JMI Vox Wah-Wah Pedal - 1967




The original Vox Wah-Wah pedal was designed and introduced in late 1966 by the Thomas Organ Company of Sepulveda CA. The earliest version was named the "Vox Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah Pedal." Several months later, Thomas dropped the Clyde McCoy affiliation and renamed the pedal the "V846 Vox Wah-Wah."

Thomas Organ purchased the exclusive North American rights for the Vox trademark from Jennings Musical Instruments (JMI) of Dartford, Kent UK in 1965. By gaining autonomy from JMI, Thomas Organ was free to develop new Vox products such as the Wah-Wah pedal. Thomas filed a US patent application for the wah pedal on February 24, 1967. A patent was granted to Thomas Organ on September 22, 1970, naming Bradley J Plunkett and Lester Kushner as co-inventors. Contrary to numerous Internet and print sources, JMI lead engineer Dick Denney played no role in the invention of the wah pedal. Click here to read the entire history of the Vox Wah-Wah pedal.

In a spirit of collaboration, Thomas Organ allowed JMI to produce the Wah-Wah pedal in their UK facilities for European distribution. Although the circuitry for the original American made Vox Clyde McCoy and V846 Vox Wah-Wah pedals was constructed on printed circuit boards, the earliest pedals produced by JMI were hand-wired, such as the one shown at left. Although these early JMI Vox Wah-Wah pedals were hand-wired, they followed the original Thomas Organ circuit design. JMI eventually converted their wah from hand-wired construction to a printed circuit board.

Unlike their US counterparts, these early JMI Vox Wah-Wah pedals did not have a chrome plated rocker pedal or a VOX logo on the rubber tread. An adhesive sticker with the words "Wah-Wah" emblazoned the sides of the JMI  pedals. These early UK Wah-Wahs resembled the volume pedal provided with Vox Continental organs.


The UK made Vox Wah-Wah made it's first catalog appearance in the 1967 Vox product catalog.



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