Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah

Specifications

Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

• 10-step Variable Input Level Control
• True-Bypass with bright side-viewable low current Pilot light status indicator
• 3 selectable modes: Wacked, Jimi, and Shaft

Features

The Clyde Deluxe is the updated version of a Fulltone standard. The Deluxe version of the Clyde wah has all the features that players have come to know and love about the original, but now it has a 10-step variable input level control, it's true-bypass with a bright side-viewable low-current pilot light status indicator, and it has 3 selectable modes: Wacked, Jimi, and Shaft.

The 3-way mode switch and variable input control pot will let you dial in almost any type of wah sound you can imagine. All the way from classic Voodoo Chile to biting funk to down-and-dirty low-end grunt. The Clyde Deluxe can do it all.

Review

At first glance, I wasn't so into the white paint job.  Well, the 2008 model is now available in black.  Whew! Comes standard with three preset Wah types - Wacked, Jimi and Shaft - and a stepped input level adjust.  I'm a fan of stepped attenuators on pedals.  The physical resistance between steps helps keep the knob from drifting or getting knocked out of place.  Also, the steps helps for easy automatic recall of your preferred settings.  Also, an LED indicator has been added to detect when it's set for wah or true-bypass.  Another nice addition as it sucks to turn your amp off stand-by with your wah fully depressed.  Yow!

This thing is built like a tank.  The thick gauge steel chassis makes this thing weigh a ton.  Also, there's a lock nut for adjusting the stiffness of the pedal.  Mine was set a bit too tight for my taste.  I like it loose.

Of the three settings, I had to start with 'Jimi'.  This mode uses an inductor based on the original Vox Clyde McCoye wah circuit and, guess what...it sounds just like it.  To my ears you could really hear the throaty/phlegmy mid sweep like at the top of "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)".  Not too harsh, not too muddy.  The stepped level adjust allows for a little gain boost to help your effected guitar signal to better match your clean sound.

Which leads me to to 'Shaft' setting.  The original Shaft wah guitar was played using a Maestro wah-wah.  They have the actual pedal on display at the Stax Museum in Memphis, TN.  I, myself, am the proud owner of a Maestro wah pedal and the Fulltone does a pretty good job recreating that sound.  The main advantage to the Fulltone version is the level boost.  My Maestro wah always suffered from a massive drop in volume when I clicked it on.  Also, the Maestro had the inputs and outputs on opposite sides from most pedals, which is a weird feature and kind of a bummer.  If you accidentally plugged it in backwards, you would get a weird squalking duck sound out of it.  A feature not available on the Fulltone.

The 'wacked' setting wasn't quite as whacked as I thought it would be.  Maybe a bit more grunt in the low frequencies? 

The Final Word

This pedal is ideal for someone who needs a variety of wah settings in one pedal.  I'd be more inclined to just by the Clyde and skip the deluxe.