If

[Triple-o]

When  Bread starts this song is that a Wha wha pedal at the beginning?

[Fretless]

I had never thought about it before but listening to it I can imagine getting close to that sound with a tremolo (pedal or on some older style amps) and a wah pedal. Do you have both effects or would you like me to try?

[Triple-o]

I have wha wha pedal and I thought that might be what they used. I just wasn’t sure. I don’t have a tremolo pedal.

[NeilES335]

Ive been working on this song too. I havent used any effects on it yet. The recording sounds like a tremelo (likely a pedal) to me. The speed of the sound "wobble" would be really tricky on a Wah Wah pedal i think. 

[Fretless]

I think the wobble is the tremolo and the change in timbre is the wah. I plan on trying it out this week. I will let you know how I get on.

[Randy120]

I think it is Tremolo. The effect isn't just at the beginning it comes up in a few other places. 

Edited October 14, 2018 by Randy120

[Fretless]

I found this (below) on this web page. I don't have two Moog synthesizers but I am still going to try with tremolo and wah pedals and see how close I can get.

When “If” was recorded, the track was enhanced by a mysteriously quavering sound that gave the song a distinctive sheen.  “That was created by two Moog synthesizers,” Gates reports.  “Paul Beaver came in and set them up – I played a plain old Fender Telecaster guitar through a voltage-controlled amplifier, and he put that into these two oscillators that triggered each other in random fashion.  When we were all done he said, ‘I hope you liked that and got it on tape, ‘cause I could never do that the same way again.’”

[NeilES335]

4 hours ago, Fretless said:

I found this (below) on this web page. I don't have two Moog synthesizers but I am still going to try with tremolo and wah pedals and see how close I can get.

When “If” was recorded, the track was enhanced by a mysteriously quavering sound that gave the song a distinctive sheen.  “That was created by two Moog synthesizers,” Gates reports.  “Paul Beaver came in and set them up – I played a plain old Fender Telecaster guitar through a voltage-controlled amplifier, and he put that into these two oscillators that triggered each other in random fashion.  When we were all done he said, ‘I hope you liked that and got it on tape, ‘cause I could never do that the same way again.’”

So in other words, good luck trying to exactly reproduce the recording?. Thanks for the link; an interesting history of the group. 

Edited October 15, 2018 by NeilES335