OFF button
is not terribly positive ... it caught me out several times. Once the pedal cut out my signal entirely -- not sure what happened, I have not noticed it since.

In reality, a bottom of the line $69 CryBaby is probably just as good as anything for just about every wah need. Most pros. seem to use that. However, we are all the victim of marketers hype. from time-to-time. This pedal was designed to fit the need for "the ultimate wah pedal" [I love wahs -- and was one of those poor fools!]. Vox pedals seem to be almost universally considered the best sounding (although in truth any wah will do). The legendary classic vintage models are as rare as hens teeth (or reproduced by boutique makers for $350 a shot) and of widely varying specification. This pedal supposedly reproduces and enhances one of the classics (although I can find no record of anybody famous using the McCoy model) with improve pot taper, fasel inductor, true bypass switching (so off really means clean off) and a 9V dc input.

Back to sound: Pretty good, clear, distinct wah straight off. No faffing around trying to figure out how to set it (there are no options!). However, you need to have the treble turned up on your guitar or there is little or no wah effect. The sound seems to me to be to be a band-pass filter with an unusually high centre frequency and unusually narrow band. I find the pedal down unusually piercing at times -- and unlike a previous reviewer (who had a clean Frender amp), my amp is naturally warm (a beautiful Marshall DSL201). I also have a Snarling Dogs Blues Bawl -- which currently still seems more civilized and versatile (linear output level control, 3 wah settings and a blues OD/Distortion) -- and not piercing. My guitars are humbucker equipped. So the piercing sounds appears to be a characteristic of the MCoy, not the amp or guitar. [Imagine how piercing that might be with a Telecaster bridge pick-up through a bright Fender amp!!!]

A thankfully simple design, neat circuit board, neat wiring. Looks promising. Vintage-style rack & pinion, friction spring and R-clip -- is the same piss poor design used by almost all wah pedals in the world (except Morely?).My son spent 5 minuntes wah'ing on my two wah pedals (doh!), causing the McCoy to immediately lose its ability to stay in one place - very bad, however I have encountered this with a Snarling Dog wah previously. ***Wahs should all use a balanced pedal*** - remarkably none do yet though - incredible! I was able to fix the pedal by moving the internal R-clip closer to the rack and pinion to increase the friction though. This made the pedal unsmooth for a while but it seems that all is now well again. [Moving the R-clip on an early Snarling Dogs wahs that did not create enough friction to fix the heavy pedal...their new pedals work fine though].

+ Kudos to VOX for giving the customers what they want -- an authentic vintage-style wah of premium specification with the modern 9v dc input and true bypass switching [that is still shamefully absent on too many current effects.]
+ Looks good
+ comes with nice case
+ true bypass
+ simple
+ decent sound, a distinct wah-wah is right there
neutral:VOX heritage now made in the USA (surprise!!!)
- overpriced ($99 would be a fair price) .. although boutique pedals with similar prices and aspirations cost much more, there are comparable modern pedals which cost much less.
- can be shrill/piercing
- needs a lot of treble from guitar to get a wah sound
- friction mechanism is archaic and unreliable (but repairable)
- large bristle stuck in paint work under pedal

I had expected the Rolls Royce of wah-pedals (and it may well be the best wah pedal ever) but it strikes me as more of a Rover or Caddy - in terms of engineering and fit-and-finish. Some room for improvement.

using it couldn't be easier. just up and down on the pedal. if you haven't used a wah, it may take a little while to get the right tone and feel for your playing. The instructions consist of about 3 lines. essentially, up and down and how to turn it on and off.

I have used many wahs searching for the special sound. I have tried the Crybaby original, vox 846, vox 847, full tone, crybaby 535q, Boss-10 programable, Budda, Boss touch wah, Snarling Dogs, and have settled on the Vox 848. Being a Michael Schenker Disciple (he now uses the tech 21 wail) I wanted that cat-like growl with string clarity. I also wanted no signal strength effects. my current set up is fairly complex. from guitar to amp: Wah-MXR supercomp-Alesis 230 eq-Digitech GSP2101 limited edition-Alesis 230 eq (again)-quadraverb GT-BBE Sonic Maximizer-DBX 1066 compressor-Rane sm26 mixer-Marshall TSL122. With the 848, i get clarity with a wide sweep and plenty of highs and lows with a growl. I couldn't be happier with the tone

I just got this a few days ago so I have't seen it's reliability. I have had 3 Vox 847's. one of them died after about a year, but the other two were fine (i replaced my second 847 with a limited edition gold one just cause it looked cool)

never tried them out

I tend to play mostly hard rock and metal, UFO, Black Sabbath, AC/DC being my top three and Deep purple, Rainbow, Dio, Metallica, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix being other favorites. I also play lead guitar at church so I need clean/chorus tones and mild distortion as well. The 848 has the perfect sound for what I do. I have been playing for 18 years and like most guitarrists, I have gone through a lot of equipment looking for that perfect tone. I only wish it didn't cost $150

Very simple ofcourse, but the pedal is pretty sensitive, so it rotates very easily. That might make it a little harder to get into a "stuck wah" position. That is normal for this this type of wah. Just like the V847. Just depends what you like.

Schecter C-1 >> Vox Clyde RI >> Vintage Rat >> EH small clone chorus >> Boss DD3 >> Fender Twin Reverb RI.

Not a noisy pedal.
I first tried this pedal with my VOX Valvetronix 2x12. Sounded almost identical to the V847 effect modeled on the Valvetronix foot control. Not much differecnce in sweep, but in the low-high frequency range there WAS a noticable difference. Not more sweep, but more range in sound within the sweep with the Clyde.
So, the second thing that I noticed (or kinda bugged me) was that when I had this pedal in the toe UP position, the tone and frequency didn't just change, but the volume level also decreased. But, the toe DOWN position (all the way down) seemed OK with the Valvetronix. Not too harsh.

I then tried it with my Fender twin 65 RI, and the volume decrease in the toe UP position wasn't there anymore! It seemed to sound the way it was supposed to. But in the toe DOWN position, it seemed just a bit too harsh IMO. But then again, this is a really bright amp, and that might be normal. This is only my second wah.

I didn't notice any volume changes when switching the wah on/off with either amp. Seemed fine to me.

Overall, the sound of this wah is excellent. It is a reissue of a vintage model, but it does have a lot of range like many modern wah pedals. Great sound when I place it before my RAT. The sound cuts through very well, even with little or no distortion. I have yet to try it with my Valve-tone, as soon as that comes in.
I also tried the V847, and I DID really notice the tone being sucked out with that. It was very noticable to me, so I'm very happy with the true bypass, AND the AC adaptor on this V848.

Only had it 2 weeks, but it's pretty heavy and seems very sturdy.

I play Radiohead, Cure, U2 type stuff. And other heavier more agressive alternative. Been playing for 3 1/2 yrs.
I'd buy this again if I had too because it does have a great sound, true bypass, and the AC adaptor jack. And it is definately a GREAT value for the price. Can't beat it. Love the sound and features, but the sensitivity in range is something I have to get used to. I also really liked the V847 but couldn't deal with the noticable loss of highs, and lack of AC jack. Just wish it was a little smoother (for my tastes) but try it out! You might actually really dig it.

Good sounds come naturally. Find the sweet spot and you're off!

I'm using a Carvin DC747 into the Vox into a Pod Pro. It sounds great with any and all models I have used so far. There is a weird lo-freq noise this thing makes when running thru the hi-gain models, only in the toe up position. I was hearing the same thing with a Vox V847. True bypass is a nice feature - some people claim you can't hear the difference - I can. It is a "must have" feature for me.

Very solid construction. Heavy - I would use it without a backup. Other than that, it's too new to tell how reliable it is.

N/A

I write and record original rock music. I tend to favor a more modern sound, but this pedal is right for me. I have been playing for about 25 years, most recently I have been using a Vox V847 and a Boss wah wah - the Clyde is the best sounding although I think the V847 is outstanding, too. I bought this pedal assuming it would sound as good as the V847, but wanted the true bypass. It sounds very similar, maybe a bit more sweep. I have not been dissappointed.

Press forward on it to make it work, press again to turn it off. Not too hard.

I use this with a Fender Rhodes 73 Piano into a silverface twin reverb. The pedal sounds good, it has true bypass switching so it doesn't suck any tone when its off. But it seems that when you turn it on it isn't as loud as when you turn it off. I thought it would be the opposite way around, but the signal definately is quieter when the wah is activated. The pedal has a smooth sweep, but honestly the vocal effect of it is not too much better than my crybaby, but it is better.

Haven't had it for more that a week.

This pedal is supposed to be a reissue of the original Clyde picture wah. It has a red fasel inductor and sounds good (even though supposively the picture wah didn't use a fasel). The only problem I have is with the signal being cut when it is on.