Pedals

Real McCoy Custom RMC5 Wizard Wah

The Real McCoy Custom RMC5 Wizard Wah is a boutique wah pedal designed to capture the expressive sweep and harmonic richness of the most legendary vintage wah circuits. Built by Geoffrey Teese under the Real McCoy Custom brand, the Wizard Wah focuses on clarity, vocal character and dynamic control, making it particularly appealing to blues and classic rock players who want a wah that reacts naturally to touch and phrasing.

Manufacturer and Model Background

Real McCoy Custom was founded by Geoffrey Teese in the early 1990s. Teese is widely respected for his obsessive research into vintage wah circuits from the late 1960s. During the wah pedal boom of that era, manufacturers like Vox and Thomas Organ used different inductors, potentiometers and component tolerances that dramatically affected the sound. Teese began studying these original circuits in detail, collecting vintage units and measuring their electrical behavior. His goal was not simply to recreate the wah effect, but to reproduce the most musical versions of those early pedals.

The RMC5 Wizard Wah emerged as one of the company's most versatile designs. It incorporates carefully selected inductors and tuned frequency response to deliver a wide sweep that avoids the overly sharp or nasal peaks found in many modern wah pedals. Unlike mass produced wahs, each Real McCoy unit is hand assembled and calibrated. The Wizard Wah is still produced in small batches and remains a boutique product rather than a mass market pedal.

Designer Geoffrey Teese, Real McCoy Custom

Founded Early 1990s

Inductor Custom wound, based on vintage Vox measurements

Sweep range Wide and balanced. Smooth across full travel.

Production Hand assembled in small batches

Status In production — boutique availability

Why This Pedal Matters in Blues

The wah pedal has been an important expressive tool in blues and blues rock since the late 1960s. When used tastefully, it behaves almost like a human voice filter, shaping the guitar's midrange frequencies. The RMC5 Wizard Wah excels at exactly that vocal quality. Its sweep emphasizes the frequencies where blues guitars live, roughly between 400 Hz and 2 kHz, allowing notes to bloom and articulate without sounding harsh.

For blues players who rely on touch dynamics rather than heavy distortion, a wah must remain transparent and responsive. The Wizard Wah maintains clarity even with clean or lightly overdriven tones, making it particularly effective with Fender style amplifiers.

What Respected Blues Guitarists Did With It

Classic wah tones are associated with players such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Hendrix used wah extensively as a vocal effect, shaping sustained notes and rhythmic passages. Clapton famously used a wah during the Cream era to emphasize midrange phrasing. Stevie Ray Vaughan used wah more sparingly, often as a color during solos rather than as a constant effect.

The RMC5 Wizard Wah was designed specifically to capture the sweet spot of those vintage tones. Geoffrey Teese tuned the circuit so the midrange peak sits in the range that produces the classic Hendrix style vocal sweep while still staying smooth for blues phrasing. Many boutique players consider RMC wahs among the closest modern equivalents to the best sounding vintage Vox pedals.

Sound Profile

The sound of the RMC5 Wizard Wah is wide, smooth and vocal.

Heel position Tight and controlled. No mud in the low end.

Mid sweep Warm resonance opens gradually. Enhances blues lead lines.

Toe position Singing peak, not a piercing spike. Works well with Strats.

Note definition Excellent throughout the full sweep range.

Dynamic response Very responsive to pick attack and guitar volume.

Fender amp interaction Adds expressive articulation without masking amp character.

What Makes It Special

Several design choices distinguish the RMC5 Wizard Wah from standard wah pedals. The first is the inductor selection. The inductor determines the resonance and frequency center of the wah sweep. Teese developed custom inductors based on measurements of vintage Italian Vox units. Second, the taper of the wah potentiometer is carefully matched to the frequency sweep, producing a very controllable response rather than sudden jumps in tone.

Third, the pedal is tuned for balance across the entire sweep. Some wah pedals have one small sweet spot. The Wizard Wah maintains usable tone across most of the travel. The result is a wah that behaves almost like a musical instrument rather than a simple effect.

Why Gerbman Uses It

Gerbman's playing style centers around expressive blues phrasing with Stratocasters and vintage inspired Fender amplifiers. In that context, a wah pedal must be subtle and musical rather than aggressive. The RMC5 Wizard Wah fits perfectly into that philosophy.

It can be used to highlight specific phrases during solos, add rhythmic articulation to funkier blues grooves, or shape sustained bends in a way that feels almost vocal. Placed early in the signal chain, typically before overdrive pedals, the wah interacts directly with the guitar pickups. This allows Gerbman to control the character of the sweep through pick attack and guitar volume. In a blues context the wah becomes less of a special effect and more of a phrasing tool.

Rarity and Availability

The Real McCoy Custom RMC5 Wizard Wah is considered somewhat rare compared to mainstream wah pedals. Production is boutique and relatively small scale. Units appear regularly on the second hand market but are not mass distributed through large retailers. Because of the brand's reputation among tone enthusiasts, used examples often retain their value well.

Variants and Alternatives

RMC1, RMC3, RMC4 Picture Wah, RMC10 — other Real McCoy variants targeting different vintage references
Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah — boutique alternative with multiple voicing options
Original late 1960s Vox wah — the historical reference, expensive and tonally inconsistent due to age
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB95 — the standard wah at a lower price point, less refined sweep