A craftsman who cares about low-tech guitar equipment with individual character and a human touch

Second in a series

By Yas Mamemachi
Kyoto, Japan

Nose in his workshop (Photo by Yas Mamemachi)

was back in Kyoto to meet another “wah-wah” lover, Tadayuki Nose. He manages a small guitar workshop that specializes in rock music: Rock Circus Square, or RCS.

In fact, the favorite wah-wah pedal used by Sanda of the Out Loop-Way Blues Band (see the first story in this series) was one that was remodeled and upgraded by Nose.

The workshop is located 30 minutes on foot from Sanda’s bar. I walked on a street in the old capital to the shop and was surprised when I realized something of the enormous variety of the city. I saw an “adult” shop with a small board in front of the shop advertising “a wide selection of popular condoms” next to an old incense store.

A small space on the second floor of an indiscreet building is Nose’s kingdom, which was established in 1999. Since then, he has maintained a habit to talk with each customer on a one-to-one and face-to-face basis whenever he fixes effects pedals and other equipment--wah-wah pedals, speakers --related to rock music and electric guitars. It isn’t easy to find this kind of workshop anywhere else in Japan.

“I am required to have mechanical knowledge and skills as well as knowledge of rock music and how to play rock and blues on guitar,” he says.

“As for remodeling effects pedals, customers, mostly people who play rock music for fun, are not always right. So we have a talk first, and try to find out better ways to upgrade those effects pedals,” he continues.

Precious sound of a particular time

Among guitar effects, his favorite is the wah-wah pedal. He sells three types of RCS original wah-wah pedals, which are currently available commercial pedals that have been remodeled and upgraded.

(From left) Tracing BABY, Tracing GATE, and Tracing VEIN (Photo provided by Tadayuki Nose)

“We have ‘Tracing BABY’ which is a remodeled and upgraded version JEN’s Cry Baby, ‘Tracing GATE’ which is based on Thomas’s Wah-Wah, and ‘Tracing VEIN’ which is based on VOX’s Wah-Wah,” says Nose.

(Note: JEN’s Cry Baby and VOX’s Wah-Wah are the two most classic types of wah-wah pedals. They were regularly used by many musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Neither American company exists any more. VOX and Thomas, another American company, created the prototype of the wah-wah pedal and asked JEN, an Italian company, to produce and market it. Since the original model of the pedal was not patented until the mid-1970’s, similar types of wah-wah pedals with similar names were distributed by these companies. )

“Based on my memories of the sound created by classic wah-wah pedals, I recreated my own versions by changing and rearranging circuits and parts, while respecting their original tone and sound as much as possible. Mr. Sanda uses a Tracing VEIN,” he says.

Nose also remodels and upgrades older so-called “vintage” models of wah-wah pedals based on customers’ requests.

Like any other circle, wah-wah lovers and fanatics are sometimes critical of his work on the classic pedals. He is sometimes accused of betraying the authenticity of wah-wah pedals.

But he doubts such “authenticity” with regard to effects pedals “because wah-wah pedals are consumable goods,” says Nose.

“In the case of many professional guitarists, the key components of the wah-wah pedal, such as the volume pot and the in/out cable entry points, have been worn away, so the players have no choice but to change some parts eventually. Ironically, when you play hard, the so-called authenticity is easily lost,” he continues.

“I think, strictly speaking, in the case of Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughn, for instance, their wah-wah sound during a particular period was one time only and very precious.”

As a matter of fact, Nose believes that famous guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix would have purposely remodeled and upgraded their own wah-wah pedals because they were eager to create a unique and original sound, just as Jim Marshall was known to remodel amplifiers for Hendrix for the same purpose.

Nose loves wah-wah pedals because “they may be low-tech and analog products, but each one has an individual character and can add a human touch to the playing; and that’s what makes rock guitar artistic.”

Always with the rock guitar

Near the end of the interview, a young rock guitarist (who plays for fun, I assume) rushed into the shop, saying that his multi-sound effects pedal went dead in the middle of a 15-minute rehearsal with his band, who were going to play a concert with 10 other bands.

“I spent almost the whole rehearsal checking the equipment. Please look at it quickly,” says the young guitarist.

“OK, let me check,” says Nose, and he started investigating the major parts of the equipment, while the plug stretched from his guitar to one of the shop’s amplifiers and played with some tunes through the effects pedal.

Let’s talk about your problem. (Photo by Yas Mamemachi)

In the end, he could not find any particular problem with the equipment; the effects worked as they were supposed to work, or at least they did in the shop. He cleaned some of the cable entry points and said, “That should be fine. Forget the problems and just rock out, OK.”

The young guitarist paid a minimum fee to Nose and rushed out of the shop with his precious effects pedal, saying, “Thank you, Sir.”

I told Nose I was impressed by the young guitarist’s attitude. “These days, maybe because they are in such a competitive social environment, many young musicians like him are modest and well-trained,” Nose replies with an ironical smile.

“In fact, young musicians with attitude problems aren’t allowed to play music in many live houses in Kyoto,” he adds.

Times change and people change. So does music. Yet, the sound of wah-wah pedals still resounds. The story of the wah-wah pedal continues.

LINK: Tadayuki Nose/Rock Circus Square