The Mona Wah is the newest release from CT based manufacturer, Black Cat Pedals, with state of the art design, in part by “DIY guru and wah master” Joe Gagan.
What really pushes this pedal into a league of its own is the Black Cat wah pot, which “features a new taper and redesigned gear, which… [allow] for a totally smooth, even sweep that covers the entire range of the pot.”
Black Cat offers vintage and modern versions of the pedal, the former of which uses carbon comp resistors and NOS vintage capacitors, and the latter, Dale precision resistors and Wima film capacitors, which provide a cleaner and fuller response, but not quite as classic a sound as the vintage.
Both versions of the pedal also come in standard and deluxe iterations; the deluxe Mona comes with the same three frequency, resonant peak, and volume controls (repositioned externally), as well as the same buffer, and buffer bypass mini-switch as the standard, but includes “a 3-position mini-switch to give you three separate and distinct voicings to choose from.”
The attention to detail on the Mona is ridiculously thorough, and with four different takes on the same wah, you better believe they thought of everything! – Eric Werner
