The uniquely stylised ‘Chopper’ was gig-fx’s fi rst real success in the pedal

world, used famously by Prince who utilised its unique all-analogue 360’ pan eff ect in a performance on Saturday Night Live. Since then, the American-based company has taken on the world of wah, most notably with the Mega-Wah – a highly versatile, modern-sounding wah, which brought a host of new tricks to the party. As testament to the Mega-Wah’s success, gig-fx has

from any overzealous footwork. Th ere are no fi ddly on/off switches on these Mega-Wah designs, so when the rocker is all the way back, after a period of time it switches automatically into bypass mode which you can tweak – a much smoother operation than trying to stomp down on a beer-sodden 3PDT footswitch.

Peter Frampton Mega-WahPeter Frampton has a long association with the Mega-Wah, and this new signature model, apart from a fancy new blue paint job, looks much the same as the stock, Chinese-made production model. Control-wise, as with the standard model, we have a four-way mode switch featuring cry, mega, trig and auto-wah options, a rate control and gain, resonance and sensitivity controls. Gig-fx’s PF Mega mode is all new, however. It has been voiced to Peter Frampton’s exact specifi cations, boasting an extended fi lter range and full low-end response and warm high end. Gig-fx also claims that this new wah features “the funkiest, most melodic and talkative automatic envelope wah on the planet”, which fi ts right in with the classic vocal tone Peter Frampton is famed for.

Johnny Hiland Kilo-WahJohnny Hiland is a country guitar virtuoso, known for his fast chops and versatility, as well as being show guitarist of choice for Paul Reed Smith guitars. So when the man in question wanted a wah pedal to match his versatile playing, he turned to gig-fx and the

launched two new wahs bearing the names of two monster guitar players: the Peter Frampton Mega-Wah and Johnny Hiland Kilo-Wah.

Construction and FeaturesBoth pedals utilise the now well-known gig-fx rocker that looks like a giant letter ‘I’ bolted to the top of the wah enclosure, which is made from lightweight, high-quality aircraft aluminium casting, no less. As unusual as this

GIG-FX PETER FRAMPTON MEGA-WAH AND JOHNNY HILAND KILO-WAHDan Steinhardt takes a look at two signature wah pedals from gig-fx designed to help you get your groove on

72 Guitar Buyer

GB REVIEWgig-fx Peter framPton mega-Wah and Johnny hiland Kilo-Wah

Both wahs offer fantastic versatility with a modern soundlooks, it is in fact a very neat idea, as it gives you great visual access to the controls, which are mounted directly on top of the enclosure for easy on-the-fl y adjustment, yet they remain perfectly protected

PRICE:PETER FRAMPTON

£139

PRICE:JOHNNY HILAND

£139

PRICE: PRICE:

Gig FX Signature Pedals DPS_AL.indd 42 15/08/2011 16:39

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Technical SpecificationBuilt in: ChinaType: Wah pedalsPower: 9V DC or battery Dimensions: 23.5 x 7.6 x 10.5 cm Price: £132Effect: Wah Features: Signature wahs, optical switching, mega signature mode, inbuilt envelope filter and auto wah

Contact DetailsGAPcoTel: 01892 740 894www.gapco.co.uk

What We ThinkWhat did our test results reveal?

Pros: Unique features, versatile, great sound.

Cons: No true bypass option.

Ideal For: Anyone looking for a solid wah that stands out from the rest.

The Effects Tech

GB REVIEWgig-fx Peter framPton mega-Wah and Johnny hiland Kilo-Wah

Guitar Buyer 73

Mega-Wah. Although his new signature model is in essence a stripped-back, simplified version of the Mega-Wah named the Kilo-Wah, it’s this stripped-back approach that may indeed connect with a host of players who prefer to just ‘plug in and rock’. The Johnny Hiland signature Kilo-Wah is much the same in terms of construction as the Peter Frampton version, only it sports a cool white finish and less controls. Here we have two controls: the four-way switch including cry, mega (customised to Johnny’s specifications), trig and auto, and an independent rate control for the auto-wah mode. The Kilo-Wah has two standard modes – one being voiced closer to a standard Crybaby with a nice, evenly balanced, full-range frequency sweep. The other mode is the signature Mega mode, which has an extended filter response and a fuller low end. This sounds huge and is great with amps that have a restricted low end, so the wah tone still sounds fat.

SoundsSonically, the top ends of both the Kilo’s wah modes are very similar, though the Mega mode really delivers a punch in the low end. Although both the Peter Frampton and the Johnny Hiland pedals have this mode, they do differ slightly in the voicing. The Mega mode in the Kilo-Wah does indeed sound huge, though it doesn’t lose the sweetness present in the cry mode. The two other modes are the triggered wah envelope filter and auto, which sweeps the wah automatically, giving you control of the rate. The Auto feature gives you control over the sweep rate, but that’s it as far as these last two modes are

concerned. Fortunately the preset for both modes is pretty sweet. The Peter Frampton Mega-Wah includes all of the sonic attributes of the aforementioned Johnny Hiland Kilo-Wah, with extra tweakability. This fine-tuning does make it a powerful beast indeed. In addition to the stripped-back Kilo-Wah we have a Resonance control, which is like a presence control for the top end of the frequency sweep. Between this and the two bottom-end settings for the standard and Mega wah modes, you have a simple yet very effective way to dial in this pedal to suit your style. We love the extra bite you could conjure up with the Resonance control, while it works very well with an amp that is compressing

musically. You also have the Gain control, which lets you set the wah level, and once you’ve used it you wonder how you ever did without. Being able to nudge the output to compensate for the narrower-frequency bandwidth that is present whenever you use a wah is very handy to say the least. Both gig-fx wahs use a buffered output, much like a modern Crybaby or Boss effects pedals, for example, which works great when paired with 99 per cent of effects pedals. The only trouble we have with it is when we pair the unit with a vintage germanium transistor Fuzz-Face. In this context the pedal’s buffered output reacts with these old devices in a way that turns the creamy fuzz into a raspy earsore. Saying that,

these pedals work great with everything else we try, so just something for vintage-fuzz users to be aware of.

ConclusionBoth the Hiland and Frampton wahs offer fantastic versatility with a modern sound. The clever on/off switch that reacts to the movement of your foot is also a welcome relief for those who find themselves jumping up and down on their standard wahs in the middle of a solo desperately trying to get it to engage. On our wish list for this pedal would be the option of true bypass switching. The sonic quality of the wah is so good that it would happily go head-to-head with any comparative rival, so it would be a bonus if it worked seamlessly with old germanium-style fuzz pedals, seeing as the fuzz and wah is such a classic combination. However, that really is a minor sticking point for a couple of stellar wah pedals that are definitely worth checking out. GB

GB RatingRating out of five stars

Gig-fx Peter framptonMega-Wah and Johnny Hiland Kilo-Wah

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