In
December 2021:
* We have a few special sparkly RMC wahs in stock - RMC4 Purple, RMC10 in Gold and Purple and RMC11 in Gold.
Email if interested and we can hold one for your order.
We have the RMC1, RMC3, RMC4 Picture wah, RMC5 Wizard wah, RMC6 Wheels of Fire, Joe Walsh,
RMC10 and RMC11 in stock at the moment.
Call or Email if you have any questions or need a pedal urgently to make sure it's in stock.
We now have a new website with shopping cart ordering system that you can use. BUYANALOGMAN.COM allows you to order with a credit card (with or without paypal) and we will authorize the payment, but we won't charge your card until we can ship the pedal. If you use paypal (most overseas customers need to use paypal) it will collect payment immediately even if we are out of stock.
Click here to go to buyanalogman.com
We will keep this page updated as to status, you can order any time you are comfortable with the delay. If you order elsewhere, MAKE SURE they have one in stock as some dealers are not as honest as we are about availability, sorry for the delays!
We carry all the RMC wah wah pedals, the RMC1, RMC2, RMC3, Picture wah, Wizard wah, Wheels of Fire wah, Joe Walsh Signature Series wah, and the RMC10 and RMC11. These are all RoHS compatible and fuzz friendly.
RMC1 | RMC2 | RMC3LE | RMC3 | RMC Picture Wah | Wizard Wah | Wheels of Fire Wah | Joe Walsh Signature Wah | RMC10 Wah | RMC11 Wah |
The Real McCoy Custom 3 (RMC3) is the world's first (and only) fully tunable self-contained wah. Vari-Tune circuit controls include:
Just like all RMC wahs, the RMC3 is designed and built by Geoffrey Teese and includes licensed fuzz-friendly technology (as of October 2006), true-bypass, exclusive RMC ROC-POT5 extra long-life sealed potentiometer (as of 2008), easily adjustable rocker tension (as of October 2006), and AC adapter jack, and is covered by our limited one year warranty.
When I first got one in, I compared it to my vintage wahs in my private collection (Clydes, V-846, Dallas Arbiter, etc). It stands up to the best of them! The wah is signed by Geoffrey on the bottom, and HOURS of work are apparent in the construction. After opening it, I removed a bit of grease from the mechanism (a bit too much for my liking) and played it. I was in heaven. Now there is no reason to take my mint $700+ Clyde McCoy off the shelf.
The RMC3 has a fully adjustable, tuneable circuit that can be made to sound like any other wah, and other wah sounds that you can only imagine! The adjustable parameters are treble, bass, mids, intensity, gain, range of sweep, and location of resonant peak. The adjustments are all hand labeled on the circuit board. You have to pull off the bottom of the wah and use a small screwdriver to make the adjustments. The factory setting is a nice Clyde McCoy sound, I don't need any further adjustment! The manual has settings for SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Santana, Colorsound, and Thomas organ sounds to give you some ideas.
The switch is wired for a TRUE BYPASS, so that when the wah is off, it does not affect your tone like most wahs. All RMC wahs have true bypass. 9V DC adaptor jack (Boss style) now standard, along with RFI filtering. Used by Trey in Phish, Slash, George Lynch, Page Hamilton, THE BLACK CROWES, Joe Holmes (Ozzy), Monster Magnet, and many other professionals.
These pedals are STILL made in the USA by hand, one at a time! See the product review in Vintage Guitar magazine, Oct '95 by Ken Fischer. See below for sound samples.
There is one model type of the Real McCoy Custom RMC3 wah now
available. A very distinctive and heavy case that will
not walk around on you. Like all RMC wahs it features a limited ONE-YEAR
warranty.
See the RMC3 Manual page for the users manual and settings on the wah.
If you are going to use a wah with a fuzzface or similar pedal, you should look into the Foxrox Wah Retrofit. If this sounds interesting to you - READ ON! You can also hear an old RMC Picture Wah with and without the Wah Retrofit HERE. I only recommend the wah retrofit for people who already have tried a wah, and do not like the way it interacts with their germanium fuzz face. The retrofit is not needed if you do not use a germanium fuzz face type effect
The RMC wahs now have the retrofits as part of the standard design, on the circuit board, so no need to mod them anymore.
Also see below for RMC wah wah History by Geoffrey Teese and user's manual.
The Wizard wah is now available.
The RMC WW is designed to be an entry level RMC wah along the lines of the RMC1, but with a tuning that works well with a variety of pickup designs, especially for higher output pickups like humbuckers. If you play a PRS through a Mesa Boogie, this is the wah for you. If you play Fender guitars and amps, it's probably not. It's the perfect wah for high gain sounds, like heavy metal. I have found that is does not get distorted when you push your guitar really hard into it like most wahs. It is a cross between the RMC1 and PICTURE WAH, with a rich, yet tight low end, haunting mids, and a smooth top end to an extended sweep range.
The WW features true-bypass switching, 9V DC adapter jack, easily adjustable rocker tension (as of October 2006), covered by RMC's limited one year warranty. The WW is housed in a red case.
Introduced at the beginning of 2003.
The REAL MCCOY CUSTOM 2 starts with the same primary tuning as the RMC1. Instead of a volume boost like the RMC1, the RMC2 has a side mounted pot for control of volume, from dead quiet all the way to a slightly boosted signal. The second case mounted control on the RMC2 is for control of the Q, or sharpness of the wah's attack. This control goes from the "standard" smooth contour all the way to an ultra-sharp contour. The third control is a an 11-position (as of February 2007) rotary switch to select the sweep range. The actual sweeps range from 2/3 of "normal" sweep range all the way to 1 1/2 times "normal" sweep range. Yes, "normal" is in the middle. The 5 sweep ranges that were found on the original RMC2 can also be found within the new 11 sweep ranges.
Some of the sweeps for the RMC2 are, from top to bottom:
Just like all RMC wahs, the RMC2 is designed and built by Geoffrey Teese and includes licensed fuzz-friendly technology (as of October 2006), true-bypass, easily adjustable rocker tension (as of October 2006), and AC adapter jack, and is covered by our limited one year warranty.
Introduced at the end of July, 2001.
Not since 1967 have the true sounds of the original Clyde McCoy Picture Wah been available in a production model wah. REAL MCCOY CUSTOM is pleased to announce the wait is now over. The REAL MCCOY PICTURE WAH faithfully reproduces this unique Italian sound. There are no adjustments on the Picture wah, just the classic 60s wah sound. This wah is bright and in your face, a real vocal sound. If you want something mellow, this is not the wah for you.
Around twenty years ago Mr. Teese was busy repairing original Italian and English wah-wah pedals, shortly after the V-847 was released and the old broken stuff started coming out of closets around the world. Every single wah-wah pedal that he touched was metered and then logged into a database.
Back in July of 2001, REAL MCCOY CUSTOM released our version of a blueprinted vintage Italian Picture Wah. Now, 10 years later, RMC is proud to release the latest version of the RMC4/PICTURE WAH, housed in our new extended hammertone grey shell and topped with a chrome (RoHS Compliant) rocker and black footpad.
Inside you'll find free-standing Switchcraft jacks, a heavy-duty Italian on/off switch, double-clad circuit board, our metal can Halo inductor, rugged RMC ROC-POT, taper/resonance toggle switch, and tight tolerance componentry. No mojo parts, just mojo sound.
Just like all RMC wahs, the REAL MCCOY PICTURE WAH is developed and built by Geoffrey Teese and includes licensed fuzz-friendly technology (as of October 2006), true-bypass, easily adjustable rocker tension (as of October 2006), and AC adapter jack, and is covered by our limited one year warranty. And, yes, that is Geoffrey's picture (July 2001).
You can see and hear the chrome topped PICTURE WAH on the DVD "Santana - Live At Montreaux 2011".
Model number: RMC4 - PICTURE WAH
Inductor: Custom manufacture Halo
RFI Filtering: Yes
EMI Filtering: Yes
Current draw: less than 10 mA
If an AC adapter is used, the adapter requires a 5.5/2.1mm coax plug with a negative center post, 9VDC AC regulated Class II, 20mA to 200mA max current output.
Introduced at the end of July, 2001.
Here is a sound sample and a second sound sample from the RMC web site of one of our good customers, Troy from the Troy T. Blues band from here in CT.
Here is another sample from another of our good customers, Shawn Purcell.
-->Since it's release in 1998, the RMC1 has gained the reputation as one of the best wah pedals in the world. Based on the most requested hot-rod mods Geoffrey Teese has done over the years, this hand built wah delivers more sweep range than mass produced wahs. Besides the increased range, the RMC1 produces a more musical sweep with a repositioned sweet spot, richer mids, and a stronger low end than any chrome-top wah on the market today. Also, the volume of the RMC1 is boosted to keep your sound from getting lost in the crowd like other wahs. Just like the world-renowned RMC3, RMC1 wahs are built one at a time, and feature true-bypass switching for no signal loss and AC adapter jack. Also includes licensed fuzz-friendly technology (as of October 2006) and easily adjustable rocker tension (as of October 2006) and is covered by his limited one year warranty. With a low retail price, the RMC1 can make your guitar growl, not your wallet.
The RMC1 is tuned primarily for single coil pickups or bass guitar. If you use humbuckers, I strongly suggest you consider another model, as the RMC1 can sound muddy with some high output humbuckers. All other RMC models are more humbucker friendly. The brand new version of the RMC1 can be dialed back to reduce the output and low end, via a board mounted trimmer (VR21). This will make the new RMC1 much more versatile than previous versions.
Use buyanalogman.com for all orders please.
Here are some samples of the RMC wahs by Roger Filgate. He
played a Les Paul through a blackface Deluxe Reverb with no other
effects:
RMC1
RMC3
RMC
Picture Wah
RMC Physical and Mechanical Adjustment Information
See the RMC Adjustment Manual page for excellent info from Mr. Teese.
These are no longer available, sorry.
1. Monkeys Fly Out Butt * distortion/sustain - MASSIVE gain! This large pedal has two stomp switches for 2 different "on" settings, and three knobs. This can get VERY sick sounding (in a good way of course!) MSRP $219.95, SOLD sorry! 2. SWINEWAVE * True fuzz box This is a small pink (!) pedal the size of a tc electronics or XXL pedal. Two knobs and one stomp switch. MSRP $169.95, SOLD, sorry. 3. BIG QUACK * Distortion/fuzz with wah type inductor filter This large stomp box has two knobs : BIG (volume) and QUACK (filter setting). It has a great distorted sound and a filter quality like a great wah in one position, or the Boss SP-1 Spectrum. It is a combination of a hot-rodded overdrive circuit and a radically tuned wah circuit, together in a stomp box format. Not to be confused with an envelope filter or rocker pedal, this is a fixed wah type format. Used by Luke Janklow of DARLAHOOD and Page Hamilton. MSRP $289.95, sold.
The REAL MCCOY CUSTOM THREE (RMC3) wah-wah pedal is the world's first, self contained, fully tunable wah-wah. The RMC3 has an international heritage, with roots in California, and Italy.
While the exact date of the wah's origination is open for debate, time has proven that the pedal developed by the Thomas Organ Company has to be considered the father of all subsequent wahs. When musicians search out old wahs, these are the ones being hunted.
The old Thomas Organ Company wahs were built in the U.S. and in Italy. They were all built with the same circuit design, but were constructed with wildly varying components. These differences were thought to be of no consequence at the time, but, years later, they've proven to be of great importance.
In conducting his research for the RMC wahs, Geoffrey Teese went back to the original sources for information. Through much detective work, Geoffrey was able to speak with various engineers, who each had some part in the manufacture of the old wahs. He was also quite fortunate to get in touch with Thomas' former national service manager, prior to the gentleman's retirement. Through this contact he purchased several old wah-wah production files and numerous new old stock inductors, and also acquired hard-copies of old microfilm files of a particular inductor used in the prototype wah. This information led him to the company that had actually manufactured the inductor for Thomas. After considerable effort, Geoffrey was successful in getting some pieces of information that no other "outsider" had discovered. Namely, the classified secrets of the old inductor. Armed with this information, Geoffrey was eventually able to reproduce an inductor that was really 100% true to the original unit in question. Only then, with the proper inductor available, could circuit development begin in earnest.
Much time was spent analyzing old wah boards, both Italian and American. Being a capable guitarist, the differences were quite easy for Geoffrey to hear, but not so easy to understand. He had already found out that just putting a good inductor in an inferior sounding board would not cure all the problems. There had to be some way of making a "bad" board sound "good." Weeks of research passed before something clicked. Almost forgotten bits of electronics knowledge, from nearly 20 years prior, flashed into Geoffrey's recollection. He quickly jotted down the ideas as fast as they came to him. Then, one by one, these fragments proved to be more than just speculation. They helped to provide firm proof of another piece of the puzzle.
After applying the concepts he "rediscovered", Geoffrey was eventually able to transform poor or mediocre sounding wah boards into great sounding ones. This ability allowed him to offer competent modification services to guitarists around the world. He even became the authorized repair station for vintage Thomas and Vox wah-wah pedals, with Randy Whitney of Korg/Vox referring vintage work to him. It was about this time that Geoffrey began drawing, drilling, and etching his own circuit boards, which he called the "Real McCoy" board.
As word spread, the modification requests increased greatly. From time to time, Geoffrey even found himself performing mods a second time for certain individuals, altering the charcteristics each time. He began to wonder if there was a way to allow each guitarist to shape their own sound. The concept that would eventually become the "Vari-Tune Circuit" was born. The "Real McCoy" board that Geoffrey was making soon turned into the "Real McCoy Custom 1" board. This RMC1 board allowed guitarists to determine their own sweep contour, which was the point of greatest variation in mod requests. While all his clients were happy, Geoffrey was not satisfied.
Once again, he chose to seek out those with appropriate knowledge. This time, an old Ampeg engineer was the "keeper of the knowledge." After several lengthy conversations, Geoffrey was inspired enough to come up with the "Real McCoy Custom 2" design. This new version added a way to allow guitarists to widen their sweep without changing the intensity. As expected, the RMC2 circuit was warmly received by clients.
Scarcely three months had passed since the inception of the RMC2 when Geoffrey was able to meet with the designer of the Thomas wah. What had started as a half hour hand-shake and photo shoot turned into an hours long discussion on the development of the wah. Almost as fast as questions could come into Geoffrey's mind, the former Thomas engineer would answer. This was truly an historic meeting for the future of the wah.
The very next morning, Geoffrey began compiling all the information he'd gleaned from mods, the discussions with the Ampeg and Thomas Organ engineers, as well as those with numerous other engineers, not to mention the intricacies of the inductor. Slowly, the concepts of what would be the RMC3 board went from mind to paper. Before the end of the day, two prototype RMC3 boards were drawn, drilled, and etched.
Having finally come up with a circuit that could address every tonal nuance, Geoffrey soon turned his full attention to the problem of potentiometers. Quite early on, he had not thought potentiometers to be much of a problem or concern, but that did not prove to be the case. It turned out that the ICAR potentiometers used in nearly all the early Italian wahs were long out of manufacture. To make matters worse, no one could be located that knew anything of the old ICAR company or their manufacturing specifications. As if that wasn't enough, the sound produced with the old ICAR pots was unable to be reproduced by any pot of current manufacture. The one pristine new old stock ICAR pot Geoffrey had was the last of it's line.
Undaunted in the past by similarly "impossible" quests, Geoffrey set out to find a pot that would perform the same as the ICAR. After going through dozens of different type pots, from uncountable electronics suppliers, he found one in particular that nearly duplicated the ICAR's effect. Without hesitation, he purchased all the available stock. Trouble was, that totalled only a few hundred pieces. If he really planned to be serious about producing his own wah, he'd have to have more. After careful consideration, he decided to contact the manufacturer of his chosen pot.
The manufacturer was open to the concept of custom making a wah pot, but, in order to be 100% accurate, they would need to dissect an original ICAR. This presented Geoffrey with quite a problem. If he didn't offer up his NOS ICAR, he couldn't truly reproduce it. But, if the company determined they couldn't reproduce it after dissecting it, there would be nothing left for a second try with anyone else. Since they had once made a very similar pot, Geoffrey felt confident that they could reproduce the ICAR, 100%. After several agonizing months, a few prototype pots arrived, along with the remains of the ICAR. They had done it. For all intents and purposes, the ICAR pot had been reborn.
In 2000, further development took place. Over the years, we've seen many old Icar pots that had changed value to at least 200k. Their taper had drifted a bit as well. These pots sounded better, to our ears, than the NOS unit I had used to model my pots. Well, we decided to do something about it. We took the best sounding "aged-Icar" pot and had it examined in order to reproduce it. CTS, our potentiometer maker, had a very hard time reproducing this taper. In order to do it right, they had to come up with a whole new way of constructing their carbon tracks, which took a long time. At long last, our new pot, the ROC-POT2, is ready to go. All RMC wahs will now be outfitted with this pot. The R-P2 has the smoothest physical sweep and the most amazing vocal quality of ANY wah pot on the market, today or yesterday.
Two seemingly impossible feats had now been accomplished. The accurate reproduction of the old brown inductor, and the ready availability of a true ICAR-like potentiometer.
While the pots were being built, Geoffrey realized there was yet another problem he had to deal with. That of radio interference. Old analog effects were prone to picking up radio frequencies. There were even famous recorded performances from 1969 and 1970 where wahs and fuzzes picked up local radio broadcasts. This was a problem that no one had been able to control even since. As luck would have it, Geoffrey had been in radio back when you had to know some of the electronic theory behind radio just to get the license. This knowledge, coupled with his never-say-die attitude, allowed him to create a unique passive RFI and EMI filter and incorporate it into the wiring of his wahs.
Geoffrey now had a working interference-free circuit, an inductor that couldn't be equalled, and a potentiometer that people thought would never again exist.
The stage was set for the RMC3.
Geoffrey proudly released his RMC3 to the public in the winter of 1994. It caught on almost immediately in Japan, and began to be imported into that country in relatively large numbers by a large Tokyo based distributor. Late in the summer of 1995, Europe came on board, with distribution based in Germany. In late fall of 1995, the RMC3 was picked up by a small distributor in the U.S. In the summer of 1996, the RMC3 began to appear in its' own original case, instead of being housed in pedal cases made by another manufacturer. In less than two years, the RMC3 had grown from a guitarist's dream, into a truly all original wah, available throughout the world.
Vox released a promo record which featured the original Brad Plunkett design prototype wah. The recording featured session man Del Casher and was made in February 1967. Del did most of the TV theme shows that year (Green Acres and the like) and featured the wah a lot. He was the only person with one for a while. Last time Mr. Teese spoke with Del, he still owned the wah.
RMC wah and mod Users The following artists use RMC1 or RMC3 wahs, or use wahs modded to RMC specs: George Lynch (DOKKEN) Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN) Luke Janklow (DARLAHOOD) Page Hamilton (HELMET) Dean Wareham (LUNA) Joe Holmes (OZZY OSBOURN) Matt Hocking (EDGAR WINTER) Neil Giraldo (PAT BENATAR) Tony Joe White Jim Wieder (THE BAND) THE BLACK CROWES Trey Anastasio (PHISH) Prescott Niles (THE KNACK) Berton Averre (THE KNACK) Jennifer Batten (Jeff Beck and others) Randy Bachman (BTO, GUESS WHO) Philip Sayce (JEFF JEALEY BAND) SUGAR RAY Brent Mason Mick Jones (FOREIGNER, studio) Phil Caivano (MONSTER MAGNET) Erik Le Maire (MARTHA DAVIS/MOTELS, ENOK) Chuck Collison (FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS) Slash (While a DUNLOP endorsee, Slash has used an old RMC3 in videos) Dr. Rico (ZANGA ZANGA/LOS PINGUINOS EN LA PLAYA) Diblo Dibala (LOKETO) Chartwell Dutiro (THOMAS MAPFUMO AND THE BLACKS UNLIMITED) CHERRY POPPIN' DADDIES Leo Qintero (Criteria Studio) TRIBAL THERAPY JAH LEVI AND HIGHER REASONING ABERWA STONE & THE SUNDAY PUNCH THE COASTERS THE DRIFTERS THE PLATTERS Kai Corns (THE IRA JAMES BAND) FOO FIGHTERS Joe Rodriguez (A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS) Shawn Purcell (AIRMEN OF NOTE - U.S. Air Force Band) J. Mascis Rand Anderson (FRESHLY BAKED) P J HARVEY THE MOFFATTS
Vari-tune, Real McCoy Custom Three, RMC3, Real McCoy Custom, and all derivations and precedents are trademarks of Geoffrey Teese, and are protected under copyright law. These trademarks and products are in no way related to any entity or product bearing the name or trademarks of Thomas Organ Co, Colorsound, Foxx, Korg USA, Electro- Harmonix, Jim Dunlop MFG, or VOX.
ORIGINAL CRYBABY is a registered trademark of Jim Dunlop Mfg. DALLAS ARBITER is a registered trademark of Jim Dunlop Mfg. V-846 is a registered trademark of Thomas Organ Co. V-847 is a registered trademark of Korg USA. COLORSOUND is a registered trademark of Dick Denney. Electro-Harmonix is a registered trademark of Mike Matthews-New Sensor/Sovtek. FOXX is a registered trademark of Ridinger Associates.
See my WAH WAH page for even more wah wah info.