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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 4, 2020 23:34:37 GMT
The Mrs bought me this for Christmas.
My first venture into wah pedals.
The Hellbabe is optical (similar to Morley wahs I believe) so no pot or moving parts. It has a built in boost.
The controls Boost boost function, Q allows you to change the filter peak, Fine allows you to adjust the toe down frequency range. There is also a Range knob to adjust frequency. Also has a Timer adjust underneath which controls how long the wah stays on after you take your foot off.
Can be powered by battery or AC jack. It has 2 outputs one is just labled out the other out bypass.
First impressions, it casing is hard plastic but not at all flimsy it looks and feels like it will stand up to a fair mount of abuse. It has a nice sweep and most importantly sounds like a wah.
I did read hundreds of reviews some good some bad. From what I read initially on people had to mod the hellbabe slightly enlarging the optical aperture. And cut down the rubber feet on the underside to get more sweep. Although I was hesitant the bad reviews were quite a few years old and the newer reviews appear better (perhaps behringer sorted early problems out?).
One review I read said you need to take at least an hour to set the pedal up. This I have to agree with as all the controls are quite variable, tbh I spent half a day messing with it to get it to my liking.
I read its based on the Dunlop crybaby from hell wah? Tbh I don't know if it is or not. If your looking for a cheapish wah pedal it's not bad. Have put a couple of vids from behringer and gear for music rather than pics of it on my pedal board.
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chubbles
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
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Post by chubbles on Jan 28, 2020 2:19:24 GMT
A bit late, sorry, but I have one and really love the flexibility. I bought a late 80s Crybaby. I like the Hellbabe about as much. I really like the fact that it is optical too.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 28, 2020 11:55:30 GMT
I believe it is buffered DefJef tbh I'm still messing about with it and sussing out all the controls. The sweep seems OK too me, I've read about the mods but couldn't find videos on the optical reader/eye mod. Only written descriptions, as I said in previous post these seem to have been problems 5 years or longer ago. I did find a video of a guy doing the enlargement of the optical bit on a Morley wah which is a very similar set up I believe? At the moment I don't think I even need to do the rubber feet mod. I really need to set up my new pedal board, currently I'm only using the wah with my sonicake rockstage. I need to find settings I'm comfortable with so I can set and forget and just tread on the bloody thing. 🤔 I really have to decide what order and what pedals I'm going to put on the board. I suppose I have probably made hardwork of the wah by getting one with too many bloody controls on. 😮 I like the it's off until you tread on it and goes off when you take your foot off feature. It's just sussing out the other controls. 🤕
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DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
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Post by DefJef on Jan 28, 2020 12:31:09 GMT
That does sound very helpful. I have a feeling one of the expensive Steve Vai models - or something else expensive that I was looking at - had that handy feature so it's good to hear yours has too. I do find that having to press the toe down to switch on or off is not always conducive to starting or stopping singing into a mic at the same time or being in tempo with some other guitar work I happen to be doing. That's why I wondered about the sound in toe down ON position being quite transparent. I don't want a guitar sound to suddenly JUMP to a wah sound, I want to bring it in with expression. In fact I wish all my pedals I could use with an expression facility. I have a feeling I invented that to happen on pedals before I even owned a guitar back in the early eighties. I kind of assumed that would be a feature of them when I saw players using them. I was hugely disappointed when I discovered it was not often the case. Being able to gradually add an effect or gradually lose it is my dream. Only a few pedals offer it and they are often expensive and may only be reverbs or something. My Boss mfx has an assignable expression pedal that will allow certain sounds to be expressed but only a few of them. I have loved being able to gradually bring in more and more reverby delay on a solo where I want to sort of increase and duck some sustain more in the manner of a keyboard player and his little expression wheel. That's why I love wahs too. You don't HAVE to be rocking them back and forth in time with the music, Chic style. They're lovely expressions to really add howl to a guitar line or to switch between different tonalities for parts within a song. I really hope you get to gel with yours till it feels as natural as saying vowels. I fell out with my Digitech Whammy long before I managed to gel with that and sent it back when I may well have eventually found it to be expressive too. Mind you, the fact that it was actually malfunctioning was a good enough reason.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 28, 2020 12:53:19 GMT
Cheers DefJef I hope I do gel with it. As with lots of things I'm on a bit of a learning curve with it, I can be a little heavy footed but hopefully I'll get to master it (or be better at using it). It's a bit like when you first learn to drive and learn the subtleties of the throttle. Maybe not the best analogy but best I can think of describing it. 🤔
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Jan 28, 2020 18:26:05 GMT
DefJef regarding your earlier question about buffer and switching. It has two output jacks 1 is labeled bypass the other just out. I've read this afternoon (on the net) that the one that just says out is buffered? The other true bypass (allegedly). I don't know if earlier versions just had 1 output jack? There is no switch and I can't find out much so haven't a clue if that's correct. There is bugger all paperwork with the pedal just a diagram labelling switches etc and some specs. I've also read the boost gives 10db of gain, another quoted 15db so its probably 7.5db 😉
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2020 20:27:36 GMT
Interesting thread BW3F. Looking forward to future reports as your hands on familiarity with it increases with use over time.
Although I've researched them out of curiosity and desire, not having the need right now I don't have a Wah pedal yet. The Behringer one appeals for a number of reasons including positive experiences with other Behringer brand kit which hit the right blend of quality/performance/value sweet spot with me.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Feb 13, 2020 3:14:15 GMT
Cheers @manxcat, your right about the Behringer stuff and the Hellbabe is no exception. She is not the sexiest looking bird at the party but well built and has a host of decent facets. Im struggling a little with it at the minute, it's a bit like when you're a kid and the school teacher gets you to rub the top of your head with your lefthand clockwise. At the same time rubbing your belly with the righthand anticlockwise, all this while hopping on one leg! 😉
I've worked out for me personally I need to be able to know what I'm playing in my sleep, before attempting to use the wah wah. I'll get there in the end but it does seem strange to begin with, lots of things moving. 🤕
It does make some good sounds though I'll let you know when I've got Voodoo Chile sounding half decent. 😜
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Feb 13, 2020 14:57:02 GMT
My jaw aches when I use the wah wah DefJef, probably because of clenched teeth. I really should relax more! 😉
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2020 21:44:44 GMT
You do know what you've done blindwilly3fingers, ...don't you? Curiosity aroused and sighting a super deal on a new Hellbabe simply too good to ignore, regardless the risk of the Mrs' wrath, GAS could not be disobeyed. Should be winging it's way to me within the next 24 hours. Having trodden the path before me, are there any preferred text or vid setup tutorials (links) you might recommend to start me on my own Wah journey? I've already downloaded and read its 'manual'.
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Post by blindwilly3fingers on Feb 13, 2020 22:41:18 GMT
Sorry @manxcat 🙄 I watched a lot of videos prior but a lot were in other languages, I read a ton of reviews and tips too. The best piece of advice? I can't remember if it was in a viedo or text? Was to spend at least an hour playing with the controls and features to find what suits or feels comfortable for you.
Tbh I spent at least two 2 hour sessions fiddling with the settings. The timer adjust accessed with a small screwdriver on the sole of the unit is fiddly, it controls how long the pedal stays on when you take your foot off. I'm sure you will soon get to grips with it.
The rocker screw is handy as the pedal springs back when you take your foot off, by adjusting the screw you can increase or decrease the pressure required to depress it.
As for the tone Q, fine, range and boost controls they do what they say. 😉
I'm sure you will enjoy it and setting it up to your taste. It's not a pedal you can just plug and play, you can get basic wah wah sounds pretty quickly but it does need time get to know.
So there you have it @manxcat a load of waffle that probably won't help you one bit. 😂
I hope you enjoy it, may the GAS be with you 👍
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