Electro-Harmonix Wailer Wah Pro drops the inductor and the plastic
David Cockerell's inductor-free wah circuit gets a die-cast aluminium home, true bypass and a potentiometer sweep in the reworked Wailer Wah Pro.
No inductor, no plastic. Electro-Harmonix has rebuilt its Wailer Wah as the Wailer Wah Pro, keeping the original's voice but moving it into an aluminium alloy die-cast chassis that the maker says feels solid underfoot without weighing down a board. The circuit is by David Cockerell, the engineer behind the POG, HOG, Bad Stone and Crying Tone.
Leaving out the inductor is the design call that matters here. EHX argues it cuts the feedback and stage noise a wah can kick up at high-gain settings, while the tone stays clear and smooth. What does the work instead is a custom band-pass filter, pitched as sweet and smooth with just enough bite, for clean funk parts and dirty leads alike.
The Pro also slots into a long family tree. EHX traces its wah history from the Crying Tone and Queen Triggered Wah of the 1970s through the Next Step series of the early 2010s. The original Wailer Wah lived in a lightweight plastic shell; this one swaps it for metal and pairs it with true bypass.
Under the treadle, a potentiometer does the sweeping: heel for dark, toe for bright. The manual is happy for you to park it mid-travel for a cocked-wah tone, and a firm push toe-down clicks between effect and bypass. There is no LED, so nothing shows whether the Wailer Wah Pro is on, bypassed or even powered. A 9 V battery comes in the box, with an adapter optional; current draw is 6 mA and the unit measures 9.92 × 3.4 × 3.0 inches.
EHX lists it as available now on the Wailer Wah Pro product page.
Video: EHX, “Electro-Harmonix Wailer Wah Pro Wah Pedal (EHX Demo by Bill Ruppert)”.
