Ugly Guitar Truth: Cock Fight Plus Wah

Talk about burying the lead, EHX has announced their third rocker pedal in the last few weeks. The Cock Fight Plus is planned for release soon. Fans of the cocked wah sound flocked to the Cock Fight for its expressive nature and unique filter. EHX has now taken that sound added more control and feature, then put it inside of a rocker pedal. Is it all good news?

No Brainer

Fans of the original Cock Fight could add an expression pedal for real-time control of the pedal's filter. The Combination of the two pedals seemed like a given. With the release of EHX's two new expression pedals, this pedal is a perfect match. In fact, it makes one wonder which they developed first. Was the Expression pedal just a byproduct of the Cock Flight Plus' development? Either way, this pedal has a lot under the hood. You have your choice of vintage wah filter or vowel sounding format filter, in addition to a pre- or post-fuzz. Certainly not a one-trick-pony.

Return To Form... Kinda

Although most of us are glad that Electro Harmonix has done away with their "no moving part" type rocker pedals, these rockers are not just like the classics. Every rocker that EHX has produced recently has been composed from a composite material. This adds cost savings and weight reduction, but at what costs. EHX has stated more than once, that these pedals are road-worthy and just as dependable as their aluminum counter parts. But what if I have to break out my car's window? What will I use if my Wah isn't made like a brick?

Chicken Feed

Fans of the original Cock Fight might not trade their pedals for this. After all, the main attraction of the original was that it was a wah pedal that was attached to a wah. You can set-it-and-forget-it unlike a wah that is easily displaced from the 'sweet spot'. However, those that want a feature heavy wah, or those that use an expression with the Cock Fight, it is time to rejoice. For less than 12 dollars over the cost of the original, you have the Cock Fight filter, an expression, and fuzz in a single box. All that for a poultry sum.

Conclusion

I enjoyed the Cock Fight when I first tried one out. I never bought one because I wouldn't use a cocked wah sound and I had a wah that did its duties well. I did think would have made more sense to put the whole thing in a rocker but maybe I just missed the point. We now have what is possibly the best of both worlds. Two filters, a fuzz, and a rocker come together to make Dunlop cry like a baby...  

Support the blog by shopping on Amazon by using my link!

There should be an ad below:

ModTone Vintage Wah Vs. Dunlop Original Cry Baby

So if you are a fan of the Wah then you probably know all about the dunlop wahs. They range from the simple Original that will cost you $70 to the rack-mounted unit setting you back 600 bucks. They have all sorts of signature wahs and ones that make you sound like Jimi Hindrix, but what about the good old original.

I like to kick it old school. I am not a fan of modular this or signature that, so when I look at pedals I like analog and true by-pass. A wah can "funk" up you sound really well, but when its off I want it to stop funking around with my tone. Fans of the original Dunlop wah have often complained about the lack of true by-pass. There are lots of places to find kits and direction on how the mod your original wah, but why buy something that you have to mod. Price? well lets see...

The Modtone. I like Modtone, I'm just going to lay that out there. They make good pedals, of which I own three. Chorus, Volume, and Wah. The Modtone wah is almost identical to the dunlop. Save for one thing, the LED. The LED is one of the major complaints about the Dunlop Wah. You don't know if it is on or off unless you play through it. This can be kind of impractical in a live situation. When it comes to features, the Modtone Wah wins.

Lets break it down and see which pedal is better:

Features: Modtone

The LED and True-bypass are wonderful additions to the classic wah effect.

 Tone: Modtone

This tends to be somewhat objective, but I'm going to give it to Modtone, The sweep is more vocal right out of the box. In a live setting it sound musical and full. The Dunlop seems to get very thin with the toe down

 Sweep: Modtone

(The Dunlop wah almost jumps to one side or the other. This doesn't produce a good sweeping wah sound. The Modtone gives you a pronounced wah, almost like someone saying "wah" huh, go figure.)


Price Tag
Years ago when I bought my Modtone it was the same price as the Orignal Cry Baby, Both Pedals have gone up in price and now the Modtone is nearly $90 where as the Dunlop is right at $80


Conclusion:
 As you can see, the Modtone takes the cake for the exception of price. Modtone makes up for that difference and then some. Keeping the vintage sound and then adding great features is a smart move. I have to give it to Modtone. But what about the Cry Baby Mini...?