Wah Pedal Mods

messenger

messenger

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I just got a Snarling Dogs Wonder Wah 2 ands it’s voiced lower than I’d like. I tried adjusting the pot but that didn’t really solve the issue. I’d like a bit more of the classic Crybaby quack. Any tips as far as component changes?
 

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Found these online. Not sure if they’re accurate
 

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It may be cheaper to just pick up a used Cry Baby. You can usually find them for $35 online.
 
SFW":s9ych2t9 said:
It may be cheaper to just pick up a used Cry Baby. You can usually find them for $35 online.
Click to expand...

I’ve got one ;) I got this from my son for Xmas and would like to mod it so I’ll use it. Plus it looks killer and I love the huge physical sweep.
 
messenger":50l8hmts said:
SFW":50l8hmts said:
It may be cheaper to just pick up a used Cry Baby. You can usually find them for $35 online.
Click to expand...

I’ve got one ;) I got this from my son for Xmas and would like to mod it so I’ll use it. Plus it looks killer and I love the huge physical sweep.
Click to expand...


Gotcha.
 
Looks like C9 and C10 are the sweep caps. Right now there's a .0033 and a .022 in parallel. Thats whats making it so deep. I would pull out C9 and then change C10 to a .01uF and tweak from there. If the .01uF is too high and trebly, change it to a .012 or .015 etc. until you like the range
 
Padre Bonic":3kfthb45 said:
Looks like C9 and C10 are the sweep caps. Right now there's a .0033 and a .022 in parallel. Thats whats making it so deep. I would pull out C9 and jumper the pads and then change C10 to a .01uF and tweak from there. If the .01uF is too high and trebly, change it to a .012 or .015 etc. until you like the range
Click to expand...

I'm not disagreeing with your general point here. Just adding to it. The combination of C9 and C10 needs to be smaller to increase the resonance frequency of the wah. Resonance increases with the inverse square of the capacitance. Currently, the feedback capacitance is 0.025 uF (C9+C10). A crybaby uses 0.01 uF. I'd move in that direction, as Padre Bonic notes. Try removing just the 0.0033 uF cap first and listen to it. If that doesn't do it, I'd swap the 0.022 uF for a 0.01 uF and listen to that.

Btw, I would not jumper the pads for C9. That'll create a short that will bypass the feedback capacitor which forms the resonant circuit. Your wah will no longer wah.

I generally recommend soldering in a socket so you easily swap capacitors in/out without damaging anything.
 
rstites":5duauupm said:
Padre Bonic":5duauupm said:
Looks like C9 and C10 are the sweep caps. Right now there's a .0033 and a .022 in parallel. Thats whats making it so deep. I would pull out C9 and jumper the pads and then change C10 to a .01uF and tweak from there. If the .01uF is too high and trebly, change it to a .012 or .015 etc. until you like the range
Click to expand...

I'm not disagreeing with your general point here. Just adding to it. The combination of C9 and C10 needs to be smaller to increase the resonance frequency of the wah. Resonance increases with the inverse square of the capacitance. Currently, the feedback capacitance is 0.025 uF (C9+C10). A crybaby uses 0.01 uF. I'd move in that direction, as Padre Bonic notes. Try removing just the 0.0033 uF cap first and listen to it. If that doesn't do it, I'd swap the 0.022 uF for a 0.01 uF and listen to that.

Btw, I would not jumper the pads for C9. That'll create a short that will bypass the feedback capacitor which forms the resonant circuit. Your wah will no longer wah.

I generally recommend soldering in a socket so you easily swap capacitors in/out without damaging anything.
Click to expand...
Corrected on C9. Thanks for pointing that out. Typed that out while doing something at work.
 
Just to show it's not my first time around the block with wah pedals, heres a few pics and a vid of the Clyde McCoy clones I've been building for a while now:
3Ws0iIOh.jpg

5OWc20Bh.jpg

tGsWRVFh.jpg

VWSYA9hh.jpg

 
Padre Bonic":1a17ercx said:
Just to show it's not my first time around the block with wah pedals, heres a few pics and a vid of the Clyde McCoy clones I've been building for a while now:
3Ws0iIOh.jpg

5OWc20Bh.jpg

tGsWRVFh.jpg

VWSYA9hh.jpg

Click to expand...

I still love the wah you made for me. These Clyde clones look killer too.
 
psychodave":13k9w0gt said:
Padre Bonic":13k9w0gt said:
Just to show it's not my first time around the block with wah pedals, heres a few pics and a vid of the Clyde McCoy clones I've been building for a while now:
3Ws0iIOh.jpg

5OWc20Bh.jpg

tGsWRVFh.jpg

VWSYA9hh.jpg

Click to expand...

I still love the wah you made for me. These Clyde clones look killer too.
Click to expand...
Thanks brother! :rock:
 
In a Crybaby/Vox circuit you can change the 33k resistor in parallel with the inductor to 68k or 100k. Thats the so-called "vocal" mod. In my opinion that makes the Q too sharp. 33k always sounds right to me. However in the schematic you posted of your wah,there doesn't seem to be a resistor in parallel with the inductor.
 
The other thing I see is the resistor (r3) off the emitter of Q1 is a 220 ohm. That would bring a large amount of gain and bass into the circuit.A little too much IMO. The Clyde circuit uses a 470 ohm here and the Crybaby uses 390 ohm. You could try swapping that one too.
 
Padre Bonic":v4ysoqyw said:
The other thing I see is the resistor (r6) off the emitter of Q1 is a 220 ohm. That would bring a large amount of gain and bass into the circuit.A little too much IMO. The Clyde circuit uses a 470 ohm here and the Crybaby uses 390 ohm. You could try swapping that one too.
Click to expand...

Thanks again. Do u by chance mean R3? And is it the lower the value the more gain/bass?
 
messenger":2ac90znx said:
Padre Bonic":2ac90znx said:
The other thing I see is the resistor (r6) off the emitter of Q1 is a 220 ohm. That would bring a large amount of gain and bass into the circuit.A little too much IMO. The Clyde circuit uses a 470 ohm here and the Crybaby uses 390 ohm. You could try swapping that one too.
Click to expand...

Thanks again. Do u by chance mean R3? And is it the lower the value the more gain/bass?
Click to expand...
Yes,sorry it is R3.And correct that a lower value adds gain and bass.
 
My suggestion: replace the capacitor as mentioned first and try it. That might be all you need to make it work for you.

If you want to change Q/bandwidth, the parallel combination R6 and R7 is what you want to adjust. That determines it. (Note: it's in parallel in traditional wahs, but in series it works out virtually the same.) That's really a strange combination there as the 470k resistor is basically doing nothing in parallel with the 33k. If you want to adjust those up to narrow the bandwidth, replace the 33k with something larger. Personally, if I were going to modify it, I'd probably just replace that with a 100k trimmer and adjust that to taste.

I wouldn't mess with 220 ohm. That'll shift the bias point of the first stage and drop gain by ~1/2. I'd assume it's dialed in to drive whatever unspecified inductor is in the circuit. If you want to adjust bass roll-off elsewhere the 6.8uF on the emitter of Q3 can be adjusted. Assuming those values are correct, it currently has a cut-off of 2 Hz which is perfect for a full-range amplifier section. However, for guitar you could easily move that up by replace the capacitor with a smaller value.
 
rstites":2nzff7u5 said:
I wouldn't mess with 220 ohm. That'll shift the bias point of the first stage and drop gain by ~1/2. I'd assume it's dialed in to drive whatever unspecified inductor is in the circuit.
Click to expand...
I've heard clips of this wah and IMHO its a bass mess. He asked for suggestions to get a vintage type quack out of it and lowering the gain of the transistors is one of the ways you get there. I'll leave this to you though and stick to what I do. Cheers to all and Happy New Year.
 
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