Stuart Zender made his name driving Jamiroquai’s low end with those instantly recognisable choppy filter grooves, and the Funk Face is his signature take on that sound. Hand-built in Ashdown’s UK Custom Shop, it’s a twin dynamic filter pedal designed purely for bass, giving you the tools to recreate that “Virtual Insanity” style bounce or carve out your own auto-wah phrasing.

Control comes from just three knobs and two switches. The Sensitivity dial shapes how the filter responds to your picking or plucking attack, while Output governs how much of that effect sits in the mix. Working these two together lets you dial anywhere from a subtle, near-transparent filter sweep to a full-throttle, in-your-face funk wah, all tracking your playing dynamics rather than a fixed sweep rate.

A 12AX7 valve drive stage adds a second dimension: engage it via footswitch to thicken harmonics with genuine tube saturation. A dedicated side-mounted switch lets you route that drive before or after the wah stage, so you can choose whether you’re pushing a dirty signal into the filter or filtering first and adding grit on top – two distinctly different textures from one pedal.

True bypass switching keeps your tone untouched when the effect is off, and the Output control doubles as a clean boost for those moments you just need to sit forward in the mix without engaging the wah.

Sensitivity and Output rotary controls for shaping filter response and blend
Footswitchable 12AX7 valve drive with pre/post-wah routing switch
Footswitchable wah/auto-filter effect
True bypass for zero-colouration when off
3/4-inch jack in/out; runs on 18V (recommended) or 9V in a pinch
Rugged metal casing with road-ready controls and switches

Brand: Ashdown Engineering

Ashdown Stuart Zender Funk Face Bass Auto Wah Pedal