Purdue students make wireless ‘wah’ pedal

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A team of Purdue graduates has developed a device that will let guitarists make a distorted sound without any pedals.

The wireless “wah” pedal will allow guitarists to move around the stage while playing rather than tap a pedal to distort their instrument’s sound. The students named their invention the Ghost Pedal.

The distinctive “wah” pedal sound alters the tone of an electric guitar with an effect that mimics the human voice.

The pedal is made of two sensors attached to the guitarist’s ankle. When he moves his ankle a certain way, the sensors activate and the music’s sound changes. The angle of his movement controls the sound.

The team of eight students graduated from Purdue in 2011 and created the patent-pending Ghost Pedal as a senior project.