The first incarnation of the Wah Pedal – VOX(JMI) Grey Wah

You can hear it on many early Led Zeppelin recordings, you can also hear it on ‘Across the universe’ by the Beatles. The 1st version of the VOX Wah is referred to as the “Grey” Wah, thanks to its Grey case. Approx. 2000 units of it were made, divided to 3 different versions. the main difference between the versions are between the capacitors, transistors and exterior aspects.

The VOX(JMI) Grey Wah V2

The unit we have demoed here, is the second one. It uses the yellow Lemco 4uf capacitor and 2N3707 transistor. Actually, the only difference between V1 and V2 is the transistor, V1s use a BC150 one. If you’d like to learn more about each version, a great read can be found here: https://www.voxsupreme.org.uk/vox_wah_wah_pedals_1967.html

Let’s talk about the tone of the Grey Wah

At least to our ears, the Grey Wah V2 is less scooped, has less bass and sweep. It has kind of an open tone, not very much the Wah sound our ear is used to. Playing it immediately throws you back in time. To understand it best, we recommend comparing it on the player with the VOX Clyde McCoy Wah, or any other common for that matter.