wah pedal mod guys, step in please

[tweed]

Was on the hunt for a wah pedal to go on my board and aquired this one pho phree. Missing one rubber foot, bottom plate, threaded mounting nuts on the side that hold the board in place, and the screw that holds the board to the housing. Don't even know if the thing works or not.

Let's talk mods shall we

What would you guys change and/or add to make this pedal a good wah? And where would you get the parts to mod it from?

 

[projectx102]

I'd pop in some lower gain transistors,some higher quality caps and change a resitor value here and there and do a true-bypass mod.

 

[_actual time_]

hey cool, that looks like exactly the ~1990 vintage of Crybaby that i have--the first revision to use PCB-mounted jacks but not yet have the buffer circuitry that they added a year or so later.

you can change the input cap value to tweak the wah sweep range, and you can tweak resistor values. you can swap out the inductor, although i haven't done that on that exact PCB board. here's a link with lots of info: http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/diy.html

definitely do true-bypass, like projectx said. probably also a replacement pot.

the easiest and probably best-sounding way to upgrade it would be to buy a board from Area 51 wahs. they're supposed to sound really good. they fit the Dunlop casing, and they can sell you a replacement pot and probably a DPDT switch too.

 

[turmoil]

Here are two pages that discuss some common wah mods.
http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/WahMod.htm
http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/bypass.html

I've tried a lot of these on my gcb-95. Some are good some are just meh. Two things i did that i really enjoyed was adding a 4 position rotary switch connected to 4 different "sweep" capacitor values. This gives the wah a huge dynamic range. The next thing was adding a dpdt switch and i added two resistors (don't remember the values) to swap out the stock 33k resistor. This changes the voicing in a subtle manner.

You can also get all those replacement parts, and parts for the modding from small bear:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/StoreFront.bok

The first thing i'd try before doing any modding is to adjust the threaded pole/potentiometer that moves when you rock the pedal back and forth. You can make some pretty drastic changes to the wah just using these parts alone.

 

[tweed]

Finally got to spend a few minutes with the wah. When its disengaged the signal passes thru, as soon as you press down on the pedal and engage the wah, no dice. Going to go over all the solder joints and reflow everything for now. Any suggestions of what else to look for?

 

[tweed]

I'd pop in some lower gain transistors,some higher quality caps and change a resitor value here and there and do a true-bypass mod.

He should sell it and have you make him one.

Projectx makes wah's? Spill the beans Dave.

 

[tweed]

I'd pop in some lower gain transistors,some higher quality caps and change a resitor value here and there and do a true-bypass mod.

He should sell it and have you make him one.

Projectx makes wah's? Spill the beans Dave.

He made me one...it kills

How much?

 

[tweed]

Here are two pages that discuss some common wah mods.
http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/WahMod.htm
http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/bypass.html

I've tried a lot of these on my gcb-95. Some are good some are just meh. Two things i did that i really enjoyed was adding a 4 position rotary switch connected to 4 different "sweep" capacitor values. This gives the wah a huge dynamic range. The next thing was adding a dpdt switch and i added two resistors (don't remember the values) to swap out the stock 33k resistor. This changes the voicing in a subtle manner.

You can also get all those replacement parts, and parts for the modding from small bear:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/StoreFront.bok

The first thing i'd try before doing any modding is to adjust the threaded pole/potentiometer that moves when you rock the pedal back and forth. You can make some pretty drastic changes to the wah just using these parts alone.

Thanks for the links! Been doing some reading and came across another link that is pretty handy for wah info:

http://geofex.com/Article_Folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm

Also a buddy of mine said the local pawn shop had a few wah's when he was in there last time. I think I may try and get down there and score another one for cheap to tinker with.

Started looking at new inductors as well. Not exactly sure what to get if I were to replace one, there's quite a few choices out there.

 

[joepete77]

wah pedals are a pedal where true bypass helps alot, especially since yours is pre buffer, there is some loss in signal etc.

 

[MississippiMetal]

Was on the hunt for a wah pedal to go on my board and aquired this one pho phree. Missing one rubber foot, bottom plate, threaded mounting nuts on the side that hold the board in place, and the screw that holds the board to the housing. Don't even know if the thing works or not.

Let's talk mods shall we

What would you guys change and/or add to make this pedal a good wah? And where would you get the parts to mod it from?

If you haven't tried it, how do you know it needs to be modded?

 

[tweed]

If you haven't tried it, how do you know it needs to be modded?

True. But it does sound like a fun little project. Now if I can just get this thing working. Didn't make it to the pawn shops as I was running cat 5 cable threw the attic yesterday.

When you engage it its like the signal drops to some crazy low volume, almost like it drops out but not quite. I was testing it again, but threw my sons tiny ibanez amp this time and without a guitar, just using my finger on the guitar cord to see if the signal was going threw or not. Starting to think that maybe its a bad cap and not a bad switch but not sure at this point. Still need some time with the board to take some readings on the parts and see how everything reads. Maybe I can do that at work this morning.

 

[droptrd]

There are alot of companies that make drop-in kits for the crybabys like chicago iron, and area 51. Even BYOC i think.

You can get the rest of the parts at AES (tubesandmore.com)

 

[projectx102]

I can do a drop-in kit as well. The wah shell is the most expensive part. As long as you have the shell, your gold!